Osram is the official lighting partner for the Eurovision Song Contest for the third time in a row

As the official lighting partner for the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), Osram had already given excellent support to the mega show business event in 2015 in Vienna and in 2016 in Stockholm. As a powerful company for state-of-the-art digital lighting technology Osram will continue the successful collaboration this year in Kyiv (resp. Kiev). "The past few years have been an impressive example of how lighting design can play an essential role in showcasing the songs. Effective illumination is crucial for the impact of the songs. That’s why we’re very happy to be the partner for the ESC once again," says Hans-Joachim Schwabe, CEO Specialty Lighting at Osram.

The capital of the Ukraine is staging the competition for the second time, having done so back in 2005. This year’s ESC slogan will be "Celebrate Diversity" and will run through all aspects of the event. It builds on last year’s slogan of "Come Together" and focuses on diversity as an essential part of the Eurovision set of values. Organizers consider it important once again this year to highlight the things all the participating countries have in common, and at the same time celebrate their special differences with fantastic music. The aim is to turn the show into a unique combination of culture, technology and creativity. True to the slogan of "Staging Emotion", Osram will help create a spectacular stage for the participants from 43 countries during the semi-finals and the final. Hosting the show will be the Ukrainian trio of Timur Miroshnychenko, Volodymyr Ostapchuk and Oleksandr Skichko.

With more than 200 million viewers, the Eurovision Song Contest is the world's largest TV entertainment event. The audience, whether live or watching on TV, can once again look forward to another show with advanced technology and emotive lighting effects – a unique celebration full of colors, shapes and dimensions. For many years the Eurovision Song Contest has been illuminated with innovative products from Claypaky. Osram’s renowned entertainment brand has made a major contribution to the success of the show in previous years. The highlight of the extraordinary lighting display will be more than 150 Claypaky Scenius Unico moving heads with a particularly large variety of effects. At the heart of the display is a special development from Osram – a 1,400 watt discharge lamp with a color temperature of 6,500 K. Among lighting designers the Eurovision Song Contest is regarded as the Holy Grail. "I really love to work with Scenius Unico because it allows me to create magnificent effects with matchless quality of light and gives me different lighting design opportunities such as spot, beam, wash and profile – all with one product", says German lighting designer Jerry Appelt who received the honorable task this year to stage the lighting shows for all songs.

Besides the official Eurovision Song Contest voting Osram will provide a light voting of a different kind for the audience at home. While the artists perform their songs in the semifinals and in the big final, fans can vote for their favorites using an interactive application for the first time from within the official Eurovision Song Contest app. Each number of points from 1 to 12 stands for a particular color. Depending on how many points a song gets in the Osram vote, the Kyiv City Administration Building and the Taras-Shevchenko Opera House in Kyiv will be illuminated in the relevant color. The results will be immediately visible in the city and via webcams throughout the world. The Osram LEDambient CONNECT family adds color to your car. The products can be controlled from an app via Bluetooth, lighting up vehicles in different colors – and even to the beat of the music playing in the car.

From May 9 to 13, 2017, 43 countries will take part in the Eurovision Song Contest in the Ukrainian capital, presenting their songs at the International Exhibition Center in Kyiv. The first semi-final will take place on May 9, the second on May 11. The finalists will take the stage on May 13.

For information on the Eurovision Song Contest click here and for information on Osram's entertainment lighting click here. The LEDambient CONNECT family is presented here. All background information has been compiled in the Press Feature.