Jon Ola Sand has revealed that the Russian delegation has never shown an interest in becoming a member of the Big Five at Eurovision.
Former Executive Supervisor Jon Ola Sand has revealed in an interview with Jan Bors, that Russia would not want to become a member of the Big Five. Speaking on the latest episode of Humans of Eurovision, Mr. Sand spoke about the Big Five and their role in Eurovision:
It’s not necessarily an advantage (being a member of the Big Five), having a golden ticket to the final
We could not really imagine having the Eurovision Song Contest without Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain. (If we lost them) we would lose traction, audience…it gives the contest a broad reach.
Jan Bors raised the question around whether Russia should be a member of the Big Five, Mr. Sand responded explaining:
Russia it’s two broadcasters (RTR & Channel One) that are alternating, they see a lot of benefits from being in the semi-finals.
I have spoken to the Heads of Delegation from Russia and they say we think it is super to have this attention span throughout the week of the contest
The comments from Mr. Sand show that the Russian delegation is interested in being able to build interest in their act as early as possible during the contest week. There has been speculation in the past that Russia would be interested in Big Five status at the competition.
The Big Five Explained
The Big Five are the five largest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union, which helps to fund the Eurovision Song Contest. The rule was introduced in 1999 to exempt France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain from being relegated from the competition in the era before the semi-finals. From 2004 onwards the rule has meant these countries do not compete in the semi-finals. Since 2011 the Big Four has been expanded to the Big Five with Italy’s return to the Eurovision Song Contest.
Image Source: Eurovision.tv – Thomas Hanses
