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Changing The Staging Rules

DCTIMC

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One rule that I think is stupid, is only allowing six people on stage during performances. Taking the UK as an example this year, it was painfully obvious that the performance needed backing dancers, but because of the six person limit, they had to also be backing singers, and they sounded awful.

Don't get me wrong, the song was pretty rubbish, even with good backing singers, it would still have been rubbish. I just think the six person limit should be abolished.

I assume that the reason it is in place, is because maybe it's feared a more wealthy nation could show up with 50 odd people and deliver an epic show-piece that smaller countries wouldn't be able to compete with. But why not have ESC Performers that all countries can access?

So if you need a gospel choir, it's there and anyone can use them, same goes for an orchestra or a dance troupe. Countries would still be responsible for choreographing and staging their own performances, but access to all these great performers would be there for everyone.

Thoughts?
 

MrJadeEwen

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I doubt countries could share performers, could you imagine Armenia & Azerbaijan having the same performers? the performers would get split all over the place and it means the loudest delegation get the best performance, not to mention rehearsal time off stage. Then you have transitions with the eccentric props and everything else, having 50 people to get on and off set within the time the postcard is shown is almost impossible, the show has got to be slick.

France made excellent use of the backdrop to allure to the idea that they had loads of people on stage. That's probably a better way. I wouldn't mind it upping to 8 like they have in MF. Anymore than 8 will cause problems and tbh if the UK song needed dancers to distract from the fact the song was shocking then we don't deserve them xD
 

Romeo

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I've always thought 6 was a stupid rule.. but then.. what should the limit be?

If it was increased to 10 then there would be people who wanted more.

I have always thought 7 would be a better number to be honest, 1 singer and 6 dancers/backing singers would be better it just makes it more symmetrical, but thats just my opinion
 

ZoboCamel

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Having eight or ten sounds good to me. It'd allow for some acts to have better staging, and there's no real drawback. If some acts have more dancers, or a bigger choir... what's wrong with that?
 

LoveHate

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Something like 10 people on stage and a maximum of 5 singers would be ok.
 

DCTIMC

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Personally I don't see an issue with having house performers. They would just be paid employees of Eurovision, there to do a job. Doesn't mean every nation would use the choir, or the dancers. But they would have the opportunity.

But like others have said, the limit needs to be increased. For me, it should be doubled. It would leave enough spots for backing singers/musicians/dancers.

Again I know that the UK's song wasn't very good, but I pictured the performance with maybe half a dozen dancers, some backing singers, and I think it would have been fun for a couple of fiddle players too. Would have made it feel like more of a party atmosphere. I'm sure other countries would benefit from an increase too.
 

Dante

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I think it's ok to have a limit. 6 might not be the best, but it's still better than having no limit. I would, maybe, increase it to ten people, but not more. We could even have a massive flashmob if there wasn't the limit.
 

FilipFromSweden

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I think there should be a rule with something like 10 on stage but maximum 6 singers or something.
 

tuorem

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Unpopular opinion here: The limit of 6 people on stage is perfect imo, because it encourages delegations to make the most of that very limited number of people, there are no random/useless people. In addition to that, I don't want more people on stage, it's more likely to get crowded and messy. More people would mean more gimmicks basically imo: dancers, fake musicians, etc.

To be honest, nowadays the structure of music groups rarely exceeds 6 people, therefore I don't see why the contest would be better with a greater number of people.
 

zoyuxi

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Unpopular opinion here: The limit of 6 people on stage is perfect imo, because it encourages delegations to make the most of that very limited number of people, there are no random/useless people. In addition to that, I don't want more people on stage, it's more likely to get crowded and messy. More people would mean more gimmicks basically imo: dancers, fake musicians, etc.

To be honest, nowadays the structure of music groups rarely exceeds 6 people, therefore I don't see why the contest would be better with a greater number of people.

I think some limit is definitely a good idea. Then again, it's all a case-by-case basis of what number works best for a particular act. *shrugs* A cappella groups might benefit from more than 6 people, then again some really famous/successful ones have fewer than that (like Pentatonix).

Maybe 8 or 10 as a cap for me. I think a slightly higher limit would allow for more options, while not getting overwhelming.


Now I'm wondering: What if we allowed live animals on stage? How would they count towards the cap?
 

Gera11

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Having 10+ performers & dancers on stage is too south korean style :?
 

Stargazer

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I would be totally OK with an 8 people cap. This would mean the showy entries with a lot of dancers could have background singers as well as dancers without compromising either the dancing or the singing. Plus, with an 8 people cap, bands with more members can enter without having to sacrifice members (like Moldova 2005). A win win situation. :)
 

tuorem

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Now I'm wondering: What if we allowed live animals on stage? How would they count towards the cap?

I hope this will never happen, those poor animals should stay where they are :eek: imagine a lion trying to devour the Azerbaijani backing vocalist during the 3rd dress rehearsal, that would be terrible :lol:
 

lavieenrose

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imagine a lion trying to devour the Azerbaijani backing vocalist during the 3rd dress rehearsal, that would be terrible :lol:

Yes…terrible…
 

Fluke

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I'm surprised noone yet suggested to allow live instruments like it used to be.... seriously, what's their problem with it! Sure some entries wouldn't sound as good, but that's just fair, if the performers screw it up that's their own fault entirely :p
 

r3gg13

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I hope this will never happen, those poor animals should stay where they are :eek: imagine a lion trying to devour the Azerbaijani backing vocalist during the 3rd dress rehearsal, that would be terrible :lol:

Imagine had that rule not been in place, we would have had real wolves this year on stage with Mr. Huseynov :lol: People wouldn't have been able to sleep that night, had something tragic happened on stage :lol:

Funny enough, I could see Azerbaijan putting animals on stage with performers.
 

FilipFromSweden

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Animals shall never ever be allowed on stage
 

marty

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i think one of the problems of the esc is that the music has been getting less important so i would leave it at 6 performers on stage otherwise the dancing and effects and.... would get even more attention.
 
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