We’ve watched every single rehearsal for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 here in the press centre next to Lisbon Altice Arena. During each rehearsal, we get information as to which cameras are being used and how many camera shots, or transitions, are used in each performance. We’ve collated this information for you to read!
Count the camera angles
Underneath the YouTube video below, you can find how many camera transitions there are in every single performance at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. While we get an automated number on screen here in the press centre, you can also count them yourself. For example, we count 15 camera transitions in this clip of Eleni Foureira’s “Fuego”. Can you count them?
Here’s our analysis
We’ve ordered the semi-finals by the number of camera transitions in each country’s full performance. We’ve also categorised each country by the type of song that we believe it is, green for uptempo, orange for midtempo and red for a ballad. See if you can spot any patterns!
Semi-final one
- Bulgaria – 101
- Cyprus – 100
- Czech Republic – 99
- Israel – 96
- Finland – 61
- Albania – 60
- Austria – 52
- Croatia – 48
- Azerbaijan – 47
- F.Y.R. Macedonia – 46
- Estonia – 45
- Greece – 45
- Armenia – 42
- Belarus – 36
- Iceland – 35
- Lithuania – 34
- Switzerland – 31
- Belarus – 25
- Ireland – 23
Semi-final two
- Latvia – 99
- Hungary – 96
- Slovenia – 91
- Sweden – 89
- Australia – 84
- Norway – 75
- Malta – 73
- Moldova – 61
- Poland – 58
- The Netherlands – 53
- San Marino – 53
- Serbia – 52
- Denmark – 49
- Ukraine – 46
- Montenegro – 41
- Georgia – 38
- Russia – 37
- Romania – 30
Automatic qualifiers
- Italy – 48
- United Kingdom – 47
- Germany – 42
- France – 41
- Portugal – 34
- Spain – 30
More camera shots for uptempo songs
As you’d expect, uptempo songs tend to have more camera transitions to translate the energy of the song on screen. Ballads tend to be the opposite, allowing the audience to interact with the emotion of the artist without the interruption of a camera shot transition. There are outliers though. Switzerland’s uptempo “Stones” only containing 31 transitions while the midtempo “Funny Girl” for Latvia has 99 transitions… the most in the second semi-final!
Now, why not tell us how many camera transitions are in Iveta Mukuchyan’s “LoveWave”. You can thank us later!
Let us know your thoughts at @ESCXTRA!
