As a technical supplier to the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, audio specialist Sennheiser and its local partner Magnelusa have supplied Digital 6000 wireless microphones and 2000 series wireless monitors to the world’s largest live music event, hosted by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP).
With rehearsals ongoing since 22 April, the equipment is already in heavy use in Lisbon’s Altice Arena and the ESC press centre. With 43 participating nations, the 63rd Eurovision Song Contest will feature live broadcasts of the 2 semi-finals on 8 and 10 May 2018 and the grand finale on 12 May 2018.
All artists will rely on Digital 6000 microphones, and use either SKM 6000 handhelds with MD 9235 dynamic capsules, or SK 6000 bodypacks with Sennheiser custom headmics. For wireless monitoring, 2000 series systems will be on duty: Rack-mount SR 2050 IEM two-channel transmitters transmit their signals via A 5000-CP circularly polarised antennas to the artists’ EK 2000 IEM bodypack receivers. A large number of bodypacks ensures that all artist groups and the technical crew can be provided with high-quality audio signals.
Volker Schmitt, Director Customer Development & Application Engineering at Sennheiser, and his team will be on site to provide technical support for the wireless systems: “We are excited to be technical suppliers to the ESC, the world’s largest live music broadcast, and very much look forward to working with Daniel Bekerman, the Head of Sound for this magnificent series of live shows.”
For backstage communications, the new Command function of the 6000 series is being used to enable the ESC’s technical team to establish talkback links, for example for the stage director or the liaison manager. For this, the crew uses special SKM 9000 COM handheld transmitters or SK 6000 bodypack transmitters that have been Command-enabled via the KA 9000 COM Command switch.
Digital 6000 microphones are also used in the press centre, where conferences and Q&A sessions make use of EM 6000 receivers and SKM 6000 handhelds with Neumann cardioid KK 204 condenser microphone heads.
Volker Schmitt concluded: “Altogether, more than 100 wireless channels will be in use for audio alone. This will be an ideal environment for Digital 6000 to demonstrate its spectrum efficiency. As the system has been designed to be intermodulation-free, we can arrange its transmission frequencies in an equidistant grid, saving spectrum for other wireless applications.”