Sawt Falasteen - Eurovision chiefs promise 2025 show 'all about surprises'

The Swiss city of Basel is hosting this year's edition of the glitzy extravaganza, one of world's biggest annual live television events.

The kitsch celebration is being staged at the St. Jakobshalle indoor arena, with the semi-finals on May 13 and 15, and the final on May 17.

Organisers are still configuring the set to cram in as many fans as possible -- and are leaving people guessing as to whether a certain megastar will grace the stage.

"Every year, the Eurovision song contest is a very special and unique experience," Eurovision 2025 co-executive producer Moritz Stadler told AFP.

"Eurovision is only about surprises," he said.

"We started last May with only crazy ideas. We made crazy ideas concepts in December. And now since December, we really try to reach what we have imagined in those crazy ideas. So it's all about surprises."

Singing "The Code", Swiss vocalist Nemo's 2024 Eurovision victory in Malmo, Sweden gave Switzerland the right to host this year's edition.

The Swiss won the inaugural song contest in 1956, then triumphed again when Canada's Celine Dion competed for the Alpine nation in 1988, launching her career internationally.

Dion's show-stopping star turn closed the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony.

But Stadler was tight-lipped about whether she might appear in Basel.

"Celine Dion and the Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland go together. That's clear. Now, will she be in Basel? Will she be in the show or not? There are plenty of possibilities and we're working on them," he said.

- 'Pushing the walls' -

The arena stage design is inspired by Switzerland's mountains and linguistic diversity, while the signature music for the show combines yodelling, a Basel drum corps, dulcimers and alphorns.

The first wave of 42,000 tickets sold within 20 minutes, with 250,000 devices in the waiting queue.

The team are still finalising the arena layout, "pushing the walls" to fit as many people in as possible, said Stadler.

"For us, it's extremely important that the Eurovision Song Contest remains the biggest entertainment show on Earth," he said.

"This is what we work for. This is what you will see on screen. This is how we will show Switzerland to the world, to all those 180 million-plus people."

- Carnival spirit -

Beat Lauchli, the host city project leader, said Basel's location bordering France and Germany, its cultural traditions and medium size made it well-placed to welcome Eurovision and its colourful army of devotees.

"People living in Basel have quite an open mind and are ready to welcome Eurovision fans," he told AFP.

Basel hosts one of Europe’s best-known carnivals -- starting this year on Monday -- and Eurovision is hoping to draw on the carnival spirit, its creativity, and its sense of a place that does not take itself too seriously.

The city has put 35 million Swiss francs ($39 million) into hosting Eurovision and is currently on budget. Lauchli said Liverpool recouped about 60 million euros ($63 million) from hosting the 2023 edition and Basel hopes to see similar returns.

Israel's participation in last year's event in Sweden attracted pro-Palestinian demonstrations and Lauchli said Basel would do "whatever we can so that everybody feels safe and secure with us".

A survivor of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack will represent Israel in Basel. When Hamas militants killed over 370 people at the Nova music festival, Yuval Raphael survived by hiding under a pile of bodies.

D.AbuRida--SF-PST