Sawt Falasteen - Eurovision organisers say 2025 show 'all about surprises'

The Swiss city of Basel will host the glitzy annual television extravaganza at the St. Jakobshalle indoor arena, with the semi-finals on May 13 and 15, and the final on May 17.

Organisers are still working on the set configuration to cram in as many fans as possible -- and left people guessing as to whether a 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 with Canadian then-starlet Celine Dion competed for Switzerland in 1988, launching her career internationally.

Dion gave a star turn to close the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony, in a show-stopping comeback performance.

But Eurovision chiefs are 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," was all Stadler would say.

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.

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

"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."

U.AlSharif--SF-PST