First they were two cities bidding for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, then they became five, but now it appears like only one is left. Aalborg pulls out and others will follow due to them not matching the requirements. In two days the deadline to apply runs out, but at the moment it looks like Copenhagen will host next year’s contest.
The mid Jutlandic city Herning was the first Danish city to offer to host the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest. That already happened before Emmelie de Forest had won in Malmö. Copenhagen as the capital was naturally in the race – and soon after Horsens, Fredericia and Aalborg threw themselves into it as well.
As things look right now only Copenhagen can host the show. Cheif for Aalborg Kongres – og Kulturcenter (which the arena Gigatium is a part of), Ernst Trillingsgaard, recommends the city council to say no to Eurovision based on the information he has received from the Danish broadcaster, DR. Information that, however also makes it clear that the three other Jutlandic cities are out of the race as well.
Ernst Trillingsgaard points out that there are requirements of 3000 double rooms in or very near the centre of the city. Aalborg has 1600 rooms in the centre and as such can not match it. The remaining hotelrooms would be further away, unless you would add hotel-ships in the harbour, which is in the centre of the city, but that Ernst doesn’t see as a possibility. Other hotelrooms would be 5-10 km’s away from the centre or you would have to count in the cottages at the camping place or hostel rooms. Another difficulty regarding the hotel capacity is the fact that Aalborg apparently has two congresses going on in the first week of those two Eurovision weeks. That takes away 500 of the rooms.
Furthermore Ernst speaks out saying that "had we had four years to plan it, I would have liked to be in it. But one year is too little to arrange such a event without the possibility of fiasko. I can imagine all the headlines if we fail: That the North Jutlanders were not able to do".
With the requirement to hotel capacity being 3000 double rooms in the centre Herning, Horsens and Fredericia are out of the picture as well. In Denmark only Coopenhagen is able to match that and it therefore seems like that the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest will take place in the Danish capital.
Update at 13:55 CET: The city council has now officially been voting and only one voted for applying, the rest went against due to the lack of 3000 hotelrooms in the city centre. Should Aalborg have matched the requirements it would have been needed to calculate in hotels based 5-10 km’s outside the centre of the city, the cottages at the camping place and also the hostel.
You might also want to read:
- Cities in play for hosting the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest
- Eurovision 2014: Top Senior Producer appointed by DR
- DR announced Executive Producer for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest
In my view
It seems like the requirements to hotelcapacity has been made tougher for 2014. Several host cities in the past have not been able to match the 3000 rooms in the city centre. Who remembers Düsseldorf where many were staying up to 30 km’s away? And Malmö only matched it as Copenhagen was counted in. And why not count in the cottages at the camping place? Fans are more than happy to have a cottage to stay in – for a cheaper price than hotelrooms – or what about hotelships?
And the thing about needing 4 years to plan it to be sure not to fail is unfortunately typical for Jutland. They have been smashed in the head with this soo many times that it has become a part of their mentality, that they can’t host such things. Fact is that not even Copenhagen or larger cities like London and Paris f.ex can be sure not to fail. There are no guarantees – and larger cities are not better hosts. Eurovision history shows that.
The opinion expressed in "In my view" are those of the author and are not necessarily the one of EuroVisionary.com.
