The excitement was no doubt huge for many when an invitation for an upcoming Eurovision concert was sent to their mailbox from the Norwegian Eurovision Fan Club, OGAE Norway. Excitement quickly turned to disappointment however, when it was announced on Friday that the event organiser had no choice but to pull the plug on the imminent concert.
The concert was intended to take place at the Bugården skating rink, in Sandefjord, with major Eurovision names Johnny Logan (IRE 80, 87) and Jan Johansen (SWE 95) as the headlining acts as well as guest appearances from Tom Dice (BEL 10), N’Evergreen (DEN 10) and Jon Lillygreen (CYP 10), who were also supposed to perform during the concert.
Whether or not the event organiser has overpriced their tickets is subject to discussion, but at £40 a pop, there were no doubt there were many, even among the diehard fans, that had reservations about coughing up so much for a ticket. This, coupled with the fact that the organiser had failed to meet a deadline for producing NOK 100.000 (€ 12,565) as a security down payment to the management of the artists involved, proved to be the final nail in the coffin of what was to be one of the summer’s most anticipated concerts in Southern Norway, a mere matter of hours before the event was due to kick off.
The mastermind behind the concert, Hilde Askerød, and her company Music Events has, as a result of the cancellation, been left to foot the bill on her own, which, once plane tickets and artists’ hotel costs have been accounted for, will probably increase to around NOK 150.000 (€ 18,845). Management representing the artists, NAMA, had issued a payment deadline for 12:30 on Friday 23rd. July, by which time they were supposed to have received 50% of the security payment. Askerød had been given NOK 20.000 in financial support from the local council. With a remaining NOK 80.000 to be raised, she then turned to her bank in order to seek help. Her bank, on the other hand, was highly sceptical to the idea and refused to help and shortly after, cancellation was inevitable, leaving no doubt many fans with a bad taste in their mouths.
In my view
I would just like to emphasize that the Norwegian Eurovision Fan Club OGAE had no part in the organising of the event and sending the invitation was merely a service provided for their members.
The opinion expressed in "In my view" are those of the author and are not necessarily the one of EuroVisionary.com.
