A wry wrap of the week

Summary

The Monocle Daily — "A Wry Wrap of the Week"

Date: May 15, 2026
Host: Andrew Muller
Guest/Contributor: Rob Bound
Special Segment: Eurovision stage design with Florian Vida, interviewed by Fernando Augusto Pacheco

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Monocle Daily presents a characteristically witty wrap-up of the week’s quirkiest happenings and major stories, with a strong flavour of British satire and levity. Highlights include the playful Daily Weekly Quiz, a deep-dive into the peculiarities of Eurovision set design, and a critical yet humorous look at both European and American political and cultural oddities. The tone is engaging, irreverent, and informed—a "wry wrap" indeed.

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Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. The Daily Weekly Quiz (00:55–15:56)

A light-hearted quiz covering recent news stories and pop culture phenomena, matched with friendly banter and musical interludes.

• Most Streamed World Cup Song (01:55–05:11)

  • Question: Which World Cup song is most streamed? Choices: New Order’s "World in Motion," Shakira’s "Waka Waka," Ricky Martin’s "La Copa de la Vida," or Pitbull’s "Olay Hola."
  • Answer: Shakira’s "Waka Waka," with 4.54 billion YouTube streams.
    • “Well done… Waka Waka has been streamed 4.54 billion times on YouTube.” (Rob Bound, 05:11)
  • Memorable Moment: Andrew Muller boogieing to “World in Motion” and Rob’s Fozzie Bear joke.

• Japanese Snack Packaging Crisis (06:17–07:39)

  • Question: How did Calbee react to supply shortages caused by the Iran war?
  • Answer: Switched to black and white packaging due to ink supply issues.
    • “They can’t get the naphtha… used in ink, specifically the gaily coloured inks with which Kalbi packages their non whale flavoured crisps.” (Andrew Muller, 07:24)

• Macron’s Mid-air Slap (08:07–09:24)

  • Question: Why did Brigitte Macron allegedly slap President Macron?
  • Answer: She found a suggestive text from an actress.
    • “It’s the one about the actress.” (Andrew Muller, 09:23)

• Korean Power Napping Contest (09:58–10:57)

  • Question: What contest did people in Seoul join while in fancy dress?
  • Answer: Power napping.
    • “They are gathered for power napping. The event is staged by the Seoul Metropolitan government…" (Andrew Muller, 10:57)

• Theatre Term "Psychodrama" (11:27–13:30)

  • Question: What is psychodrama?
  • Answer: A therapeutic method where patients act out scenes from their life.
    • “He sweeps the board again.” (Rob Bound, 13:30)

• Eurovision: San Marino’s UK Pop Star Cameo (13:41–14:42)

  • Question: Which 80s British pop star joined San Marino’s Eurovision entry?
  • Answer: Boy George.
    • “The San Marino entry… featured the brilliant voice actually of a pop star. I love Boy George.” (Rob Bound, 14:42)

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2. What We Learned This Week (16:12–23:08)

A humorous and occasionally biting roundup of globe-spanning oddities and political tales, marked by clever wordplay and cultural observations.

• Donald Trump: 'Sea' vs 'See' (16:34-17:10)

  • Trump, in a characteristic aside, clarifies he means 'sea' as the ocean, not 'see' as in vision.
    • “A lot of people don’t know what I mean by sea. They think I’m talking about vision. I’m not. I’m talking about sea, like the sea.” (Donald Trump, 17:09)

• Congresswoman Lauren Boebert's UFO Theory (18:50–19:34)

  • Boebert equates UFOs to Old Testament tales of 'fallen angels and Nephilim.'
    • “The more I look into this, the more I see the Old Testament and what was told to us there of fallen angels and nephilim…” (Lauren Boebert, 19:15)

• Trump’s Golden Statue: Modern False Idols (20:00–20:47)

  • At Doral Miami Golf Club, religious leaders unveil a 6.5m golden statue of Trump, ignoring biblical commandments against idol worship.
    • “A bunch of alleged religious eminences had gathered to adore a six and a half metre golden statue of the 45th and indeed 47th President…” (Andrew Muller, 20:15)

• Trump Phone Fiasco (21:47–23:08)

  • Despite 590,000 preorders, no one has received the “Trump Mobile” phone a year after launch; customers will this week receive… an email (which they can't read without a phone).
    • “Nobody among the reported 590,000… who laid down their $100 deposit for a Trump Mobile phone has yet taken delivery of same.” (Andrew Muller, 22:11)
    • “Those discerning technology consumers who had pre-ordered the Trump phone will this week receive an email, though they won’t be able to read it as they don’t have a phone.” (Andrew Muller, 23:08)

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3. Eurovision Stage Design: Interview with Florian Vida (24:12–30:42)

A fascinating behind-the-scenes discussion with the set designer responsible for Eurovision’s iconic and ever-changing stage.

• Differences in Design: Solo Artists vs. Eurovision (24:12–26:38)

  • Solo shows are simpler; Eurovision demands logistics mastery, artistic flexibility, and iconic design under tight turnarounds ("only 40 seconds for this turnaround, which is crazy").
    • “You have multiple artists, as I said, the entire logistics, which is the stuff you don’t see… only 40 seconds for this turnaround, which is crazy.” (Florian Vida, 25:20)

• Austria and Vienna’s 'Secession' as Inspiration (26:38–30:42)

  • The 2026 Eurovision stage is inspired by the Vienna Secession, an art movement led by Gustav Klimt, echoing Austria’s history of “creative revolution.”
    • “I don’t know if you heard about or know what Vienna’s Secession was... a movement or a collective of different artists... It was almost like a creative reset back then... I turned this into a concept for this year’s show...” (Florian Vida, 28:00–29:25)

• Creative Briefs and Artistic Direction (27:00–28:00)

  • Austria’s broadcaster wanted a design that felt “artistic,” “related to art and our culture,” and “different.”
    • “We wanted to feel different. So, just these few phrases, that was my brief.” (Florian Vida, 27:44)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Football Songs:
  "Listeners will want to know that Andrew is can only be described as boogieing along..." (Rob Bound, 02:24)

• On Japan’s Packaging Shortage:
  "They can't get the naphtha... used in ink, specifically the gaily coloured inks..." (Andrew Muller, 07:24)

• On Macrons’ Public Slap:
  “It’s the one about the actress.” (Andrew Muller, 09:23)

• On Trump’s 'Sea/See' Clarification:
  "A lot of people don't know what I mean by sea. They think I'm talking about vision. I'm not. I'm talking about sea, like the sea." (Donald Trump, 17:09)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Quiz Begins: 01:16
• World Cup Song Question: 01:56–05:11
• Japanese Snack Shortage: 06:17–07:39
• Brigitte Macron Slap Story: 08:07–09:24
• Korean Power Napping: 09:58–10:57
• Psychodrama Definition: 11:27–13:30
• San Marino/Eurovision Question: 13:41–14:42
• End of Quiz: 15:56
• What We Learned This Week: 16:12–23:08
• Eurovision Stage Design Interview: 24:12–30:42

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Style and Tone

The episode maintains Monocle’s hallmark blend of dry wit, intelligence, and international perspective. The banter between Andrew Muller and Rob Bound is affable and sharp, punctuated by musical clips, cultural references, and offbeat anecdotes. Satirical commentary runs through political segments, particularly those focused on US politics and Eurovision’s eccentricities.

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For Further Listening

• Explore Eurovision’s cultural impact via Monocle’s Eurovision desk (Fernando Augusto Pacheco).
• For more Monocle Daily quizzes and discussion of current affairs with a tongue-in-cheek lens, tune in every Friday.

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Recommendation:
This episode is a must-listen for those who appreciate international current affairs laced with humour, pop culture trivia, and quirky human stories—perfect for anyone seeking a smart yet entertaining summary of the week in news.

Transcript

[A]

You're listening to the Monocle Daily. First broadcast on the 15th of May, 2026 on Monocle Radio are cameos by venerable British pop stars, a passport to the Eurovision final. Why Eurovision looks the way it looks. And where is your Trump phone? I'm Andrew Muller. The Monocle Daily starts now. Hello and welcome to the Monocle Daily. Coming to you from our studios here at Midori House in London. I'm Andrew Muller. It's our Friday Daily, so we'll have our daily weekly quiz, our weekly wrap up of what we've learned and more. Stay tuned. That's all coming up right here on the Monocle Daily. Welcome to the Monocle Daily with me, Andrew Muller. And I am joined first of all, as is becoming common on the Friday Monocle Daily by my fellow contributors, editor Rob Bound. Hello, Rob. Welcome back to the Friday Daily.

[B]

It's wonderful to be here. As every Friday. It's wonderful to be here. The Lagonda is idling outside with the chilled champagne in the back for the winner of this quiz, Andrew. Yeah, it's become a fixture, hasn't it?

[A]

It has, because, as you cunningly foreshadow, we will be starting today's show as we so often have in recent weeks, with the Daily Weekly Quiz, as we've decided to call it. And by golly, we are sticking with that theme. The rules, Rob, for listeners unfamiliar with them, are we get three questions each to put to each other. Each is multiple choice. At the end of it, someone wins, you go first.

[B]

All right? Okay. So for the daily weekly quiz, Question one.

[A]

Andrew.

[B]

The first halftime show at a football World cup final was announced this week and it'll feature Madonna, Shakira and bts. What, though is the best selling or most streamed World cup song? Is it A World In Motion by New Order?

[A]

Express yourself. Create the space you know you can win don't give up the chase Beat the man, take him on.

[B]

Listeners will want to know that Andrew is can only be described as boogieing along to the. The baseless World In Motion there by New Order. That was the England song for the 1990 World cup in Italy. Or was it B? Waka Waka by Shakira? Sadly, no sexy shimmy from Andrew Miller there to Shakira's Waka Wacka. I thought that was Fozzie the Bear's.

[A]

It was. That was the South African World cup, wasn't it?

[B]

That was, yeah. 20.

[A]

And obviously they had to get a Colombian artist to do that because there are famously no musicians whatsoever in Africa.

[B]

No one could do that. No.

[A]

An entire continent with literally no musical heritage whatsoever that they could possibly have borrowed from. By way of a theme. Before anybody gets too wound up. Yes. As I hope is clear from my tone, I am being as sarcastic as I know how to be.

[B]

Was it maybe C La Coppa della Vida. The cup of Life by Ricky Martin. Do you really want it?

[C]

Do you really want it? Do you really want it?

[A]

That's Ricky Martin doing his song.

[B]

Yes, it is.

[A]

Which World cup did he do his song for?

[B]

That particular one was for the 1998 World World cup in France. Your fourth option is Olay Hola by Pitbull featuring Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leche. Andrew looks angry. Whereas Andrew looked crestfallen at Ricky Martin. He looks genuinely angry. A Pitbull there. That was for the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

[A]

That was genuinely unpleasant.

[B]

So we had World In Motion by New ordered for the 1990 World Cup. Waka Waka by Shakira. La Copa de la Vida, the Cup of Life by Ricky Martin or Olle Hola by Pitbull. Which is the best selling or most streamed of those releases?

[A]

This is not a qualitative judgment. I think there's one genuinely great record in there. I do think World In Motion by New Order is an absolute humdinger. But of those options, I'm pretty sure the most streamed, possibly just a reflection of her musical stature, is at the Shakira one.

[B]

Well done. Yeah. Borrowing heavily from Fozzie Bears oeuvre, Waka waka waka waka waka Waka Waka has been streamed 4.54 billion times on YouTube. Ricky Martin's song, though, reached number one in 30 countries. And because this. This part of the quiz wouldn't be the same without it. And possibly your favorite bit of that song. Shall we listen to John Barnes's rap from World in Motion?

[A]

Obviously.

[C]

You got to hold and give but do it at the right time. You can be slow or fast but you must get to the line? They'll always hit and hurt you. Defend and attack. There's only one way to beat them. Get round the back, Catch me if you can? Cause I'm the kneeling man and what you're looking at is the master plan. We ain't no hooligan. Still saying a football song. Three lions on my chest. I know we can't go wrong.

[A]

John Barnes there with his most useful contribution in an England shirt. My first question does not have any musical interludes, which may be a blessed relief to our listeners at this point. And my question is this the Japanese comestible Leviathan. I just wanted to write the phrase Leviathan. Kalbi this week reacted to shortages occasioned by the war in Iran by making what radical alteration to their product. Was it A, slashing the price of its chocolate banana flavoured fugre cereal? Was it B, suspending niche crisp flavours including seaweed whale and daikon radish? Was it C, launching a new range of appropriately austere flavourless crisps? Or was it D, switching to black and white packaging? Wow.

[B]

That's a very good question. I spend at least three weeks a year in Japan. I know the place well. I love a 711 or a Lawson, a snack shop. The range of crisps are incredible.

[A]

They are.

[B]

They probably run on some bizarre flavourings that might be something to do with. I'm going with the crisps, Andrew. The lack of niche flavours. Rob, you are. I've gotten bad at this.

[A]

No, what they have done is they have switched to black and white packaging because, and I found this interesting, they can't get the naphtha and naphtha, if that's how it's pronounced, N, A, P, H, T, H A is an oil refining by product used in ink, specifically the gaily coloured inks with which Kalbi packages their non whale flavoured crisps. And prices of naphtha have doubled since the war began. So question two from you, Rob.

[B]

All right. The world guffawed in May last year as the French presidential jet touched down in Hanoi. When the door opened to allow Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron to wave to their Vietnamese hosts, it appeared that Brigitte slapped her husband in the face with decent right hook. This week, a book was published in France that claims to know the reason for that slap. Was it supposedly because A Emmanuel Macron had a fledgling relationship with a Vietnamese girl while he was at La Providence, the high school he attended and at which Brigitte was a drama teacher. On landing, Macron joked that he'd love to go out and look her up again in Hanoi. Was it B, Emmanuel Macron suggested at the last minute that he should walk down the steps on his own to project himself as a singularly powerful world leader. Brigitte apparently retorted, what? And I should carry your valise? Slapped him. C Brigitte found a suggestive text message on her husband's phone from an actress and was furious about the idea of, according to the book, being erased. Or D Emmanuel Macron suggested at the last minute that Brigitte should stay on board until the cameras had gone, as he thought she'd Had a few too many glasses of the Elyse Palace's wonderful Poulagny Montrachet.

[D]

Rob.

[A]

Deliciously plausible though all those answers are. I'm going to have to upset you by admitting that I do know the answer.

[B]

I'm so annoyed.

[A]

It's the one about the actress.

[B]

Indeed. Yes. I think. I think you presenting the daily. On a daily basis.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

Is playing to your favor here.

[A]

It kind of is being obliged to keep up with the news or indeed the gossip, etc.

[B]

Do you want an extra bonus point for knowing what a slap is in French?

[A]

What? As in. What is the French word for slap? That. I've got no idea.

[B]

Clack.

[A]

That's good.

[B]

Yeah, it's quite an onomatopoeic word.

[A]

I'm very fond of that. Okay, well that, that, as I understand I'm floundering here. Is it one?

[B]

It's two nil to you. Two nil.

[A]

Is it two nil already? Well, question two to you then, Rob. In Seoul, hundreds of people turned up at the Yeouido Hangang park, most wearing fancy dress to take part in an annual contest of. What is it? A cabbage hurling, B power napping, C frog steeple chasing or D endurance tuber.

[B]

Wow, these are excellent choices. The cabbage. I think Asians have more respect for food than to be throwing it around.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I think the. The tuber thing. I think the Koreans again, they're kind of. I can't see them doing the tuber. The non stop tuber thing. I. I think it's the weird. They're in a fancy dress. It's the frog hopping thing. The frog steeplechase.

[A]

Frog steeple chasing it.

[D]

No, they.

[A]

They are gathered.

[B]

Rob.

[A]

For power napping. The event is staged by the Seoul Metropolitan government. Trying to promote better sleep. The South Koreans consistently rank high among the world's most overworked and sleep deprived nations. The runner UP was a 37 year old office worker called Hwang Do Song. The winner was only ever reported as a man in his 80s. Let's hope he was just napping, etc. I think this gives me an already unassailable lead. But seeing as how we're here any. Rob, let's have question three.

[B]

This week British political commentators have been engaged in an orgy of intrigue about the future of the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer. Their favourite adjective to describe the current scene is a psychodrama. Other than as a definition for a work of fiction in which the character's psychology is the main concern, what is psychodrama? Is It a a key element of the Theatre of the Absurd, a branch of experimental drama in the early 20th century personified by the works of Bertolt Brecht, Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco, thematically centred around of existence. Is it B a series of experiments developed in secret by the US military in the early 1970s in which soldiers perform short plays incorporating peaceful gestures such as laying guns on the ground, holding hands and reciting the words of pro peace pop songs such as imagine, which I know you love, with the aim of these peaceful vibes being absorbed by the minds of Soviet soldiers. Is it C a method used in psychotherapy initiated by the Romanian born psychiatrist Jacob Levy, in which patients act out scenes from their life to reveal, explore and solve problems or D a new documentary time to catch World cup fever, about the footballer who put the manic into talismanic former England defender Stuart Psycho Pearce.

[A]

I'm going to rule out answer D. That sounds a bit too whimsical. I'm tempted by the one mentioning Samuel Beckett just so I can alert any listeners who are not aware of this that the Irish Navy's current frontline patrol craft are all named after Irish writers. One of them is the Le Samuel Becket. You can do all the jokes yourself about how it just never leaves port because what's the point?

[B]

Do not move.

[A]

Exactly. The one about the US military is also tempting because they have got up to all sorts of genuinely mad stuff in terms of trying to further psychological warfare. I'm going to go, however, with C. He sweeps the board again.

[B]

He does sweep the board again.

[A]

See, Rob, if your scores don't improve a few years from now, you may be recreating these quizzes with your therapist, trying to figure out if this is where it all went wrong.

[B]

Oh my God.

[A]

You can now salvage some pride, Rob. Possibly, yes. This is more rooted in very contemporary events and they are cultural events to which you may have paid an amount of attention in the first Eurovision semi final on Tuesday night. The amusing hilltop republic of San Marino failed to qualify for Saturday's final despite a cameo appearance in their dreadful song from which prominent in the 80s British pop star was it A Matt Goss out of Bros, B Boy George out of Culture Club, C Adam Ant out of Adam and the Ants, or D Andrew Eldritch out of Sisters of Mercy.

[B]

These are all toothsome options. I fortunately did hear the news this morning and I think the San Marino entry was only mentioned because it featured the brilliant voice actually of a pop star. I love Boy George,

[A]

That is Rob almost Incredibly, at this point, the correct answer. Let's hear a bit of it.

[C]

Come on.

[D]

All the girls on the dance floor. Freaking sand.

[A]

He joined San Marino's Senhit on superstar. Senhit is in fact Italian, born and raised in Bologna. But San Marino, there's a bit of a numbers issue. There's only about three people who live there and I mean, I, I have been there. It is, it is genuinely delightful. I recommend it. But she also, by way of demonstrating that everyone in San Marino has to sort of double up on stuff. She crashed and burned in the semi Finals in 2011, was denied by Covid 2020, finished 22nd in the final in 2021. San Marino is now reportedly threatening to poach more British pop stars for future Eurovisions. So weirdly, Rob, that may be the UK's best chance of ever winning again. Rob bound, better luck next week.

[B]

Well, well played, Andrew. Congratulations to you. I shall see you this time again, to my chagrin,

[A]

This is the Monocle Daily with me, Andrew Muller. And sticking with the established theme of the events of the last seven days, here is our regular assessment of what they should have taught us. We learned this week that words which sound the same can have two different meanings.

[E]

Interesting.

[A]

Tell me more.

[E]

See where this goes.

[A]

We were pretty excited as well. We learned this from US President Donald Trump, who. And not for the first time, and we're glad he did it again because we wanted to run with this last week but ran out of room, wanted us to be very clear about the difference between sea and sea.

[D]

What a job our military and others are doing. With respect. Is that right, Paul? With respect to drugs coming in by sea, meaning drugs coming in by water. Water, by the ocean, by the sea. A lot of people don't know what I mean by sea. They think I'm talking about vision. I'm not. I'm talking about sea, like the sea.

[A]

Sniffing a lot there. Terrible thing. Hay fever. Anyway, we learned therefrom that drug trafficking is conducted primarily by stacking the merchandise on boats rather than by looking at it, perhaps applying some manner of telekinesis, which is not a point we for one humourous news review believed required clarification. But perhaps President Trump knows his voters better than we do and we learn to anticipate just tremendous things. When Trump acquaints himself with the full range of homophones of this ilk, sends the Coast Guard to intercept a drug boat and therefore seize a seize on seas. And we surely have a Spanish or Italian speaking staff member on hand who will concurrent see thanks Anita. We learned, however, That it may just be that the President is growing somewhat deaf in his dotage, as we learned, and also not for the first time, that when people clamour for him to release the Epstein files, he hears something else. The Pentagon releasing photos, videos and reports of some 400 unresolved UFO sightings from the past 80 years. Epstein Marsheen. Easy mistake to make. We learned there from, and as usual, that most of the encounters with extraterrestrials thus detailed do rather read as the gibbed hallucinations of the hapless moonshine soused yokels for whom the super intelligent emissaries of alien civilizations so advanced as to have mastered hypersonic intergalactic travel always seem so keen to interact with. Like, you never see them landing their flying saucers in the quad at Trinity College Cambridge and asking for a yarn with the professors, do you? But we learn to set aside such cynicism, for we learned that one prominent conservative thinker, specifically Colorado Congresswoman and idiot Lauren Boebert, had divined what was really going on.

[F]

The more I look into the this, the more I see the Old Testament and what was told to us there of fallen angels and nephilim. I mean, this is in the Bible. There's nothing that says that fallen angels, that nephilim just disappeared.

[A]

And who can argue with that? Well, you could, but what would be the point? We learned anyway that a cohort of Congresswoman Boebert's fellow Christians were in the process of busily rethinking their adherence to the Old Testament, specifically to Exodus 20, better known as the Ten Commandments, particularly Commandments 1, 2 and very arguably 3.

[D]

The pastor who unveiled a 22 foot

[E]

golden statue of, you know, who is defending himself against critics who are comparing it to the golden calf scene from the Ten Commandments.

[A]

Yes, we learned that at the Donald Trump owned National Doral Miami Golf Club, a bunch of alleged religious eminences had gathered to adore a six and a half metre golden statue of the 45th and indeed 47th President, who called to make a characteristically self effacing contribution to the kind of ceremony more commonly associated with with countries where the President has renamed the days of the week after his pet herons and the months of the year after his own toes. Though on that thought, he does have another two and a half years to go. So nothing's impossible.

[D]

I want to thank you so much for being there today and more importantly, for what you did. The statue is beautiful. You know, I saw it during the weekend. We had a big PGA tournament with a great champion and all great champions actually. But it was a great tournament and I got to look at it very

[A]

closely and people accuse him of phoning it in. But. Yes, that's the original by the nerves. Not even the better known cover by Blondie. That's just how cool we are at the what We Learned News review every Friday on Monocle Radio. Because from the very fact that Trump did dial in to this extremely normal and absolutely dignified and not in any way demented dingbat jamboree, we learned that there is one thing that the man who has everything does not have, which is a Trump phone, as nobody does.

[F]

You know, it's been nearly a year since the announcement of this new wireless service called Trump Mobile, but so far it seems like customers have been left on hold.

[A]

Very good. Does your scriptwriter want a job? We learned that nearly a year since the gold plated Trump branded Trump Mobile phone was launched amid considerable ballyhoo.

[C]

Yay.

[E]

Yay.

[C]

Oh my God,

[A]

what a result. Okay, so our ballyhoo game needs work. Nobody among the reported 590,000 credulous Rangers, Rubes, sorry, decent, earnest, misunderstood left behind heartlanders who laid down their $100 deposit for a Trump Mobile phone has yet taken delivery of same. Well, quite imagine a gap between promise and delivery involving the hitherto absolutely 100% rock solid Trump brand, a name at least as synonymous with all American dependability as En Route Madoff or Ponsse. But we learned of a development.

[F]

Introducing the new T1 phone from Trump Mobile, a powerful device designed for performance, reliability and real American value.

[A]

We learned via a replies switched off social media post attached to the almost certainly not AI generated pitch you just heard that those discerning technologies consumers who had pre ordered the Trump phone will this week receive. An email, though they won't be able to read it as they don't have a phone. Finally on today's program, Florian Vida is the man responsible for building this year's Eurovision stage and it's the 10th time he's doing it. Vida has worked with major artists such as Beyonce and more recently Return gig in Seoul. But Eurovision is a different story involving multiple artists, each with their own vision. Monocle Radio's Eurovision desk chief, Fernando Augusto Pacheco, sat down with Florian in Vienna to ask him how it all worked.

[E]

It's just something completely different and the way how you could divide it in the best way from a designer's point of view is, you know, if I'm working with a or For a certain talent, it's their show, so. Which is kind of easier because it's less. There are less requirements. And I'm dealing, in a way with a client. They rather like it or they don't like it, but if they like it, it's pretty straightforward. So you don't have, like, too many people. If there is. I don't know if. And it's the talent's decision if they want to spend a little more money and do something, or to make an idea work that actually makes it special or. And all this kind of stuff. So this is what makes it easier to work with a talent. And as I said, the entire creative is just focused on this one art and make this artist look as good as possible and support this artist in the best possible way. The requirements on a show like Eurovision are completely different because you have so many different artists. And beside this, you have to. Every year, actually, you have to create an iconic look so that people understand, okay, that's whatever. Then the idea is behind this. It's always different, mostly related to the country or the country's culture, at least. This is how it works in my case, or that's what I'm doing. And then just the requirements. You know, you have multiple artists, as I said, the entire logistics, which is the stuff you don't see, which is behind the stage, having these tons of props coming in and out, and There are only 40 seconds for this turnaround, which is crazy. You need a green room and all these kind of things that are very specific for Eurovision. And of course, it helps if you do this or if you did this several times and you already know, and then you just do things automatically and you have a list, okay, did I check this? Did I check this? And this and this. But that's something, you know, it's more of an experience thing. But it's from a design point of view and also in. Of terms, in terms of creative process, it's very comparable with any other shows. But if you take, I don't know, shows like MTV Awards, where you also have multiple artists, or MTV EMAs, and all these shows, so it's very, very comparable to Eurovision in a way, beside a few things, because you don't have a green room, it's other things needed.

[G]

This is your second Eurovision in Vienna and you're quite close to Austria. You even have kind of a family connection. So, I mean, when you're looking at the stage, when you're doing the preparation, do you think about the country? How can I actually represent Austria, which, you know is a fascinating country, so much culture, history and good food, I

[A]

have to say as well.

[E]

Well, you know, when we, when I do or when I meet with the client the first time, my ideal scenario is that I already walk out of this meeting with a at least initial idea. So we had this very early meeting and they had no idea. But they what they. Nobody had an idea what the show is going to be, but what they did. And that was actually what helped me the most to find this idea. They just described what they actually looking for. They said, okay, we don't want to show off too much and should feel artistic and should feel related to art and our culture and what Austria stands for and Austria's past in terms of art and history and culture. And I walked out of this meeting and then it took me a day or two and I thought, oh, another most important thing. They said, okay, we wanted to feel different. So that was another thing. So just these few phrases, actually, that was my brief. All the rest, like all the technical requirements, I know all this. So we didn't talk about this part. It was purely about, okay, how should this show feel? And all this combined, I walked away and one day or two days later I had this idea. And I don't know if you heard about or know what Vienna's Secession was is. Vienna Secession was like late 1800s, early 1900s. And it was like a movement or a collective of different artists. And Gustav Klimt is the most famous one. And they, it was almost like a creative revolution. So they said, okay, let's just trash all the old stuff, the way how art was made in terms of painting and just lets it do in a different way. And it was almost like a creative reset back then. And I just liked this idea. So I started doing more research and reading more about it and really collected more and more information about it. And then I thought, wow, that's perfect, Perfect, let's do this should be our inspiration. Because it was like a total match to what the network actually wanted and what they were looking for. So we took this and it was not only about paintings. They are like just at the same time here. Like opera used to be very conservative, as, you know, old style opera, which is great. But back then, then they had directors and composers for operas. And they said, okay, no, let's do it just different and let's do an opera just with lights. And they trashed all the scenic stuff. So like, you know, it was just a. It's like it describes a little bit the step between the, like, the old art world and the new art world. And I quite like this. And this really triggered me and I turned this into a concept for this year's show. And you'll see in the opening, which I also did as a creative director, it actually tells a little bit, this kind of story. So it's not about, like, what we did from an architectural point of view and conceptual point of view, it's actually the entire story. So you'll find this in several different moments of the grand finale.

[A]

That was Monocle Radio's Eurovision desk chief, Fernando Augusto Pacheco, speaking to Florian Vida, set designer of this year's competition in Vienna. And that is all for this edition of the Monocle Daily. Thanks to our guest, Rob Bound. Today's show was produced by Christy o'. Grady. Our sound engineer was Steph Chungu and Andrew Muller here in London. The Daily is back at the same time on Monday. Thanks for listening and have a terrific Eurovision weekend.