The BBC have appointed the senior team for Eurovision Song Contest 2023, including Executive Producer, Andrew Cartmell.
The BBC’s team almost exclusively relies on talent previously associated with Eurovision at the BBC in the past five years or so, with the exception of just two roles – one outsourced to a member of the Rotterdam team and the other from elsewhere in the BBC.
Eurovision 2023 Team
- Martin Österdahl – Executive Supervisor
- Österdahl continues in his role as the EBU’s Executive Supervisor, having led both Rotterdam 2021 and Turin 2022. Österdahl was previously Executive Producer for the contest in 2013 and 2016.
- Andrew Cartmell – Executive Producer
- Cartmell will be BBC Studios’ Executive Producer for the contest, working directly under Österdahl and taking overall responsibility for producing the three televised shows. Cartmell was the UK’s Head of Delegation in Turin and has worked on the BBC’s coverage of the contest for several years. He was also previously the Executive Producer of BBC series’ All Together Now, Let It Shine, Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two and Lingo.
- Lee Smithurst – Head of Show
- Lee Smithurst will be BBC Studios’ Head of Show. The role is responsible for the creative side of the Eurovision Song Contest leading the editorial direction of everything in the three live shows that aren’t the actual entries. Smithurst has worked on the BBC’s coverage of Eurovision for several years and was the Assistant Head of Delegation in Turin. He is also the BBC’s Head of Delegation for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Yerevan.
- Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen – Head of Contest
- A familiar name to Eurovision fans here, as van de Nieuwenhuijzen has been Head of Contest several times before, having been appointed to the role for Rotterdam 2020, Rotterdam 2021 and Turin 2022. While Smithurst will be responsible creatively for the show as a whole, van de Nieuwenhuijzen role concerns just the live performances and making their presentation as professional and well-produced as possible. He will be working with individual delegations in order to achieve this.
- James O’Brien – Executive in Charge of Production
- The Executive in Charge of Production is responsible for making sure that technically the Eurovision Song Contest is produced and broadcast as expected. He will oversee a team that makes sure of the smooth technical running of the show in the venue and it’s transmission. O’Brien previously fulfilled a similar role on the London 2012 Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games Birmingham 2022 for the BBC.
- Martin Green CBE – Managing Director
- Martin Green’s role will be an overall lead for Eurovision 2023, outside of the televised show itself. He’ll be working closely with the EBU and Eurovision‘s sponsors in order to bring the event to the screen.
- Rachel Ashdown – Lead Commissioner for BBC Studios
- A more unique role for this contest is Rachel Ashdown, who’ll be in charge of making sure the overall look and tone of the show fits in with the BBC and their other Eurovision output which will run in conjunction with the Song Contest. She’ll work with independent production companies to produce content that’ll be released by the BBC to support the final event. This will not only include programmes such as the Allocation Draw and the Opening Ceremony, but potentially other bonus content such as documentaries and some sort of companion show. Ashdown has fulfilled much of this role for the BBC since 2018, and was behind a lot of the BBC’s Eurovision replacement content during 2020.
With a solid team in place, the hard work producing the Eurovision Song Contest Liverpool 2023 can now begin!
