Eurovision Song Contest 2026 – ORF sets new standards in creativity and sustainability with lighting design
ORF sets new standards with the lighting design at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna: technically, creatively, and above all, sustainably. The overall visual concept by internationally renowned lighting designer Tim Routledge includes more than 2,100 LED and laser units as well as over 8,500 individually controllable LEDs. Additionally, for the first time, 80 high-speed winches provide movable lighting effects—a first for the world's largest TV entertainment event, whose three live shows will be broadcast on ORF 1 and on ORF ON.
The Eurovision Song Contest with its final show on May 16 at the Wiener Stadthalle presents a lighting design that gives each performance its own visual signature and is supposed to transform the arena into a dynamic, immersive space. Lighting designer Tim Routledge emphasizes that big images and sustainable production are not contradictory: for the first time, a completely LED and laser-based system is used, completely replacing traditional lighting and significantly reducing energy consumption, waste heat, and material usage. This allows the ESC 2026 to achieve a 100 percent share of modern, energy-saving technology and sets new standards in sustainability.
The scale of the implementation is enormous: Hundreds of crew members will be busy for weeks in the Stadthalle with the setup, programming, and integration of video, automation, and camera technology. A team of lighting programmers will be working around the clock to precisely coordinate every single light signal. All effects are already being created in an extensive 3D animation one month before arriving in Vienna.
Tim Routledge is an internationally multi-award-winning lighting designer for concerts, TV, and large events, including BAFTA winner for the ESC lighting design 2023 (Liverpool). He has worked for Beyoncé, Sam Smith, Helene Fischer, and the Spice Girls, as well as for numerous TV formats from BBC, ITV, Netflix, and CBS. For him, working with ORF after Liverpool and Basel last year is now his third ESC lighting design: "Eurovision is all about big moments. The challenge was therefore to create something that looks impressive and grand, while at the same time being much more responsible behind the scenes. The fact that we are relying 100 percent on LED and laser technology on this scale shows that you can have both – spectacular images and sustainable production.”
First visualizations of the lighting design can be seen on YouTube:
(March 11, 2026)