The show in Vienna wouldn't be as spectacular without the men in black who move around the stage during and between the performers like ninja fighters.
You will hardly notice them on TV, but a small team of stage technicians, nicknamed “ninjas”, from Eurovision 2026 achieves a performance as impressive as that of the artists on stage: changing the scenery of the countries in the 48 seconds between performances, writes Reuters.
Although a huge LED screen stage and backdrop provide many of the visual cues, each of the 25 countries competing in Saturday's pageant final has its own physical set that must be transported to and from the stage and, in the case of pageant favorite Finland, set on fire. All in less than a minute.
Spectators watching the contestants' performances filmed what happens on stage and is not seen on TV. For example, in the case of the Finnish violinist, Linda Lampenius, a technician dressed all in black holds the train of her dress so that the artist can run to another part of the stage, where another technician helps her onto the next set, two chairs, to continue playing.
@lindalampeniusofficial 4 seconds 🙏 @Eurovision #eurovision #liekinheitin #fyp ♬ Liekinheitin – Linda Lampenius & Pete Parkkonen
And during the representation of the Republic of Moldova, Eurovision fans immortalized the moment when the artist singing alongside Satoshi is placed on a platform covered with a material that gave the impression of a huge dress.
@topkatuk @Satoshi #eurovision #esc #moldova #viral #fyp ♬ original sound – ESC Tim
“That's the time these 20 or so people have to go from one 'prop' to another and from setting up and taking down the set from one show to the next. It's simply incredible what they manage to accomplish,” said Christian Elgner, who, as head of the props department, oversees the sets.
Every move must be carefully planned and rehearsed by the group of twenty-something stage technicians who are dressed all in black.
It's an all the more impressive feat considering they're mostly locals doing this as a sideline.
“We always have to be on the run and we are not allowed to make mistakes, because once we make a mistake, the show is over,” said Ahmed Abdelati, a civil engineering student from Egypt who lives in Austria.
“I work here because I love music, just like my other colleagues,” he said.
In just a few weeks, the team in black has become a well-oiled machine.
“I'm not sure who coined the term first, but it's caught on in the last three, four days: backstage ninjas. I mainly call them dancers because the assembly of the set is done by dancing — it's choreographed,” Elgner said.
“So far there have been no major incidents. We iterate often enough to always learn from the mistakes we make and perfect everything,” she added.
