Today it has been formally announced by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) that Jon Ola Sand, the current executive supervisor & head of live events, will step down in May next year following the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest.

Jon Ola Sand took up the position almost a decade ago in 2011, a year after being the executive producer for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest hosted in his home country of Norway. However, his involvement with the Song Contest has spanned over 20 years with his former position as the head of delegation for Norway.

With the public release of the news, Jon Ola Sand spoke fondly of his past nine years in the role;

“I have been involved with the Eurovision Song Contest for over 20 years. First as Head of Delegation for Norway, then as Executive Producer in Oslo in 2010 and I have been privileged to have been the captain of the ship in Geneva for the past 9 years.

Rotterdam will be my 10th Contest as Executive Supervisor and it seems a good time to pass on the baton and take on a new challenge at NRK. In my new role I will work to ensure that NRK continues to be a world-class public broadcaster and will be in the best possible shape for the future.”

Jon Ola Sand

The next step for Jon Ola Sand will be a return to Norway where he will be taking up a new role at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), overseeing their new broadcasting strategy to create a ‘powerful, innovative and forward-looking organization’.

For the next year, however, he will continue to manage all preparations for the 65th Eurovision Song Contest to be hosted in Rotterdam, the Netherlands next May. He will also be overseeing the 2019 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, due to take place in Gliwice-Silesia, Poland this November.

The EBU have confirmed that they will conduct a selective search for Jon Ola’s successor – with initial speculation suggesting Christer Björkman or Sietse Bakker could be the replacement.

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