“As a gay man, it was exciting to see all the LGBTQ+ fans. It was almost like WorldPride came to Liverpool!” says Julio Himede. (He’s not wrong, it was a queer haven.) The director and founder of the New York City-based Yellow Studio – an “artistically-minded” firm that specialises in production design and creative/art direction for TV and live events – embarked on one of his most ambitious (and undeniably gayest/campest) projects to date this year with his team: the 67th Eurovision Song Contest. 

The annual celebration of (quirky, outlandish) pop that unites communities across Europe, champions diversity and the LGBTQ+ community made its return to the UK for the first time in 25 years as a result of Russia’s ongoing invasion in 2022’s winning country, Ukraine. Julio and the team at Yellow Studio were responsible for developing the stage at the Liverpool Arena, a process he describes as “very intense” due to the technical and creative restraints that naturally come with an extravaganza on this scale: “Typically, on a show like Eurovision, you have a romantic period of design where you have three or four months exploring ideas. However, it was a special occasion because of the UK hosting the event on behalf of Ukraine, so the timeframe became shorter and shorter. We only had three weeks to come up with the concept and, once we pitched it, we ran with it. It was an unusual timeline!”