Telenor Arena Chosen as Eurovision Song Contest Venue in 2010
Alexander Rybak. Photo: Baard Lunde.
Telenor Arena is a multi-use indoor stadium located at Fornebu a few minutes drive west of downtown Oslo. This ultra modern indoor stadium can seat 23.000 spectators in concerts and has already hosted international stars as Tina Turner and AC/DC. In Norway the arena is famous for being the home pitch for last year’s championship football club Stabæk. The stadium was opened ahead of the 2009 season in Norwegian football.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to be part of this,” says Sales and Marketing Director Heidi Thon of VisitOSLO. “The next months are going to be hard work and great fun, thanks to among others Alexander Rybak and Norwegian Broadcasting. Together with everything else happening in and around Oslo we are gong to attract even more visitors than ever!”
In June 2008, the telecommunications company Telenor acquired the naming rights to the stadium in a deal lasting until 2018. Prior to this, the stadium was known informally as Fornebu Arena, and while still in the concept stages as Blue Dream Arena. It is also referred to by supporters as Hangar’n (the hangar in English), as the stadium resembles a hangar and is located on the premises of the former main airport of Oslo.
The structure is an enormous yet aesthetic single-tiered bowl attached to a seven-storey building on one side containing retail space, restaurants and bars for the premium-priced seats, executive boxes, and offices. It has a fixed roof covering both the stands and the pitch. For football matches and other sporting events the total capacity is approximately 15,600, whereas for concerts it is up to 23,000.
The stadium was officially opened on 8 March 2009 with a “Charity Shield”-style match between league champions Stabæk and cup champions Vålerenga, which ended in a 3–1 win for Stabæk. Daniel Nannskog scored the first ever Stabæk goal at Telenor Arena in the 19th minute of the game. The net proceeds of the match were donated to UNICEF.
The Eurovision Song Contest Finals will be arranged during the last week of May 2010.
Source: VisitOlso.com
