Jon Ola Sand (; born 21 December 1961) is a
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
television executive. He was the
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
's Executive Supervisor of the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
from
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
to
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
.
Personal life
He is the son of revue writer and actor
Bjørn Sand
Bjørn Hjalmar Sand (born 19 September 1928) is a Norwegian revue writer and actor.
He was born in Oslo, and is half brother of Rolf Sand. He married Unni Bernhoft in 1955, is son-in-law of Bias Bernhoft and is the father of Jon Ola Sand. He is ...
and actress
Unni Bernhoft
Unni Elisabeth Bernhoft (born 4 March 1933) is a Norwegian actress and tobacco retailer.
Personal life
Bernhoft was born in Oslo to singer and revue writer Bias Bernhoft and Margit Haug, and is a granddaughter of Tobias Bernhoft. She is married ...
. He grew up at
Vinderen
Vinderen is a neighbourhood in the Vestre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. It was a separate borough until 1 January 2004, when it was incorporated into the newly established borough of Vestre Aker.
Its amenities include Vinderen station.
The prosp ...
in Oslo,
and has a brother and a sister. His brother, , is an actor and author.
As of May 2010, Sand was in a
cohabiting
Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increas ...
relationship with the Swedish choreographer Mattias Carlsson. Sand lives in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
, Switzerland.
In October 2010, Sand was a passenger on the train
that derailed at
Skotterud
Skotterud is the administrative centre of Eidskog Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located along the Norwegian National Road 2 and the Kongsvingerbanen railway line. Skotterud sits about south of the town of Kongsvinger ...
in
Hedmark
Hedmark () was a county in Norway before 1 January 2020, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar.
Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged i ...
, Norway. The incident resulted in some 40 people being injured.
Career
Sand appeared in a minor role in the 1980 film ''At dere tør!'',
having graduated the same year from the music branch of his local upper secondary school.
[ As a teenager he played the drums in a hard rock band, which eventually led him being hired by ]NRK
NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...
, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation as a researcher for a music TV programme.[ He started his television career in NRK in 1981, and advanced via programme secretary to producer and project leader, eventually leading major productions and co-productions at NRK. He had a stint in the competing channel TV 2 from 1992 to 1996. Sand is a member of the ]International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (IATAS) is an American nonprofit membership organization, based in New York City, composed of leading media and entertainment executives across all sectors of the television industry, from ov ...
.
Television shows produced or directed by Sand include the Nobel Peace Prize Concert
The Nobel Peace Prize Concert (Norwegian and Swedish: '')'' has been held annually since 1994 on 11 December, to honour the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The award ceremony on 10 December takes place in Oslo City Hall, while the concert has been ...
, the Amanda Award show and Melodi Grand Prix
Melodi Grand Prix (), commonly known as Grand Prix and MGP, sometimes as Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix ( no, Norsk Melodi Grand Prix), is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK). It dete ...
.[
]
Eurovision Song Contest
From 1998 to 2005, he headed the Norwegian delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2010, Sand was appointed as the Executive Producer of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010
The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song "Fairytale (Alexander Rybak song), Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. Organise ...
, held in Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
, Norway.[ Sand is a television producer for the Norwegian television channel NRK, which was responsible for holding the festival in 2010, when Sand was the chief of production for the event.][
On 26 November 2010, Sand was appointed as the ]European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
's Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
, after Svante Stockselius
Stig Svante Stockselius (; born 31 December 1955) is a Swedish journalist and television executive. He was the executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest from 2004 to 2010 and the Junior Eurovision Song Contest from 2003 to 2010.
Early ...
resigned from the role, the new position began on 1 January 2011. Sand reportedly edged out 39 other applicants. As Executive Supervisor, Sand has the last call with regards to the production of the Eurovision Song Contest, with the ability to overrule the producers, and instruct. He is also responsible for the organization of the voting system of the contest.[ He made his debut as Executive Supervisor at the 2011 contest in ]Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
. Sand was later appointed as the Executive Supervisor for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the fourteenth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which took place at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, in Valletta, Malta. This was the second time that Malta have hosted the Jun ...
. He had been on leave from NRK since being appointed Executive Supervisor.[
In an interview with the news agency ]Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
in 2011, Sand launched the idea of extending the Eurovision Song Contest to a potential ''Worldvision Song Contest''. In May 2015, Sand stated to the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK
NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...
that the Worldvision idea was likely not moving forward, due to a lack of interest among countries outside Europe. He also cited the large cost of a worldwide song contest. In a 2016 interview with ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' he stated, "We are not looking at a sort of ‘Worldvision’ because that's too complicated (...)". Sand stated to Danish media in 2016 that the European Broadcasting Union was instead developing plans to export the Eurovision concept by launching separate versions of the song contest in Asia and the United States, depending on the level of interest in the relevant countries. He was featured in the newspaper ''Morgenbladet
''Morgenbladet'' is a Norwegian weekly, newspaper, covering politics, culture and science.
History
''Morgenbladet'' was founded in 1819 by the book printer Niels Wulfsberg. The paper is the country's first daily newspaper; however, Adresseavi ...
'' in May 2012, where the focus was on the song contest and international politics.
On 30 September 2019, Sand announced his intention to step down as Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest after the 2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
edition, that would have been be held in Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
, the Netherlands (which was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
). He would also leave the Head of Live Events post which oversees the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest (often shortened to JESC, Junior Eurovision or Junior EuroSong) is an international song competition which has been organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) annually since 2003. It is held in a diff ...
, Eurovision Young Musicians
The Eurovision Young Musicians (), often shortened to EYM, or Young Musicians, is a biennial classical music competition for European musicians that are aged between 12 and 21. It is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and broadcast ...
and Eurovision Choir
Eurovision Choir (formerly Eurovision Choir of the Year) is choir, choral competition organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the and modeled after the latter's World Choir Games. Participation is open to member broadcasters of ...
competitions. On 20 January 2020, it was announced that Swedish TV producer Martin Österdahl
Erik Martin Österdahl (; born 12 October 1973) is a Swedish television producer and author. From 2008 to 2014 he worked on broadcasts of ''Mästarnas mästare'', '' Allt för Sverige'' and '' Skavlan'' for SVT. His first book, ''Be inte om nåd ...
would succeed Sand as Executive Supervisor.
On 17 May 2020, Sand was officially succeeded by Österdahl as Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest after the one-off replacement show '' Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light'' was aired. He then returned to NRK, serving as project leader of its head office's relocation.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sand, Jon Ola
1961 births
Living people
Television people from Oslo
Norwegian male film actors
NRK people
TV 2 (Norway) people
Norwegian television executives
Melodi Grand Prix
Eurovision Song Contest people
LGBT people from Norway
Norwegian expatriates in Switzerland
People from Geneva