City not responsible for Eurovision debt, says mayor

Frank Jensen says Copenhagen’s chequebook is closed for pop extravaganza cost overruns

As the bill for the Eurovision Song Contest staged in Copenhagen last May continue to rise, Frank Jensen, Copenhagen’s mayor, said that the city is not going to foot the bill.

“The city of Copenhagen is not responsible for the deficit,” Jensen wrote in a statement. “It is a matter for Region Hovedstaden – the Capital Region – and Wonderful Copenhagen, which is a private foundation that operates under Region Hovedstaden.”

The city has already shelled out 14.5 million kroner to help hold the music festival, which has now run up bills of 112 million kroner for the staging of two semi-finals and the final, exceeding the budget by over three times.

“There has been no control over the budget,” wrote Jensen. “When Copenhagen supports a project, the budget must be in order.”

Still a hell of a party
Jensen emphasised that the budget issues did not detract from the positive impression that the Eurovision party had on Copenhagen.

Region Hovedstaden head Sophie Hæstorp Andersen said that her group is looking for a way to rescue Wonderful Copenhagen from the deficit disaster. Jensen said that was simply fair play.

 “It makes sense that Region Hovedstaden takes on the task of finding a political solution since Wonderful Copenhagen is a privately funded foundation that is part of Region Hovedstaden.”

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