Martin Österdahl

Erik Martin Österdahl (pronounced [ˈêːrɪk ˈmǎʈːɪn ˈœ̂sːtɛˌɖɑːl]; 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.^[1] His first book, Be inte om nåd (Ask no mercy), was published in 2016.^[2] He was the European Broadcasting Union's executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest and Junior Eurovision Song Contest from May 2020 to June 2025.

Martin Österdahl
Born	Erik Martin Österdahl (1973-10-12) 12 October 1973 (age 51) Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation(s)	Television producer, author
Father	Marcus Österdahl
Executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest
In office 17 May 2020 – 30 June 2025
Preceded by	Jon Ola Sand
Succeeded by	Martin Green (acting)
Executive supervisor of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
In office 17 May 2020 – 30 June 2025
Preceded by	Jon Ola Sand
Succeeded by	Martin Green (acting)

Early life

Österdahl grew up between Stockholm and London. He attended Adolf Fredrik's Music School, joining the school's opera boy choir. His father, Marcus Österdahl ran the recording studio Marcus Music, and his mother worked in a music publishing company. Österdahl studied a master's degree in economics, Russian, and Eastern European studies at Uppsala University.^[3]

Career

Eurovision Song Contest

In January 2020, it was announced by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) that Österdahl would succeed Jon Ola Sand as the executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest after the final of the 2020 contest, which would have taken place in Rotterdam in May 2020.^[4] However, the 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic; Österdahl later succeeded Sand as executive supervisor after the one-off replacement show, Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light was aired.^[5][6]

As executive supervisor, Österdahl had the last call with regard to the production of the Eurovision Song Contest, with the ability to over-rule the producers, and instruct. He was also responsible for the organisation of the voting system of the contest. He made his debut the role at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Warsaw, and later at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam. During his first years in the role, adaptations of the Eurovision format were announced for other continents, with the first such adaptation, American Song Contest, debuting in 2022.^[7]

Österdahl had previously been the executive producer of the 2013 and 2016 contests (alongside Johan Bernhagen in 2016) in Malmö and Stockholm respectively, and was a member of the Eurovision Song Contest's reference group from 2012 to 2018; during his tenure as executive supervisor, he was an ex officio member of the group.^[4]

During the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Österdahl was subject to significant booing from the audience whenever he appeared onscreen, due to the controversies that had embroiled that year's contest, including backlash over the decision to disqualify the Dutch entrant Joost Klein earlier that day.^[8] In June 2025, the EBU announced that Österdahl would step down from his role ahead of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2025 and the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.^[9]

Author

Österdahl has written the Max Anger book series, which was adapted by Pinewood Studios.^[10]

Bibliography

• 2016 – Be inte om nåd ("Ask no mercy"; ISBN 9789175036663)
• 2017 – Tio svenskar måste dö ("Ten Swedes must die"; ISBN 9789137147956)
• 2018 – All business is show business: Spelregler för den kreativa eran (ISBN 9789188743176)
• 2019 – Järnänglar ("Iron angels"; ISBN 9789137147987)
• 2022 – Parmiddagen ("Couple dinner"; ISBN 9789189393226)