Ali styles hair at Eurovision!
The Eurovision song contest is one of the worlds biggest live music event viewed by an audience of over 163 million people. The Mount Salon’s director, Alison Cooney, has recently returned from the 2024 contest, held in Malmö, Sweden, where she was styling hair for the competition entrants.
Our team wanted to know a little more so we had some questions for Alison.
Ali, how did you get involved with Eurovison?
Away from The Mount, I am part of the Moroccanoil UK education team. Moroccanoil is one of the official sponsors of Eurovision and responsible for styling the entrants hair, celebrating the artists and embracing their individuality, and I was asked to be part of the hair team – it is a dream job for a hair stylist!
How do you decide on the hair styles?
Initial consultations happen between each country and the styling team, then a digital look book is created for the hair stylists.
Are there lots of people to style?
To keep things fair, each country is only allowed to enter up to 6 performers on stage, but as there are 37 countries we are very busy in the MoroccanOil hair bubble where the styling takes place.
What does a typical day look like?
There are lots of shows in the two week period leading up to the final. We start styling about 1pm and work until late, styling the hair before the shows and taking the styles out afterwards.
Did you meet the 2024 entrant Olly Alexander?
I was very privileged to look after him and his dance team throughout the competition.
Do you get to see the shows?
Yes! We are lucky to see all of the semi finals and final. Also a monitor shows all of the performances on a live feed to the hair bubble. I also loved working in the green room, doing the final tweaks before the artists go on stage.
What is your favourite thing about Eurovison?
I love working with stylists from all over the world. It is fascinating to see how the styling and production is developed through the different stages, from backstage right through to the final live performances. The whole experience is incredible and it has an amazing atmosphere that is electric.
