The “masters of the masters” are affected – by bad weather and curious

The weather near Sabba “Mästarnas mästare” in Sweden, which attracts curious locals to the recording

Of: Torbjörn Ek

Published: 05 September 2020 kl. 20.37

BÅSTAD. The heavy TV crane is about to lift off the ground in the strong wind.

Four people are forced to jump forward to hold the camera, so that the recording of “Masters of the Masters” is not completely sabotaged.

– There are two things that differ when we record here in Sweden, partly it’s the weather and partly there are more curious people here, says SVT project manager Anders Wistbacka.

The wind almost overpowers the scream. But four observers from the television crew quickly fly forward and catch the television crane that is about to lift off the ground.

With the strong wind on the beach outside Båstad, the heavy recording equipment, which is essential for the recording of “Masters of the Masters”, is about to tip over and crash directly into the sand. But the team, where most have participated in various tapes of popular SVT shows, fast-forward and use their body weights to secure the camera.

Photo: Jerker Ivarsson

Editor Ola Lindholm helps load the TV crane while it is secured to the ground so it won’t tip over in the strong wind.

“The camera was flying”

Further up the beach, several curious locals have gathered to see the host. Micke leijnegard, 56, and the five sports heroes competing in the first group of “Masters of the Masters.” As a bonus, they also get two former presenters, Pontus Gårdinger, 56, who is a producer for the production company Meter and Wave Lindholm, 49 years old, who is the editor and responsible for the script and the Leijnegard competition rules. And Lindholm is one of those that is thrown after the crane so that it does not overturn.

– 50 people are those who work with production. It’s fun to see how they do it. And how they managed to hold the camera there it was flying, it says Björn Lundmark who live nearby.

Along with his wife and some friends, he has braved the winds of the storm to catch a glimpse of the television competition several months before it airs on SVT.

– I probably didn’t think you’d get that close. We have seen your soccer player Frida Östberg and several of the boys competing, says the wife Elisabeth lundmark.

– We have been here several times and we already looked, says the friend. Christina Carlberg.

Lady in swimsuit walking in picture

The SVT production has installed some warning cones and seat belts so that the curious do not make mistakes and end up in the picture.

– But we had a lady in a bathing suit who went straight to the camera there, says one of the television photographers and laughs.

And in addition to the weather, it is precisely the curious who distinguish the recording of “Masters of the Masters” from previous seasons that have been recorded in southern Europe.

– There are two things that are the big differences. In part, it’s the weather. What is now? Maybe 10 degrees lower than what we would have had in Greece. Then there is the fact that we are known to the locals. Those who live in Båstad know who we are. “Masters of the Masters” is a very well known program, which makes it a little more curious. You saw for yourself we had a small audience, we don’t usually have it like that, he says Anders Wistbacka, “Masters of the Masters” project manager at SVT.

Does it cause you problems?

– No … yes … For crown reasons, we want as few people as possible on set, so we try to be a little secret and not say much about where we are. And then we don’t want people in the picture.

Micke Leijnegard laughs at the attention.

– Now I notice that there are people in the bushes watching. In Spain and Portugal they have no idea what we do, but here everyone knows everything about us. But it’s not a problem, it’s fun, says the host.

“Can be cooled in water”

The Swedish autumn weather has also forced SVT to reschedule the recording.

– We must have alternative competitions if the weather is really hard. Today it is windy, it is also doing it for the Mediterranean, so we are solving it, but if there really is vertical rain, we must have alternatives, says Anders Wistbacka.

In the worst case, they will be forced to move some competitions to the interior.

– Yes, if necessary, we must be. We don’t want that, but we must, we must. Then there is one more thing and that is that the water here is colder, so we cannot have competitions when they are in the water for a long time, because then they get very cold, so we have to shorten it a bit.

Published: 05 September 2020 kl. 20.37