Harry Styles had a nightmare at February’s Grammy Awards, when the stage he was performing on started to spin in the wrong direction.
The star and his dancers quickly had to adapt their routine when a technical malfunction put their stage in reverse.
But rather than berate the technicians, Styles “called the team in charge to make sure they were OK,” says Grammys set designer Julio Himede.
The mishap “was heart-breaking,” he told the BBC’s Eurovisioncast podcast.
“In rehearsals his performance was so polished. I was sitting there admiring how amazing Harry and his dancers were to just run with it and cope with it.
“To continue the performance live and all of a sudden think, ‘I have to just go in reverse now’, is quite incredible”.

After the Grammys, Himede’s next major project is the set design for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.
He said mishaps like the one Styles endured show why multiple rehearsals are so important for live television.
“What’s really interesting about working on Eurovision is that we have 37 artists performing on that stage,” he told Eurovisioncast.
“Whereas, when we do the Grammy’s we might have up to 13 performances. Everything [at Eurovision] is bigger and larger. Everything’s faster.”
He explained that a typical award show has three minutes between performances. At the song contest, the stage has to be reset in less than 60 seconds.
“It is mesmerising because most people don’t realise, unless you’re there in the arena, what it takes.
“It’s chaotic, but it’s organised chaos”.

This year’s Eurovision stage is based on the themes of “togetherness, celebration and community”, acknowledging that the UK is hosting the show on behalf of last year’s winners, Ukraine.
The stage “takes inspiration from a wide hug, opening its arms to Ukraine, the show’s performers and guests from across the world,” Himede said when his design was unveiled last month.
Construction will begin construction at Liverpool’s M&S arena by the end of the month, with several previously-booked shows cancelled or moved to make way for the competition.
Weeks of rehearsals will be held to ensure that none of the performers suffer a similar fate to Styles, in front of the contest’s 160 million viewers.
Tickets for the nine shows in Liverpool sold out in 90 minutes last week, with fans being warned that hotels they have booked are being targeted by phishing email cyber-attacks putting their data at risk.
Latest Stories
- Lori Harvey and Damson Idris reportedly split after three month whirlwind romance
5 mins - African sport rocked by sexual abuse allegations in DR Congo and Cameroon
6 mins - Ministerial nominees: Stalemate persists; Minority determined not to approve – Ablakwa
18 mins - Global Economic Challenges: Time is right to see value of insurers – Owusu-Banahene
20 mins - Get financing assurances from creditors, partners before Board approval – IMF to Ghana
29 mins - Attempts by Bawumia’s supporters to politicise enskinment of new Yagbonwura disrespectful – Joyce Bawah
36 mins - Exploring the art of drum making
38 mins - Mahama begins 3-day campaign tour of the Western Region today
40 mins - Police called to Rihanna’s house after man shows up to propose
46 mins - ECG retrieves almost ¢2.5m from 2 defaulting firms in Kumasi
46 mins - South Africa opposition vows to ‘protect’ Putin from ICC arrest
54 mins - 2023 AFCONQ: Ghana 1-0 Angola: Player Ratings – Partey shines, Mensah struggles
1 hour - Ramadan: Nigerians face arrest for ‘eating in public’
1 hour - AFCON 2023Q: Benching Andre Ayew was my choice – Chris Hughton
1 hour - GSE signs MoU with MIIF to increase listing of mining companies
1 hour