Martin Österdahl

Erik Martin Österdahl (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. His first book, Be inte om nåd ("Ask no mercy"), was published in 2016. He is currently the European Broadcasting Union's Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest and Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

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.

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 contest, which would have taken place in Rotterdam in May 2020.

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.

As Executive Supervisor, Österdahl has the last call with regard to the production of the Eurovision Song Contest, with the ability to over-rule the producers, and instruct. He is also responsible for the organisation of the voting system of the contest. He made his debut as Executive Supervisor 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.

Österdahl had previously been the executive producer of the and  contests (alongside Johan Bernhagen in 2016) in Malmö and Stockholm respectively, and was a member of the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group from 2012 to 2018. As Executive Supervisor, he has again been an ex-officio member of the Reference Group since 2021.

During the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, Österdahl was subject to significant booing from the audience when he appeared on screen, due to the controversies that had embroiled that year's contest, including backlash over the decision to disqualify Dutch representative Joost Klein earlier that day.

Author
Österdahl has written the Max Anger book series, which was adapted by Pinewood Studios.