When I was a teenager, almost nobody put backstage footage online. Eurovision did. I watched their production breakdowns, the lighting, the sound, the camera work, like a starving man at a buffet. I couldn't have told you why. I just knew I wanted to be in that room someday.
On 30 September 2026 I was. At the International Convention City Bashundhara in Dhaka, Bangladesh picked its first ever act for Eurovision Song Contest Asia, in a show called Voice of Bangladesh. Studio Z made the visuals for all ten songs, and I was the VJ.
How did I get this job?
Bongo had to hold the show to Eurovision's European standard, and that standard is strict. There is a long guideline behind it. So they hired the best operators in Bangladesh for every department.
I think I was called for three reasons. My portfolio and showreel. The fact that I started live VJing, LED pixel mapping and projection mapping in this country. And the one the director told me himself: I'm a musician, and I know a lot of the artists personally.
The panel already worked together four or five times a month at other events. We didn't need a warm-up.
I was booked about two and a half months before the show, and I believe I was the first operator confirmed, because heavy visuals take time. The full production brief came a month out.
Where did I start?
With a guidebook. I do this on every show. This one had ten competing songs and two guest songs. The guest songs mattered less. The ten were everything.
I listened to each song and broke it down by tone, melody, colour and theme. From that I built a visual mood board and a colour guide for every song. I showed them to the director first, with his okay, then to the lighting designer and the lighting operator. They had ideas, and I took them in.
Then I met the costume and choreography person. One man handled both, so I worked from his input. Some songs changed completely after that meeting, because his costumes and movement were so strong my visuals had to answer them. In other songs I asked him to move toward my colours. It worked because we both listened. We wanted the same thing, which was to make every act better.
Why do the ten songs look so different from each other?
I asked the director if I could talk to the artists directly. He said go ahead. Being close to the artists was one of the reasons they hired me.
So I talked to a good number of them, one by one. Some on WhatsApp, some on the phone, some in person, and a few came to my studio. We threw ideas back and forth.
I think this is the main reason the ten visuals don't look alike. If Studio Z had designed all ten alone, there's a real chance they'd have come out similar, because the same team made them. Because each artist's ideas went in at the very start, every song set off down its own road.
What did I want every song to be?
Bangladesh was on Eurovision's stage for the first time, and the world was watching, mostly Europe. I wasn't going to let anyone look at us and think less of the country.
So the goal wasn't a good show. I wanted each of the ten songs to be the best song, the one that showed Bangladesh at its best. Every act got treated like the winner.
The pose that became the press photo
Moktadir Dewan, known to everyone as BeatBaksho, is the founder and bass vocal of Beatmosphere. He's my brother in this industry. When he was just one of ten acts he was my bro, and after the win he's my awesome bro.
I had a pitch for the band. I wanted them to finish their song the way 90s boy bands did, a Backstreet Boys or NSYNC kind of pose, held on the last beat. Beatmosphere isn't a boy band, but I wanted that stance. And I wanted their logo on the LED wall behind them.
I told them: hold that pose in front of your logo and that's your press photo.
They won. That was the winning press photo. Here is the photo as it ran. I'm glad I got to see that pitch win.
What was it like running visuals for a camera?
The room held a little under 2,000 people. The world watched a live stream. The songs were pre-recorded and performed as minus-one tracks, with only the lead vocal sung live, so each song's visual was a rendered video file and not a live set. I kept a bank of controls and effects to play with on top.
Because the whole thing was made for the camera, my right hand sat on the master opacity fader most of the night. I watched the camera monitor, not the stage, and rode the LED brightness to what the camera saw.
Who I want to thank
Director Wahidul Islam Shuvro, for the trust. Bongo and NTV. DJ Md Wahid. Lighting designers and operators Mohammad Ridwan and Md Yasin. Kawsar Mahmud on sound, and SP Rhythm on audio logistics. Shahinur Parvez for structural design and installation. Green Vision on LED. Raw Xposure on photography. The Eurovision team who were on site and got on so well with the crew that they celebrated an underground birthday in the back alley.
And the artists. Beatmosphere, SUBCONSCIOUS, Sharot, Lubaina, Vintage Theory, The Kushiyara Waves and every other act on that stage. You are the seasoned musicians of our time in Bangladesh, and I hope this is a big leap forward for all of you.
Watch the songs
What would I tell a young VJ?
Learn the song first. Everything else comes from that. And stay cool, stay confident, especially when the world is watching.
Questions people ask me
Who did the visuals for Voice of Bangladesh?
Studio Z BD made the visuals and the visual and lighting colour guide for all ten competing songs. I designed them and ran them as live VJ.
When and where was Voice of Bangladesh held?
On 30 September 2026, at the International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB) in Dhaka.
Who won Voice of Bangladesh?
Beatmosphere, with "Tumi Ele". They represent Bangladesh at Eurovision Song Contest Asia in Bangkok on 14 November.
How many songs did the visuals cover?
Ten competing songs, plus two guest songs.
Was it a live VJ set?
Partly. The songs ran as rendered video files, with live controls and effects layered on top.
Can I hire you for a show like this?
Yes. Book me at zunayed.com/book-me or write to info@studioz.com.bd.
Want the production side? The full case study is on studioz.com.bd/blogs. The VJ workflow is on studio-z.ca/blog.
