"It was incredibly enjoyable to work with the Austrians. I don't think I've ever felt such a strong sense of shared mindset with any team as I did with them," he praised.

Kark's journey to becoming Eurovision's head producer has taken him through a variety of different jobs. He started working at 15, when he spent a summer as a waiter at the Pühajärve holiday resort in Estonia. He returned there every summer for five years.

At the same time, he dreamed of becoming an actor and was convinced he would study acting after university. However, after failing the entrance auditions, he was invited to the Ugala Theater in Viljandi, Estonia, where he had the opportunity to play smaller male roles. He then worked for a year at the Vanemuine Theater in Tartu. "But it was clear that if you don't have the talent, it won't last — and it didn't," Kark admitted.

Because he still wanted to work in a creative environment, Kark took a job at the front desk of Estonian Television, later moving on to become an administrator for a morning show.

"That's a job I learned a lot from. As an administrator, you need to know everything — you need at least some understanding of sound, lighting, and directing," he explained.

In 2012, when the entire ETV sports department traveled to the London Olympics, Kark suggested he could fill in for directors back home. What began as a temporary opportunity turned into a four‑year journey.

A key turning point came when he attended a European Broadcasting Union (EBU) meeting in Budapest, where he met people working there and began receiving job offers. "On my third attempt, I got into the EBU as a Junior Eurovision project manager. Now it's been ten years."

Starting in autumn 2025, Kark became head producer of the world's biggest song contest. He noted that the title sounds more glamorous than the reality. "It's 11 months of sitting behind a computer and one month of excitement. Sometimes we also say it's 11 months of terror and one month of fun," he joked.

Work on the next year's contest begins immediately after the final. Right now, Kark is focused on writing the rules. "Our rulebook is very thick — I think about 300 pages. While it may seem that the rules stay the same every year, there are actually always many changes depending on what did or didn't happen the previous year," he explained.

"For example, I'm actually behind the 'scandal' of Finland's violin being played live. That was a new rule this year, but unfortunately many broadcasters hadn't read the rules properly and it came as a surprise. Still, I'm very happy they got to play their violin."

Once the rules are ready, the EBU contacts every country to encourage participation. It's also important to align with the host broadcaster.

"Depending on the broadcaster's experience, this can be easier or harder. With some, there's almost no work because they've organized Eurovision seven times — it's very simple. With others, like Bulgaria right now, it's definitely more challenging," Kark said.

In mid‑June, Kark will travel to Bulgaria to meet the organizers for the first time. A major technical meeting will take place, and the Bulgarian team will need to be assembled.

"Fortunately, I have many friends in the Bulgarian broadcaster. Even though they had a break from participating in Eurovision for several years, it's still largely the same people. It was very fun to work with them — we had a lot of laughs. No one believed they would win this year. I'm happy we're finally moving a bit toward Eastern Europe and that a broadcaster with no prior experience is hosting."

According to Kark, the role of head producer is largely about guidance. "Most of the work is still done by the broadcaster. My job is to keep an eye on everything — to ensure everything follows the format and the rules are respected. The most important part is ensuring fairness, because this is a competition and all 35–40 participating countries must have exactly the same conditions," he emphasized.

Kark doesn't know the budgets of individual participating broadcasters, but he doesn't believe a bigger budget provides a significant advantage.

"The stage is the same for everyone, the lighting is the same — there's no extra cost for that. Of course, special effects and lasers come at each country's expense. But whether that improves a performance — I really doubt it. Take Portugal's winner in 2017, who practically stood in the middle of the audience with nothing around him, and still won. I'm very skeptical about excessive staging; I don't think it's necessary. Although Bulgaria won thanks to an impressive stage show, it often feels like it's all too much," he said.

In previous years, the Eurovision final included a moment when the head producer informed viewers and participants that voting had gone smoothly and presenters were ready to deliver the points. This year, that segment was removed at Kark's request. "I want to remain an unknown person, and we removed that. Now all communication and confirmation goes through the hosts," he explained.

In recent years, there has been much debate about whether Israel should participate in Eurovision. Due to Israel's participation, five countries — Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Iceland, and Slovenia — boycotted the contest this year.

"As for me, I fortunately don't have to deal with politics at all. I work with whoever is assigned to me. Honestly, I've never even voted in elections, and I'm not interested in it. I always say I'm Estonian — I already have to worry about Putin, why should I get involved in someone else's conflict," Kark commented.

Israel finished second both this year and last. Kark pointed out that if a country wins Eurovision but cannot host the contest, there are always backup plans B and C in place.

He does not see Russia returning to the competition. "Russia's broadcaster is not an EBU member — they've been excluded. So the answer is definitely no, of course they won't come back," he said.

To keep things fresh, Kark also likes to work on other projects throughout the year. "I've never been a Eurovision fan, and I'm not one now either — I admit that. It's simply a job, and I enjoy the television side of it. Whenever I have free time, I immediately take the opportunity to do smaller side projects in theater or other TV shows," he said.

Kark does not rule out eventually returning permanently to Estonia. "Nothing is impossible," he stressed. "Over these ten years, I've become a very proud Estonian who promotes Estonia. In the second semi-final, we even had a lovely family from Kihnu who closed the voting — my hand was in that as well. I'm very much a patriot, and even more so with time," he said proudly of his roots.

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