Eurovision 2019 is a long way from being decided. But some Dutchies seem to think that the bidding phase for Eurovision 2020 host city in the Netherlands is already taking place.
Since the Netherlands is the bookmakers’ favourite to win the upcoming edition of the contest, independent political party Group De Mos/Hart voor Den Haag brought up the topic of hosting Eurovision 2020 at a city council meeting in The Hague. The meeting came just one week after Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema hinted that Amsterdam would place a bid to host the 2020 edition if the Netherlands were to win.
The Hague — the Netherlands’ political capital — doesn’t want to lag behind in the process, obviously. Home to the Peace Palace, which houses the International Court of Justice, the city has a perfect reason to host Eurovision 2020: the event would coincide with 75 years of Dutch peace following the end of the Second World War.
There are many reasons fans should want The Hague to host the event if The Netherlands wins. It’s a beautiful Baroque-style city with old-fashioned tram lines along the coast. Who wouldn’t want to take a dive in the North Sea and eat pancakes in Scheveningen before going to the Grand Final of Eurovision 2020?
Others will argue that the city has already had its moment in the sun: it hosted the last two editions of the contest on Dutch soil in 1976 and 1980. Both took place in the Congresgebouw, now known as the World Forum.
Their experience hosting and the solid infrastructure are good enough reasons for Group De Mos/Hart voor Den Haag to submit a bid to host. But they’ve clearly missed the memo that in those 40 years the contest has changed enormously.
Recognising that the World Forum — with its capacity of 5,000 — is perhaps too small, the council opted for using their largest multi-purpose venue: Cars Jeans Stadion. It can hold up to 15,000 spectators. Doesn’t seem problematic, right?
There are, of course, issues. First and foremost, the Cars Jeans Stadion currently has no roof. Secondly, it’s home to football club ADO Den Haag, which play in the Eredivisie, the Dutch equivalent to the Premier League. In order to host Eurovision in that venue, the municipality would have to kick the football club out of their own stadium for almost two months. The Dutch football season lasts until late May.
The council members do not fully understand the scale, duration and cost of the event either, calling it a “festival” or, in other words, an event that takes place for only a few days. Ralf Sluijs, entrepreneur and executive member of the city council, told Omroep West that he sees hosting Eurovision as an economic boost for the city.
“The festival takes place for at least four days,” he said. “All entrants and their entourages, the world press and the visitors will sleep, eat and shop in the Hague. That cash will flow directly into the cash register of our local entrepreneurs. I can already hear the entrepreneurs singing along happily with the festival.”
Unless The Hague was the build a new stadium or add a roof to its stadium, it seems unlikely that the Dutch would host Eurovision 2020 in the city of Peace and Justice. And, before we forget, we should perhaps wait and see whether Duncan Laurence is actually able to bring it home for The Netherlands first.
What do you think about the proposal? Do you want another city to host Eurovision? And isn’t it a bit early to be talking about this? Let us know in the comments box below!
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what a unsympathetic articel. zero points for the netherlands
I was asking myself the same question.
it’s annoying. who flies high will fall deeply.
Omg guys why all the anger? This article merely shows the craziness of typical Dutch behaviour. I personally find it hilarious that we are not even certain that we’re going to win yet, but we are already arguing about which city is going to host it! Lol. So Dutch.
And for all you haters: We’ll see who has the last laugh, and now stop hating an objective article that only wishes to inform you about us plan-obsessed Dutchies.
The problem is that it is not an objective article at all, but rather a very subjective and sensationalistic example of bad “journalism”.
It does not at all reflect the behavior of “plan-obsessed Dutchies”, but tries to generalize that of just a handful of weirdos in a municipal council using a bait headline. It us OK if wiwi writes more about the favourite countries than about the less favourites, but these type of “articles” are just to intentionally create controversy, knowing that some people will react as if whole Netherlands and its delegation are taking the win for granted
I have to agree to disagree with you here. The article clearly shows both sides and gives arguments for why it is good and bad to start thinking about this. Furthermore, the writers clearly keeps open the possibility of the Netherlands not winning, as she often mentions “if the Netherlands…”.
As to my comment on “plan-obssessed Dutchies”, I was referring to the fact that The Hague is not the only city that has offered to host the event, if it were to come to The Netherlands, as the writer shows with her comment on Femke Halsema and Cornald.
I am sorry, but I have to keep my statements. Most readers don’t analyze the articles so deeply and will just react based on the general feeling or even just to the headline. You just have to look at >50% of the comments here. Anyway, when they write things like “The Hague — the Netherlands’ political capital — doesn’t want to lag behind in the process, obviously” or the headline, as I said, they are clearly generalizing. I do not want to be picky, and I am not saying that Renske’s intentions are due to a demonic possession or whatsoever… Read more »
But why don’t you post the results of an Omroep Brabant poll where the majority think we won’t even make the final? It’s clear you have your views of how Dutch people think, but the majority are still their cynical and pessimistic selves. Whereas the foreign readers of Wiwibloggs will think the complete opposite.
Wiwibloggs promoting The Netherlands once again….Oh, but they can write what ever they want, right? 🙂
This is actually not promoting the Netherlands, but rather doing the opposite, imo
they can keep jinxing themselves for all that concerns me
Prašome lietuviu?
The bigger the jump, the bigger the fall!
Why this article Renske? Why?
If you don ‘t have anything to write…. then don ‘t do that !
You shouldn’t make this personal. Renske wrote this article because this is news. If it’s not relevant to you, that’s okay. But it it’s eurovision related, besides that, Renske can write whatever she wants.
Yes of course she can write whatever she wants….but she can also understand that such an article only creates hate against the Dutch song….and she is Dutch herself. It makes no sense at all…..
It is so obvious that she has an ulterior motive. This article and the previous one of the broadcaster already making hosting plans both have a click bait headline and a very shady treatment of the truth. The Hague city council did not draw up a host city bid. And I am sure the party that asked about this in the city council is one of the sort Duncan doesn’t want anything to do with himself.
Do not turn on the oven when the rabbit is still in the woods.
so much confidence
Sweden will win, pretty sure.
nope its too late for love LMAO
Wow Netherlands. Arrongant much? Last time a country started preparing for ESC before even winning was AZE… but we all know why they won.
You know absolutely nothing about this. These are just normal preparations.
we dutch aren’t arrogant, we already know you guys are gonna vote loads for duncan, cause everyone loves arcade, there’s no hate whatsoever for this masterpiece bop
and we dutch got no competition in this weak year
I really don’t see the point of this article either. While I have argued before that Wiwi can write whatever they want, this is the second time that this particular reporter (Renske) has blown up a remark by one over-enthusiastic person about hosting Eurovision into an entire article. Are you trying to create the impression that the Dutchies think they’ve already won? The song has enough haters as it is, we don’t need your help for that. Or, if you’re really interested in the opinion of the Dutch people, maybe publish the result of a recent poll where the majority… Read more »
Not only that, Renske is making things up. The only thing that happened is that one member of The Hague city council asked if The Hague would make a bid should the NL win. All this talk about actually writing a bid, possible venues with or without a roof only exist in Renske’s head.
I wonder what her real motives are for writing this kind of stuff.
This is just one guy shouting something for his own agenda, why is this news? The article’s title is actually not even true. As Duncan says in interviews: bookies no. 1 is a compliment, but everything can (and probably will) change.
Netherlands is the favourite to win even for the organisers. Just have a look at the shameless promtion they make of the song. Well, they wont take my vote.
VOTE for us dutch i say, or don’t vote
What if I want to vote for Albania? Am I allowed?
Francesco Gabbani says hello. Dear Renske, don’t you have smarter things to write?
Talk about jumping the gun…I mean, really….
Everybody is out here saying that we think we have already won, but that is totally not true. We are just drawing outlines of the contest IF it were to go to The Netherlands. We are the bookies fave after all, meaning that there is an undeniable chance that we will win. And if we should win, which we know is still very much undecided, we already have at least some plans, because if we would win for the first time in like 50 years, we wouldn’t get an Ukraine- situation where everything was not going as planned.
There’s more than enough time to plan everything after the contest.
To be clear. It’s NOT that the Whole country is talking about where Eurovision would rake place. It’s Just one small political party said, IF Duncan wins, we would like to host in The Hague. That’s it.
I’d rather go to Italy – I’m over this Duncan frenzy!
Me, too. Just because of some bookies…doesn’t even make my top 10, and neither does Italy.
if italy wins hope we dutch will withdraw from eurovision
y’all tasteful legends are welcome to italy any time <3
Since when does the opinion of one right wing populist party mean that the municipal council is drawing up a host bid? Is it really that important to write an article with a click bait headline?
They are counting chickens before they hatched.
I stan Duncan, but, hell, Dutchies calm your tits down.
I am not even sorry to say that I hope The Netherlands won’t win this year. Besides not being a fan of the song and I don’t even get the hype about it, I hate this attitude of taking things for granted.
Grazie!
Mind you, I am not Italian. I am Maltese. But my top 3 are Italy, Portugal and Iceland this year. Arcade is just an average song, to me.
Wow, cockiness at its finest. I’m really losing interest in the contest this year, this stopped being funny about two weeks ago. Too much is too much.
Ik spreek Nederlands, und eine kleinen bisschen Deutsch. Je ne parle pas français, But, on this blog: English is the way to go. So, what’s your point? 🙂
Google translate 😉
Rude.
Okay the Netherlands and the Dutchies need to chill down just a little bit ’cause they’re acting like they’ve already won. And OK, while Duncan is a contender, he’s not the ONLY contender! The victory is up for grabs and the fact that he’s the fan-favourite does NOT mean that he’s going to win, (HECK apart from last year when has a fan-favourite ever won in recent history?) and that is only song-wise because for good or bad we have NOT even seen how the song will be staged!
we have already won, we are doing well bribing juries, and millions of youtubers to vote for us too
Knocking on every single scrap of wood. Israel was able to stay un-jinxed. Don’t want the Netherlands to be jinxed.
Israel was able to stay un-jinxed because as soon as the rehearsals started, nobody cared about Netta, but about Eleni. The Netherlands must hope and pray that during the rehearsals everybody will talk about Sergey choreography that incorporates a lot of jumping (his words).
It’s a thorough nuisance when the winner seems to be already chosen (due to mere overhype). That happened in 2015 and it was a pity, since the winning entry wasn’t a big surprise. Why send entries and making effort when the dice are cast? Anyway, I’m yearning for a black horse (Albania? Poland? Slovenia?) or Soldi / Hatrið Mun Sigra to pose a threat to Arcade.
I do <3 Slovenia WAY more than France! Slovenia deserves a top-10 spot, defo!
Soldi, a joke
Hatari, the troll of this year who hopefully will end last place in semi
Best scenario for me would be Italy winning and Netherlands hosting since I’m sure Italy isn’t that invested in Eurovision.
The things are changed, Rai want to host the event considering that next year Is the 70th edition of Sanremo. It would be a great moment for us.
actually rai was acting like holland in 2017, getting the turin arena ready in case we won
Every country that is big favorite to win every year starts preparing the thought of actually winning and what they have to do if so happens. Also it is great excitement to be big favorites and allows for realistic dreaming 🙂 Dare to dream as the slogan says this year. I am sure that Italy, Switzerland, Russia and Sweden as well have ideas ready already.
Dang, the Netherlands is jinxing themselves so hard lmao. The cockier they get and the more they assume they win, the harder the jinx becomes and the less likely it is to happen!
I have to agree, unfortunately.
we are confident in our Duncan, he’s vocally perfect last year i was this confident in austria’s cesar, i also knew he would slay
IF The Netherlands (Duncan Laurence) wins, obviously, it should NOT be in The Hague – it should be in Amsterdam! How can anyone discuss that option? That city has profiled itself as a ESC-fanatic city, while other cities, like The Hague, well… has not. It should also be noted, that Groep De Mos is a populist party, only popular in, yes: The Hague. They weren’t able to pull through in national politics.
So, a no-brainer for me. Amsterdam is the one and only place to make it happen IMHO.
Amsterdan is full of the smell of pot. Can’t stand it.
Acting like France in 2011 when it seemed certain that Sognu would win, but look what happened there…
It COULD have won. But then they lowered the damn key and it was all downhill from there.
And France again in Eurocup 2016, lol
When they tell you not to rush things, but you take it TOO literally…
Ok but in the legendary words of Scar: “be prepared!!!”
Where can I downvote wiwibloggs for posting such a stupid article?
I wish I could downvote you a million times.
But you cannot, so deal with it
I really dont know why you would even write an article about this. Groep de Mos is a typical municipality party which is only there to complain, complain, complain, and come up with ideas to please their own followers. They really have nothing substantial and this seems like something that they would yell only to get publicity. “Amsterdam got it already a few decades ago, so now we deserve it!!1” That party is an absolute joke. So I suggest not writing these kind of articles or just remove it because this makes people think that it is something serious going… Read more »
Well said!!
Now you know how we Israelis feel about Eurovision sites scrutinizing every tiny action by some irrelevant Israeli.
And it’s the second time Renske is doing this. A few weeks ago there was this article about the AVROTROS already making plans to host next year, which is also not true.
The cockiness tho…
this hate from you towards us dutch
Although it’s a high chance that we will be going to Netherlands next year for ESC, I think it’s a little early for host city bids.
I would prefer Amsterdam over Den Haag, but The Hague would be a solid host city too I guess.
As stated below, Netherlands is in the race to win this year, but there is also 2-3 other countries that could also do it, looking at you Italy, Portugal
Portugal? Wtf
And why not?
Sorry but Portugal is one of my favorites this year. It’s artsy, it’s catchy, Conan is charismatic, while also remaining true to the nation that it’s representing by being typically Portuguese.
Everything a modern ESC entry should be.
Totally agree with you on this.
It’s just a gossip, but I’ve heard that San Marino’s municipal council has also started to look for a host venue. It’s said that Valentina’s backyard is the favourite, followed by “Say Na Na Na” video set. But don’t tell anyone, it’s still a secret.
okay great, they postin articles bout minor rumors now…..
OK, let’s just cancel ESC 2019 and adjudge The Netherlands winner. This will make save a lot of money for everyone.
Why bothering if it’s sealed.
Arcade is a bop, making eurovision great again (after last years troll winner)
do u have an idea of what ‘bop’ means ?
Imagine The Netherlands losing in May.
Just imagine!!!
imagine you not watching eurovision in May
just imagine xx
seriously? it’s on the race, but not the obvious winner.
Ugh I hate my country so much in matters like this. Jumping the bandwagon. Just wait for the result, and if we win, you still have a lot of time to prepare a bid. No need to be this cocky.
It’s a bit of a shame that one attention seeking person/party had to bring out something like that, and that the media took it serious. Now it ended up on Wiwibloggs, where many people feel some distaste about it.
I wish media would be a little bit more considered what they would bring as “news” because this could damage the image of the Netherlands (or the way Dutch people react, while its just a small over enthusiastic minority)
too soon, babe, too soon. Don’t jinx it.