In recent months fear and anxiety have gripped the world as the coronavirus continues to spread. Recently the Dutch government instituted a ban on public gatherings of over 100 people, rightfully taking action to help slow the spread of the novel strand of the virus.
Naturally this has raised a lot of questions about the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. As we’ve seen all around the world, major events — from the Formula One Grand Prix in Australia to the NBA season in the United States to the Premier League in Europe — have been postponed, suspended or cancelled altogether. Fans are wondering aloud if Eurovision will be next.
In recent days our social media inboxes have been inundated with questions about what is going on. In the name of open dialogue, we’ve filmed a video — posted at the top of this page — gathering together the latest news that’s publicly available and try to make sense of how Eurovision organisers are responding to the situation. Obviously this is a very fluid situation and details change by the hour.Please note this video was filmed on March 14 at 21:00 GMT.
This is a long video. If you want to skip to a specific topic you can use the timestamps below and in the YouTube video description.
For detailed information about the coronavirus/COVID-19 and how to stay healthy, please visit The World Health Organisation web site.
Eurovision 2020 and coronavirus talking points
- 2:08 What is coronavirus/Covid-19?
- 3:36 How many cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in The Netherlands?
- 4:08 What major sports events have been cancelled already?
- 5:00 What measures has the Netherlands taken to protect public health?
- 5:32 Will the Dutch restrictions impact Eurovision?
- 6:40 What has the Rotterdam mayor said?
- 7:43 Has the EBU released a coronavirus statement?
- 8:40 Israel and Lithuania withdrew from postcard filming in The Netherlands
- 9:40 Countries withdrew from the Heads of Delegation meeting in Rotterdam
- 10:00 The EBU has had employees test positive
- 10:50 PrePartyES 2020 and Israel Calling cancelled
- 12:02 London Eurovision Party asks for patience
- 12:49 Eurovision with no audience is an option
- 14:46 What about the red carpet, Euroclub, Eurovision Village, the press centre, etc.?
- 15:30 Should delegations be smaller?
- 16:05 Could artists sing in studios in their home countries during the show?
- 19:25 NPO wants Eurovision 2020 to take place
- 20:00 Can Eurovision 2020 be postponed or rescheduled for later?
- 22:44 Let’s please be kind to each other and not point too many fingers
- 24:33 Our Wiwibloggs events aren’t cancelled yet, but we have to be realistic
- 25:45 Sending y’all love
- 26:40 If news about coronavirus stresses you out, please step away from the TV
This is the most positive and honest message I’ve seen on Wiwi, ever! Keep that up! 😀 However, I’m in a euthanasia trial. I – from the Netherlands – was hoping to see the Netherlands shine as a hosting country, and at first I felt angry and rubbish about this all. But later on, I thought: even though you can’t change feelings and emotions, they’ll still be there. But what sort of feelings and emotions are you leaving behind? So whatever happens with this contest: make the most of it! Delaying it, putting it forward to 2021; make the most… Read more »
Where is Rasmus and Ivanov? They are so silent these days, I want to laugh a little.
Postpone it. Not for the next year, but for August or September. I know it could be a little messy, taking into consideration everything and everyone involved, but it’s the best out of all options if we want the full Eurovision experience.
With Austria introducing a ban of gatherings of 5 or more people, if other countries follow suit, the studio option would be out too. What a situation!
One proposition I haven’t seen yet:
If they cancel this year’s Eurovision then maybe next year we can have two Eurovisions? 🙂
Yes, but that would rather depend on if the virus comes back again or not in 2021.
The other issue is how to schedule an extra one in and not have it clash with other events. However, an interesting experiment might be to have one of them be joint with JESC or Young Musician or Choir, since the other “spin-offs” of Eurovision would no doubt benefit from the added viewership of ESC fans itself, not to mention the bigger staging. Probably the Choir contest is the best suited to a joint show.
My original post was more just a cute suggestion than a serious one. It’s quite unlikely that two ESCs in 1 year would actually be feasible or even preferable — much though I love Eurovision.
Owh. 🙁 Well I’m not Jon Ola or Martin, but in that position I would have considered it.
Another idea: nothing takes place this year, it’s gonna be Rotterdam 2021, all the artists that have already been selected stay but they have to release a new song starting September 1, 2020. It sucks but maybe that’s the best option right now.
I’m sorry but you’re slightly missing the point. It’s a song contest and that means it’s all about the songs. You cannot expect each country to come up with another song. I don’t think it’s necessary to push it back a year. I don’t know about you but I would hate to think we all had to wait another year. Please no.
It could be postponed, but not until next year, but for example until August or September, although that could be considered too close to the Junior contest
Who cares about JESC ? I mean, I dont want be rude but more people watching main ESC
As I stated before, in my opinion, rescheduling the event would be the best option. It seems though that this is too hard to be done for many reasons.I think that if there’s good will then everything can happen, so I truly believe that this would be the best choice. However, if that is a financial disaster for the broadcaster, the EBU etc, then Eurovision with no audience is the best option. That means, no red carpet, not any party, no nothing. There will be just the 41 delegations, the commentators from these countries and nobody else. Eurovision 2020 must… Read more »
UNO has already beaten ARCADE with 23M views in just 3 days vs 1 year. EBU should already proclaim Russia as the ESC 2020 winner and cancel everything for the safety of everyone.
Ivanov and Rasmus never fail to entertain me… 😀
hallo! Russa is over 140 million people, ofc they have more views then the Netherlands, Thats NO suprise. Russians are more people, is that a such big suprise to you?
Why dont you just steal the title as you do everything else?
what do that mean? you seem like a very bitter negative person, Good luck with that
It was humor. All unknown to you my fellow countryman.
i dont get it.
I believe there won’t be a “normal” Eurovision show we are used to having.
Like you said the first option of having all of the countries make their own performances is very unfair.
Having Eurovision without public is definitely a smarter option, but it definitely wouldn’t be the same.
The best thing to do imo is to postpone the whole competition to later this / beginning of the next year.
can people here stop living in their own dream. All i know who have had it have got a cold and they are well now. No one is dead or sick anymore. chill. I dont get anything of this because all i know is fine again.
It might be you who’s living in their own dream.
no, all i know is fine after it. explain that to me? all live normal lifes again, so i cant feel like you after that, sorry
Have you been on the street lately? Does everything look normal to you?
(If you haven’t been, good job. Social distancing is very important to delay the virus.)
no one is dead anymore a.k.a. zombie apocalypse
where i live people have had it, no one got really sick, normal cold and all is fine again, so i just mean i cant see the fuzz, sorry
1800 in Italy, 300 in spain and 3 in Sweden. Just curious: how many deaths are acceptable?
i said where i live, everyone is fine after they had it here.
So you only feel empaty for the people where you live?
i dont live there so i dont know if its true. media dont report 100% true stories all the time, You seem to trust everything you read. Im not like you
The thing is that all this happen so the virus can be contained its about prevention not curing the virus straight away…
U probably live under the stone or bridge damnn
All deaths are elderly people and people with previous health problems. If you’re in good health and younger than 80 the probability of dying is very low.
24 deaths in the Nlds on COVID-19, in one week i think??
. Even the celebrating of the Kings birthday on april 27th with Kingsday in Maastricht has been cancelled on behalf of the Royal Household and the royal Family. ESC is 2 weeks later…………………………………………so there’s for me only one option!! Rotterdam 2021
Dotterdam 2021
Even if the show goes ahead in some form, some countries might decide to withdraw. If a country is on lockdown, it might not be even possible for some contestants to travel to their own broadcaster to film a performance.
Many years ago, in 1986, there was an event (pre-MTV Awards and the like era) called World Music Video Awards or something like that. The show featured live acts broadcast from different countries in the world: The UK, U.S.A., Australia, France, Italy, Germany, Japan. It looked pretty fluid and entertaining! Europe and the whole world are living hard days, Eurovision would bring joy and fun, everybody needs that so badly now. In the absence of a full show with audience in Rotterdam, maybe an edition with remote acts could be more special and memorable than ever, with the essence of… Read more »
Due to the uneven measures taken towards Covid throughout Europe there will for sure be no contest in situ and in vivo. The gathering prohibitions and travelling ban will put a stop to that. If only the contries collaborated there might have been a chance. Why haven’t EU played a role. We stand with a mixed bag of countries shutting down like Spain, Italy, Norway, Poland, Denmark etc. In the other corner we have Britain and Sweden that doesn’t believe in restricting gatherings and closing borders. Meanwhile Italy, Spain and Switzerland are moving toward disaster. I feel for them. Some… Read more »
Sweden actually has enacted restrictions on large gatherings, in fact.
I have Heard swedens leading epedemiolog Tegnell saying in swedish media some horrendous things like Its ok to travel to Italy, the cases will peak in next week, its not contaigous in public transport, Denmark and Norway are populistic to prohibit gatherings and on and on. If Sweden now has a new policy I’m very surprised. As I understood you are hoping to obtain flock immunity without any notable costs.
fake. i have heard it to. so fake news from you
Here are some links:
It’ll peak next week:
https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/9vdbWd/tegnell-backar-coronakulmen-pa-mandag-eller-tisdag
Do not work from home: https://www.reddit.com/r/svenskpolitik/comments/fha311/tegnells_v%C3%A4nsterk%C3%A4nga_mot_spotify_inte_j%C3%A4mlikt/
Populistic to close the border:
https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/9vdeo9/tegnell-om-danskbeslut-fullstandigt-meningslos-atgard
If you should have the need for more examples, please google his Name and look on his twitter account
Have you read the news today? Stop spamming Sweden.
Please google his name and look on his twitter account. Its all there.
Swedens leading expert in swedens biggest paper march 8 Aftonbladet:
Corona peak on monday or tuesday :
Tegnell backar: ”Coronakulmen på måndag eller tisdag”
av
Joachim Kerpner
PUBLICERAD: SÖN 08 MAR 2020
We have clearly hired someone out of reach of any logic or reasoning. Hopefully it will not come back to bite us.
Please stop spreading this sort of disinformation. You are posting things completly out of context. We need to stay together in this time if crisis. It is terrible to wish people ill. And besides that no one knows exactly what will happen in the future. Aftonbladet is not a serious newspaper.
Obviously you are not following what is happening in Sweden just listening to hearsay. Each country is doing what is needed in their own time. And noone know the exact future. So lets be friends and not spread fake ideas about esch other.
Pierre It is hearsay and it is not true. So please stop spreading this fake news. We should support each other and not spread disinformation.
And Anna you are spreading a non reliable source Aftonbladet and taking things out of context. Even worse you wish ill on the Swedish people. We need humanity not bad faith.
I’m not sure how a quote in aftonbladet can be non reliable or out of context.
I’m not sure how a quote in aftonbladet can be non reliable or out of context. The man is of limited intelligence. Last week he told employee at Spotify that it was wrong to work from home. Today he recommends people to work from home. 12 days ago Covid would peak in a few days and now it will be of long duration. We wish the best for the swedes but it must be legitimate to point out that your Covid containement policy in your country is highly unusual. Of course we will know in a few months which country… Read more »
Well you are misqouting. They are saying that we should act when it is time. To close down the whole society when it is necesssary. They said all of the tine that they gollow the sbpunt if people infected and then take descitions based on facts. They said for example that the schools are open until the need to close them. And Aftonbladet is a scandal newspaper.
And Eurovision 2021 in first half of June.
Best option Eurovision in September.
You guys do really live in your own world. Next week UEFA will make an announcement of cancelling EURO2020 and move it for nexr year. EBU right now is under huge pressure to do the same. European public is frightened. Today Italy has reached a new daily record of deaths – 368. Yes, 368 in one day. China needed over 2,5 months to somehow normalize the epidemic using extremely strickt measures. Please, try to adjust to the thought that Eurovision will not happen in 2020. Perhaps, it will be a Plan B as Slovenian director said recently, maybe something else.… Read more »
its already sick people. dont make it worse. all countries have eldely sick people.
Eurovision without an audience is an absolutely minimal public health risk. The only people at any risk are the people involved – it could be cancelled for their safety, but it has nothing to do with the general safety of the public.
You know that football games currently are being cancelled and not held behind closed doors because the people involved in the games (footballers, managers, referees, etc) have to be protected too, right? What makes the members of national Eurovision delegations less important? Do you really think that they want to risk their lives for our own entertainment?
I’m still going
It’s worth mentioning that holding Eurovision might be a big morale boost for Europe in these trying times. It’s going to be increasingly hard to live in isolation with everything closed, cancelled, postponed…
I couldn’t agree more. Even an abridged version would do that job. If they can come up with something tangible in May then it could have more impact than ever. Certainly more than if it is postponed to a time when everything else has been re-scheduled.
Noone care about morale when you have nearly 400 deaths in one day as today in Italy, the shortage of respirators, doctors, free beds in hospitals. Eurovision 2021 will be a morale boost after a distaster.
I don’t know what people losing their beloved ones would think about ‘Eurovision boosting their morale’… Let’s allow the Euro 2020 happen too, or let’s make some concerts or other events to boost people’s morale too. What’s so special that only Eurovision can do?
Some people are sadly going to lose their loved ones regardless of Eurovision going ahead or not. But I think you’re underestimating how difficult it’s going to be to keep up living under these strict measures for months. A big, uplifting television show that everyone all across Europe can watch in their homes while social distancing would make it at least a little bit more bearable for some people, at least.
Dear friend i get totally what you try expressing here! But only the hardcore ESC will need it. Most random viewers wont care imo!! But we will see. I hope to see a normal ESC in Full Glory and Splendour next year in Rotterdam. All those countries can send other acts and songs if they want!! Good luck , All the Best and Stay INDOORS
I’m not underestimating the situation and I know how hard things will be. But I have to say something. I work in healthcare and I’ve seen people losing their beloved ones prematurely. I can definitely say that it’s million times better to stay isolated for a few months than losing people you love – and we are talking about hundreds of thousands of people. So yes, we need to prepare for some difficult months ahead that our lifes will be changed radically compared to what we knew until now. This inadvertedly changes also the priorities in our lifes, and I’m… Read more »
Bless you William. I love your positivity, I love your energy. Great informative video, and I nearly had a tear at the end of it. Best wishes and a distant hug xx
Thank you William, very good video and informative. It’s a difficult situation because there are so many complex issues to solve (e.g. hiring contractors, equipment, booking arena etc). In addition, we don’t know yet when the coronavirus will be gone for good, so it’s still difficult to predict and set a new date. On top of that, the broadcasters have already made plans for Olympic Games this summer and their schedule is busy. They cannot postpone Eurovision for next year, it’s going to be absurd to compete with old songs and wait for one year to perform. I guess setting… Read more »
And Thank You Alex for this crystal clear statement. i couldnt have said it beter myself!! Take care and Good luck.
? think the most suitable solution is to re-schedule the whole event during or after the summer.Maybe during autumn or winter would be fine,depending on the spread of the covid-19.
I feel that the best thing that could be done is to just postpone it to summer or whenever it can be done without high risk, and then postpone the one next year for a couple of months. I don’t want the performances to be recorded in home countries and respective studios, simply because there can be a huge gap in budget. Just imagine Russia’s budget and performance, and then imagine Moldova’s budget. It would be unfair, simply because they are all equal on the Eurovision stage and can pay for whatever they need for the performance, but studios won’t… Read more »
I disagree with a live link to 41 studios Eurovision, will not watch it and hope many other people will boycot the event in such case. It is the most unfair arrangement possible and I would prefer to see the contest cancelled. There, have my dramatic ha’penny.
I enjoyed your dramatic rant!
Personally, I don’t see the issue. Money does not buy a great performance and great outcome. Ok, I can understand that it might make a bad song a little bit better, but a good song is a good song. We will still see the right songs at the top of the leaderboard and actually having it in each country gives people the opportunity to add a unique flavor to the performance. I can see it being quite a good idea.
I know it may be just a contest and it’s just about songs but this is 1) not what the artists have signed up for and 2) not what we deserve after 40 years of waiting. Call it sour grapes, call it immaturity. I don’t see this contest happening in this country again in my lifetime, and I’m not here for this moment to be stolen from us. We’d be the first country in the history of this contest who WANTED to host, HAD the capability of doing so, and got shafted because of something completely out of our control.… Read more »
Fair enough, I can understand how disappointed you feel about this – it all sucks really badly.
But isn’t something better than nothing? And that something would still have a Dutch flavour. But I do feel for you.
I understand your disappointment. Many of us have been looking forward to a Dutch Eurovision. But it’s not a conspiracy or political powers at play. It’s a disease that infects people indiscriminately. It’s a situation that hasn’t happened for many years and no one knows how to react.
My own personal plans for this year have been frustrated too.
I get your rant but I think you could take into account that this is a first-ever, first-seen, world-scale issue. It’s not in anybody’s hands. Life is made up of this kind of situations. In the past century, there were thorough Olympic Games cancelled due to war. Nobody died then because of sadness. I started watching Eurovision since 2013, I already consider myself lucky to have been able to watch and enjoy 7 editions live. Maybe, Rotterdam 2020 will be kind of unusual to our expectations. If everything, everywhere, goes ok and we overcome, we’ll be enjoying a new edition… Read more »
You can be dramatic and hope everyone boycots a dialed in from home Eurovision but the reality is most of us would be curious to see how this works and looks on screen. We will be tuning in regardless of whether we like it or not.
Thanks for the nice message at the end, William and reminding us all what’s the most important here 🙂
Well done William. Very comprehensive summary. Amidst all the uncertainty, I just don´t want to see any idiots on here saying “with all the warmer weather coming up, this will all go away.” Check our cases in Hong Kong, Singapore, Kenya and study the science.
If they had each participant perform in their own country I would like to see a smaller replica of the Eurovision stage made for each country. At least then the transition between each act would be seem less and would feel like it’s all being done on the same stage. Id also hope they could get the delegations or someone to form some sort of audience. The live aspect is half of Eurovision, and we all saw how drab the danish NF was without an audience. Unless they could pull off the worlds greatest photoshop and digitally put the audience… Read more »
Looking at statistics about the virus spread and duration, we will not have a normal Eurovision this year for sure. 1) RECORD IN OWN COUNTRY: I’m opposed to this plan. It’s never gonna be completely fair (logistics and budget wise) + it would ruin the idea of the contest bringing countries together. In my logic it would be more fair to hold a ‘music video contest’ instead of live performances, so every country could bring their A game. 2) WITHOUT AUDIENCE: This I think is more plausible, but still not going to be completely following the rules around large gatherings.… Read more »
Just have the artists sing while wearing respirator masks.
In my opinion the best choice would be that the show would be hosted in a later date. I believe that if the Netherlands would host the event at June or July it would be ideal. There would be plenty of time for preparations and the disease would have already started to decline in Europe. If needed they could reduce the number of spectators. I don’t think that using satellites to every country would be the right choice, there’re plenty of things that could go wrong. I also don’t even want to think a scenario of cancelling the event altogether.… Read more »
I have to add that we shouldn’t compare the Eurovision Song Contest to the Euro or the Olympics. These events are held every 4 years, postponing them for a year or even 2 would be ok. Eurovision is an annual event. It was held since 1956, it shouldn’t be cancelled in 2020
To put things into perspective. World Cup footballs, Euro Cups and Olympics are much much more costly endeavours than Eurovision. Postponing Euro 2020 with one year is an even harder decision, especially financially, than postponing Eurovision.
Eurovision should be an annual event yes, but the Corona virus is a global mass scale disaster event. Think about that.
Doing Eurovision in June does not make any sense to postpone it a month later. The virus will not be over so soon, plus there are other events planned. September should be a safe date but songs would be really old by then.
The virus will not be over propably never, it won’t just disappear from the Earth. But by then it will have started to fade. If we are expecting a virus to sto existing then we won’t be able to host any event at all. Nothing is for sure, but it is said that come May the virus will have started to decline. Moreover, the songs will be “old” but that will be the case if the contest is held in 2021 as well. I don’t think that it is fair not to hold a competition because the songs were presented… Read more »
https://eurovisioninconcert.nl/en/eurovision-in-concert-6-april-2019-in-afas-live/
„On behalf of the government, all events are banned till april 6th. At the moment we are checking all possible options around Eurovision in Concert. As soon as there will be more information, we will of course report this as soon as possible.“
It certainly puts things in perspective. I’m so thankful to be living in a capable country. I wanna see shows in May but if I don’t, it doesn’t change a single thing for me, as long as I have my health, it’s all good. Although I hope the places I go to won’t be closed for too long. At least we got 41 songs and like a million of pending revamps for now. People who pretend to know what’s inevitably going to happen suck. Best to pay no mind to them.
Personally, I can’t imagine a contest held god knows when with exactly the same songs and artists due to compete in May. Although we always say that only a minority knows the songs before the shows, so what do I know… Might just be the perspective of someone who knows the songs beforehand.
If they choose the alternative where each country will be performing live on scene on homeground, I hope it will be scaled down a little, so that no entrances will get the advance of having a large stage, enormous props etc. Hoping for some rules and that maybe each country have to send in their live performance in advance for validation, and they have to stick to it.
I feel so sorry for the Dutch people. They have waited for 40 years to bring Eurovision back to The Netherlands (Last time they hosted was in 1980 when no one wanted to host Eurovision). And now this happens 🙁
I feel so sorry for millions of humans all over the planet going through this unprecedented situation that we will probably never experience again in our lifetime.
16:05 “Could artists sing in studios in their home countries during the show?” I honestly think this is the most realistic outcome that doesn’t involve cancelling this year’s show altogether, assuming the main plans don’t go ahead in May. Every country can find like, a little studio or stage-space (without live audiences) that they can have their performances in, each one broadcast live on TV. Like a live music video (which is basically what Eurovision performances are anyway). Maybe have the studio in the Netherlands be like the hub-studio for the presenters, scoreboard and host entry. I imagine you could… Read more »
Yeah but how do we ensure fair outcome for all performances? How do they check live backing vocals?
Hi William. I think we also have to look at what UEFA will do with Euro 2020 (European Championship Football) coming Tuesday. Currently many national football associations want to delay Euro 2020 with one year to June 2021. And it starts to become more likely that this will happen. Taking this into account, I do think that logistically and financially delaying the 65th Eurovision Song Contest with one year will be the most logical thing to do. Think about ticket sales and reimbursement. That will cause a gigantic close to €8 Million deficit in the budget. Re-dated tickets with May… Read more »
Although we need to compensate for the health of all people, it would be foolish to cancel Eurovision 2020 as a whole. Eurovision was created to unite Europe through music and love in times of sorrow and struggle. Cancelling the event would be a complete disregard for this concept and as a result worsen the mood of Europeans whose lives have been impacted by the sudden outbreak of Covid-19. I’m not saying that this year’s contest has to be done on the set dates, or with an audience, but it needs to be held to be a light in the… Read more »
Stop beating around the bush. Rotterdam 2021 is not happening. It’s so irresponsible of the EBU and the Dutch broadcaster to keep pretending that it might still be happening.
Exactly. I don’t know what the “discussion” is about. The contest should happen through live links with broadcasters from each partcipating country. And they should anounce it now to put an end to all uncertainty so that fans and artists know what to expect. This idea that they are going to sell tickets has become a joke by now.
The hosts can be in Rotterdam to present all the songs (since there are not going to be any postcards), the interval acts and the points.
To everyone saying ” do it next year with the same songs ” That will be so unfair for some entries. Lets say a song has a big budget behind it and gets huge promo, it becomes a hit, it has 1 year in front of it to become known… Wouldnt it be unfair for other entries? Thats why a song that was released before September cant be entered. To everyone saying ” lets postpone it for a couple of months ” Thats easy for you to say, sitting on your laptop doing your everyday routine. What about all the… Read more »
Wear respirator masks and can easily hold a contest
For me the viable thing is to cancel and be back next year. All other options are bad. The measures taken now in all Europé will slow down the amount of people being infected. Not stop the virus. It is too late for that. That is why it had been uppgraded to a panepidemic. The reason of the measures is to make space within the national health care system to take care of the ones that get seriously ill. But it will make the virus last longer. Maybe even come back in Autumn. So the best thing is to cancel… Read more »
Dislike me as much as you can. But this is the situation IRL.
Let’s just hope virus has already stopped, only you and I haven’t heard about it yet.
This is indeed a sad situation, not seen since the Spanish flu in 1920s. It’s tough for all of us and we need to stay strong and believe the light will appear soon enough! Of course that I hope with my all that ESC won’t be cancelled! Continuing as usual would be the best, but *only if* the virus’ effects fall *drastically* in the next month. A show without an audience is a viable option. A show in their own studios and edited through satellite is another, given the option some countries get extra budget from EBU to balance it.… Read more »
The thing I like about Eurovision is that it is live. All the contestants have the same situation. They will have perform their best live in front if a huge audience. They are nervous and some ruse and some fall. A competion between videos is really horrible for me. It lacks Everything that is Eurovision. The winner would not be the real winner for me. So I would not watch such a thing.
The number of dislikes on your own proposition should tell you what the majority of us think about that. Yes, this proposition of online voting is far from perfect, but it’s GALAXIES AHEAD of cancellation!!! If you think otherwise, that’s your right, but you won’t get much support for that around here.
I only downvote when people are rude, troll or spam.
Well, I personally didn’t downvote you, but I find your suggestion of total cancellation very uninspiring and depressing and ANY other viable option (with approved health safety precautions) is *way* better. Do you know just how much effort have the artists put into this? Their delegations too! Having any kind of actual payoff, whether audience-less, satellite or even online, would be some reward for their effort. Of course that these options are flawed, but having ESC at all would be awesome!
I can’t see any reason why it would be online only, though – anything they could put online could also be broadcast on television?
I’d like to know their stance for 2021, should the contest is canceled this year. Will the artists be allowed to return with their already-submitted tracks, or will it start from the scratch?
It’ll have to be from scratch as songs that are released before September are ineligible.
Since this is a precedent, the rules could be altered for this year alone, *if* the situation is so bad that the cancellation as ahead. And that’s something I wholeheartedly hope won’t happen. Personally, I’d keep the songs, since is many cases, it was *them*, not artists’ name alone, which won the hearts of the audiences in their NFs. But, of course, this would be up for debate.
This is such an exceptional case, though. Perhaps they’d let the artists who’re willing to return back participate once more while offering an option to reselect?
Dang. Imagine a non winning country (Bulgaria or Lithuania) being so close to victory and then the contest gets cancelled.
If the contest gets cancelled, then Rotterdam 2021 will probably happen, with new artists/songs.
When Romania was forced to withdraw in 2016, they didn’t care about giving another shot to Ovi in 2017. It’s not fair, it is what it is…
That was Romania’s own problem, however. As far as I’m aware, they were in debt for a long time and didn’t pay till the due date which resulted their disqualification. It must have come as shocking news considering the artist was already selected and they didn’t even consider that possibility as they were already participating with the accumulated debt since 2007(?).
If Russia allowed Julia participate once again after the controversy in 2017, Romania could have too.
yeah, but Russia’s case isn’t a good example either…
I mean…41 countries, some of them might end up sending the same artist/song, if the EBU allows it, but others will ask for a change…And what if Montenegro/Hungary wanted to return, they’d have a big advantage over the others…
Not really. You’ll have next year’s March as deadline. You can decide whether you’d like to change or continue till next year, not that you’re rushed to take action now.
If the countries trust their submitted tracks now, they can resume from where they left. If there are criticism involving for their current selection (i.e. Estonia, Finland, Portugal etc.), they can re-evaluate their decision. It’s win-win, imo.
If they stuck with the same performers and songs for 2021, that would mean the cancellation of Melodifestivalen 2021 and all the other national finals…so which is the lesser of two evils?
If this year is cancelled completely, then it’s gone. Start again next year from the beginning.
Let the countries decide it for themselves. Given Melfest’s reputation and income as festival, Sweden might consider to reselect their entrant.
Countries internally selecting their entrants may continue with the same artist, while leaving the option to them whether they’d like to select a new song or continue as is.
Ain’t no cicciolina happening
Who says Cicciolina must happen? Take France as the prime example. Do you believe the French delegation should approve Tom Leeb’s song after all the harsh criticism they got – clearly knowing it’ll end up in Bottom 5 if sent in ’21? No.
It’s a win-win condition for ‘some’ countries, especially internally selected ones, to re-evaluate their decision. Festivals like Melfest due to their high income to the country, may continue and said countries can reselect their entries that way.
Maybe EBU’s plan B is not such a bad option. They could require each broadcaster to construct the same, perhaps not huge, stage in their respective studio, so that both San Marino and Sweden had a level playing field. Ultimately, we cannot forget that size doesn’t matter all that much – the first ESC stages from the 50s were so tiny that you could easily fall off them, if you weren’t careful enough. What matters is the spirit of competion and the celebration of music.
I’ve been thinking about this, and actually I agree. It would be terrible for The Netherlands and the people who have booked trips to Rotterdam, but actually as a viewing experience, it might be quite retro and actually might be a great show due to its uniqueness. Clearly it is not an ideal solution, but it might be the best we can do?
I agree. It’s not perfect, but it’s probably going to be the only option. Fans should just resign themselves to the fact it won’t be fully fair, but it’s this or nothing.
It’s hard to think that this crisis will stop soon enough to leave time for preparations, but I don’t see a reason of cancelattion. Considering that already all the entries were chosen, I think that it wouldn’t be that hard to organize it some months later.
Well done, William. Your article is very informative and helpful. Let’s hope the right treatment for this virus will be discovered asap. Let’s keep our hopes high! Safety first! #united
Possible solution:
1. Postpone it to September
2. Make a decision whether it can be held in July.
Olympic Games take place in August, it will be impossible for broadcasters to agree on ESC moving a month before Olympics
I love 16:05, with artists singing in their country. So what some countries have big studios? What can they do? More fireworks and wide shots? It seems will have ESC Salvador would like.
A great video William, thanks so much for posting. I can tell how difficult this is for you personally, so thanks for thinking of us. As always, you are full of great information and offer a very balanced view of things. I’m sure I’m not the only one who really appreciates it.