Its the third largest city in the Netherlands and is known as the home of international law.
But if local politicians are to be believed Den Haag won’t be the home of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.
Ceilinggate strikes again?
Leeuwarden was forced to pull out on June 18 because the ceiling of its arena wasn’t high enough. Now Den Haag has the opposite problem: It’s candidate venue the ADO Arena doesn’t have a ceiling at all.
And a local politician has now poo-poohed Den Haag’s other options: A tent in a field or using the King William-Alexander Room of the Dutch Congress.
“[Hosting in Den Haag] is not really possible anymore,” says local politician Frits Huffnagel.
Huffnagel adds, “I have visited a number of the more recent editions of the Song Festival and you see that more is needed than the old PWA room. Let alone that it could be in a tent on the Malieveld.”
He made the comments to local paper Den Haag Centraal.
Another local politican Richard de Mos has also acknowledged practicalities, but insists the city must “dare to dream”:
“We look at the costs and possible locations, among other things. But as a city we must dare to dream and have ambitions. We now also have time to study our options in terms of locations.”
There has been no official withdrawal from the race to host Eurovision 2020, but Huffnagel has teased an alternative option to the solo bid or withdrawl: Host jointly with Rotterdam.
Den Haag and Rotterdam to host Eurovision 2020 together?
“I say: organize it together with Rotterdam. Then you immediately give more meaning to the concept of Metropolitan Region. It can be kept excellently in Rotterdam Ahoy. You then have to make sure that you as The Hague also present yourself in the surrounding program.
“In 2009, before the Song Festival in Moscow, I brought a number of artists, including the Toppers, to The Hague, because the Netherlands participated for the 50th time. You could do something like that again. ”
Both cities have backing from the regional government of Zuid-Holland.
To date eight cities remain in the running to host Eurovision 2020. The other six are Amsterdam, Utrecht, Maastricht, Arnhem, Den Bosch and Breda.
What do you think? Can Den Haag host or will it withdraw? Let us know in the comments below!
Why don’t they just host it in Russia in stead of all this drama
Collaboration of cities Rotterdam and The Hague; would love to see the red/orange/blue carpet on the Pier of Scheveningen..
I would love it to be in either Amsterdam or Rotterdam, but Maastricht is a lot easier to get to for us Belgians, so that would really be perfect.
Brussels – Rotterdam is 1 hour and 37 minutes.
Brussels – Maastricht is 1 hour and 21 minutes.
They aren’t that far apart from each other.
I love the title, high five Angus, great job! <3 Queen
I second that.
The Hague officially withdraws and backs the bid of Rotterdam.
https://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuws/699821351/songfestival-niet-in-den-haag
give it to Belgium 😛
Belgium will win next year. It’s VRT’s turn to win now. At their offices right now they’re like busy bees looking for the next Eurovision winner. Eurovision, the fandom, the whole of Europe & the WORLD have their eyes set on them!!!! After all, they’re the last of the old-time broadcasters that has never won.
Very true! They are doing everything they can to send the best possible act. Peter Van de Veire (commentator and very close to the selection process) confirmed in an interview that the VRT has a longlist of possible representatives. Let’s hope for the best!
Since Belgium have a victory under their belt, I never considered this fact until now- that’s a very good point.
I don’t get the downvotes. Antwerp would be a great host city. Belgium’s only victory was almost a lifetime ago. Unless of course, the EBU prefers to host the contest in countries at war. And let’s not forget that Sandra Kim is sick & tired of being the only Belgian Eurovision winner. She said so many a time.
Looking at their track record, it’s very unlikely that the VRT will win anything: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium_in_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest#Disparity_between_Flemish_and_French-speaking_broadcasters
But who knows…
I’d say the discrepancy can be traced to the historic language rule- French was the lingua franca of Europe before English was, and still remains far more widely understood than Flemish Dutch.
I think French stopped being a thing at Eurovision 30 years ago, in the early 90s. And yet I believe RTBF has consistently continued to outshine VRT, in any language (Urban Trad, Loic Nottet, Blanche, damn I’d even take Roberto Bellarosa any day over Iris).
That did not prevent the Netherlands from winning 4 times between the 50s and the 70s, 3 times in Dutch.
Rumor has it that the possibility they are working/ considering is that Rotterdam will host the shows in the Ahoy, but official events will be performed in Den Haag, Amsterdam and/or Maastrich. I imagine like a kind of euroclubs or ‘eurovillages’. I think that’s why the comments of de Mos.
It will be Amsterdam or Rotterdam. FairPlay to the other cities for wanting to get involved and host, but the reality is that it will be either Adam or Rdam, all other candidates are there for hype.
The host broadcasters should include the other host cities in some way though, involve the entire nation. Film postcards in the other cities, have press/meet and greets/ Afterparties/preparties /ESC related concerts, with past and present participants etc etc in the other cities, while Adam or Rdam host the main event?
Its not that The Hague as a city is impossible… But the stadium doesn’t have a roof so to host it there would be mission impossible
Great news that Spain is back since 2006 in Junior Eurovision!!!
Yes , they did way better in jesc than esc
I understand many of us want to see Rotterdam confirmed as early as possible, but we should keep in mind they need to create a buzz over the choice for the mere discussion will already help all candidate cities to advertise themselves as tourist destinations. That’s the only positive aspect of hosting the esc and you can be sure they will make use of it to its maximum extent.
I used to live in the Hague and I’m very fond of it there, however I knew an article like this was coming, simply because the city doesn’t have a venue. I’m guessing they’ve never really need one with the Ahoy being fairly close. I know two editions of the MTV Europe awards have been hosted in tents but I’m not sure that would be enough to meet demand (I think realistically they would only hold 6/7000?) Unless all the other arenas suddenly became unavailable. However, the it would be a nice idea to host a few publicity events there… Read more »
Well, The Hague and Rotterdam joining forces seems good idea. Den Bosch, Breda and Tilburg together putting in a seriously strong bid, after all. Tilburg has already discovered that cracking it all alone is not going to wash. And whether Breda can, on its own, is doubtful . So cooperation is the only sensible way. And this could work for The Hague and Rotterdam, too. Tilburg and Breda, for instance, agreeing that Den Bosch has, of all three the best cards as to venue.
The Hague had its chance. But never say never. 🙂
I agree. If Leeuwarden deems a year too short for heightening their venue’s ceiling, putting a roof on ADO stadium in the same timeframe certainly looks improbable. A big marquee on Malieveld is neither realistic. Nor is a purpose-built ESC venue realistic. The Hague is free to dream and aspire, of course But in practical terms, The Hague may indeed come to the conclusion that their bid has no merit.
Can’t they just choose Rotterdam? Yes, they have to investigate a lot, but honestly, applying as a candidate without having an actual venue is a bit ridiculous and awkward.
I really hope that they shorten the list as soon as possible.
Giving Rotterdam the honour, just like that, wouldn’t be fair to all other candidates, to my mind. Each should have equal chances, of course. And that the best may win. All the same, I keep hoping that on this occasion EBU will deviate, for a change, from ‘Randstad’-centric, in their final selection.
In my opinion, they should look into more cities with venues and not just Rotterdam. There are more cities with great venues that have a big holding capacity and architectural design.
The EBU has created this bidding process to ensure that Eurovision lasts all year round in one form or another – it also helps with transparency. There’s no need to rush the selection of a host, the very process is meant to fill the summer! Sit back and enjoy – and be thankful enough cities have entered this year to give us all something to talk about for now.
Why is azerbaijan Israel georgia australia in eurovision i thought it was EUROvision and last time i went to school this countries were not in Europe
Sorry, I couldn’t find the connection between your comment and the article..
It’s called Eurovision, but that doesn’t mean that only countries that are located in Europe are allowed to participate. Otherwise, you would have to kick out some other countries as well.
Don’t waste your time on this troll – just look at his/hers username – all he/she wants is the attention, nothing more.
Firstly, a solid conception of what encapsulates the European continent is murky at best. Many consider all of the Caucasus republics (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan) to be all within Europe, or wholly within Asia, or might consider some to be European and others Asian. What about Russia and Turkey, countries that have parts everyone recognises as being European, but whose Eastern territory is unambiguously Asian? Is a country’s status as European tied to its relationship to Christianity- given the religion’s role in laying down the foundations for both Medieval Europe and The Enlightenment? Because then Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina… Read more »
Excellent elucidation. And eloquently phrased. Chapeau!
Thank you 🙂
I’m confused as to how two cities could actually co-host the contest, given that all six shows (including the jury shows here) need to be in the same venue, thus restricting the contest to one city? Unless the idea is to let Rotterdam host the main shows but have The Hague host other events in conjunction with the contest like the semi final draw?
One provides the venue. The other(s) hospitality infrastructure, conference space, an what ever else a large apparatus like ESC might need .
The Hague hosting it together with Rotterdam would be a good idea. The Hague had been hosting it in the past as well. But now the Contest has grown so big these days, I believe it´s almost impossible for one city to have all the accomodations and so on in Holland that are needed. So let split it up in two cities, give the whole province of Zuid-Holland the possibility to participate in the festivities that surround the Contest. That would be so great!
Exactly, Nicky. Nail right on the head. 🙂
I appreciate the Dutch cities for “daring to dream”, but let’s be honest here – if you know you can’t host, don’t apply for a bid, cause you’re just wasting time on nothing.
It gives them publicity for their cities- which can only help with domestic and international tourism. I understand why they bid even if they’re not realistic options. Moreover, Den Haag is certainly one of the most important cities in the world given that it’s the seat of many important institutions, like the ICJ- it deserves a chance to showcase itself.
Gives them the opportunity to embarrass themselves, for people to find out what they don’t have.
It’s not possible with that attitude! The tent idea sounds fun. The production value would still be better than this year, I believe.
Another one who believes that his country’s worst is still better than other’s best. This is why I wanted Italy to win. Italy is not arrogant.
Don’t go making false accusations. I never believed my country was the best, even when we won, you idiot.
A marquee, from the musical perspective, a very bad idea. I performed in a few myself, in my time. And believe me: it’s bloody hard work.
In English it’s The Hague why is it always called Den Haag on this site you don’t call it Lisboa or Wien
Simple: that’s what the Dutch do in everyday . conversation. Native English-speakers say The Hague. But if you’d be really snobbish, being native Dutch, you’d rather use the official moniker ‘s-Gravenhage . Literally ‘The Hedge of the Count’. But I don’t know anybody who does, in real life.
Besides, it’s De Haag.