The Dutch broadcaster NPO has finally revealed the hosts of Eurovision 2020. They are Eurovision commenter Jan Smit, presenter, actress and singer Chantal Janzen and former Eurovision star Edsilia Rombley.
Who are the Eurovision 2020 hosts?
The names may sound familiar. In our previous posts, we mentioned Chantal Janzen as one of the possible hosts. Together with former Eurovision star Edsilia Rombley and Eurovision commenter Jan Smit, they will be the golden trio of Eurovision 2020. But now it’s time for their official introduction. Each host has a different connection with Eurovision but they are all ready to Open Up for Rotterdam 2020!
Jan Smit
Jan Smit is one of the Netherlands’ most famous singers. He rose to fame as a child star, but as an adult he managed to score hit after hit as well. Jan also had a successful career in Germany as part of the schlager boyband KLUBBB3. The group was also asked to take part in Eurovision at one stage, but they refused. Next to his singing career, Jan has enjoyed a long career as a presenter, hosting both the country’s Junior Eurovision preselection as well as different musical programmes. Since 2011, he has been one of the commentators for the contest alongside Daniël Dekker and later Cornald Maas. As a commentator, Jan Smit is known as honest and not afraid to comment on a singer’s musical abilities…or lack thereof.
Executive producer Sietse Bakker said: “With Jan Smit, we choose an internationally experienced artist and presenter who has shown to be a great ambassador for the Eurovision Song Contest over the past 9 years, commenting the shows next to Cornald Maas. Jan has also been a solid member of the selection committee, which is responsible for picking the Dutch entry. Jan is a great guy, authentic and keeps his head cool during live shows — exactly the qualities we need to achieve a personal interaction with the artists at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest.”
Chantal Janzen
Chantal Janzen is an omni-talent. She can sing, she can dance, she can act and on top of that, she has great humour. Nowadays, she is an established presenter in both the Netherlands as well as in the German-speaking world. She was voted best TV presenter at the Golden Televizier Gala multiple times and was on many lists of experts for this job. The RTL star has a lot of experience with presenting large television shows.
“Chantal Janzen is simply one of the Netherlands’ most talented presenters in TV entertainment,” Bakker says. “While the Eurovision Song Contest is a distinctly public broadcaster format, we chose to open up to talent from outside the public broadcaster and focus on showing Europe the best our country has to offer.”
Edsilia Rombley
Edsilia Rombley is also a familiar face for many Eurofans. She represented The Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest twice. First in 1998 with “Hemel en aarde” when she finished 4th overall. She returned in 2007 with “On Top of the World”, finishing 21st in the biggest Eurovision semi-final to date. Edsilia has already done a major Eurovision presentation job: in 2018 she hosted Eurovision in Concert together with Cornald Maas.
“She is a two-time Eurovision Song Contest participant, she has presented the points twice, she will be hosting Eurovision in Concert for the second time… Edsilia is one of the most authentic presenters we have. And the Eurovision fan community has embraced her. All together, her hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 needs no further explanation,” Sietse Bakker says.
This article is co-written by Renske Ten Veen
Are you excited about the hosts of Eurovision 2020? Who is your favourite and who do you think will be the best one? Let us know in the comment section below!
The Israeli hosts were somewhat wooden, with the exception of some buffoonery from Assi Azar, but none of them were actors nor singers and it showed. They didn’t mess up their lines or anything like that, but their overall input was mostly ceremonial and not much else. The three Dutch hosts all have a proven stage, acting and singing experience and that should guarantee a lot more dynamism, showmanship, extravaganza and Eurovision fanfare which the Israeli hosts could never match. I’m so confident about the show the Dutch are gonna pull off that 2020 is going to set the bar… Read more »
Edsilia is a great choice at least, although I’ve heard positive things about Chantal and Jan. Will probably be the best hosting team since Petra and Mans.
@Bella
At this point, what you are doing is spam. You say the same thing all the time. Countries are different, and we wouldn’t want it any other way. Jon Ola Sand insists that the most important thing about ESC is : if you win it, you host it. It’s the reason people are still so interested, every year is a new experience.
I posted one comment (and answered my respondents) and answered 2 others. If that’s spamming, fine by me, lol… Also, glad to learn the “most important” thing about ESC is the hosting. Considering it’s a song contest, some might say it’s the songs, but ok. To each their own. 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYxA3v8cMC8
from 0.48
I don’t know much about that Nikkie tutorial girl, but I remember her from an Insta story she did with Eleni Foureira before the 2018 contest. So, I guess she must be a Eurovision fan, which means she’ll most likely be involved in some way.
I find it interesting that we’ve had the logo & overall design reveal, stage reveal, and now presenter reveal all within a week of each other. And all before Christmas, too. I may have got this slightly wrong, but I’m not sure this has happened before. I’m really impressed at how well-organised AVROTROS appear to be. If they keep on going like this, then I have a suspicion that 2020 could be the best-produced Contest since Stockholm 2016, and SVT did an excellent job of both that and Malmö 2013. I’ll admit I don’t know much about Jan or Chantal,… Read more »
Exactly, they’re super impressive. Feels like Eurovision could happen this weekend and they would be ready. Compare that to all the drama that happened in Ukraine and Israel now…
With all the drama israel produced the best eurovision ever so we can only hope this year will be half as good. Fast doesnt mean good and quality…this will be proven only in real time
What show did you watch last year? There’s never been that many technical issues in recent ESC history, there were issues during the jury shows, the live shows, broadcasting and sound cut off several times in multiple countries, …
It was an ok Eurovision. “Best Eurovision ever”, no one would ever say that.
What fuc’ing technical issues? Please list the technical issues happaned during the show in Israel
Of course, here you are (and this is just a Wikipedia condensed summary, you can also use the search option on Wiwi and will find all the articles): Semi-final 1 technical issues Multiple broadcasters around Europe reported various issues during the live broadcast of the first semi-final. Viewers reported a loss of commentary from Tel Aviv in the Netherlands and North Macedonia. The Polish public broadcaster, TVP, had to replace their regular commentator Artur Orzech who was based in Tel Aviv with another person who was based in Warsaw because viewers were unable to hear Orzech. Germany and the United… Read more »
Mister pablo….here is what the media thought about the eurovision in tel aviv, so who are you? Just Jealous kid .https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/eurovision-2019-review-tel-aviv-result-netherlands-israel-france-a8920426.html%3famp
Wow, lots of hate all of a sudden… The article you posted is written by one freelancer (not “the media”) and also claims that “every single song will chart across the continent… even San Marino”. So… There’s that. But also if you feel like you’ve watched the best Eurovision ever, you should not seek the validation of me, “the media” or anyone else. Glad you had a good time!
Now I’ll go listen to Klefi for the 1,000th time. 😉
Do you really think im looking for your validation? (: You are the one that spreading hate, no one else dude
Dude, it’s like your 6th comment to try to convince me it was the “best ESC ever” and you’re even looking for articles to validate your claims. Yes you are clearly looking for external validation.
+ You’re calling people pigs, haters and “natzis” in your other comments, which is clearly hateful. I haven’t insulted anyone. Good day to you, take a deep breath and everything will be ok. 😉
I watched the best eurovision ever…yes i repeat…netta’s show in the first semi final…the opening of the final and so much more…no one did a better creatuve eurovion and its a fact
Madonna’s ear-destroying performance alone is enough to make it the worst television event of the century. 😀 Not even mentioning all the political drama.
Yeah and its israel blame that madona cant sing? israel gave her all she need, and the fact that hatari band are pigs and had no respect for the hosting country its the responsibily of israel? Probably you are an israel hater like many natzi’s in the world, otherwise you wouldnt blame israel for something that was not in Thier control. …
Wait a second, who was organizing that show? The Israeli TV. Who invited Madonna? The Israeli TV. Who couldn’t even make the cameras and broadcasting work properly across several shows? The Israeli TV. Who prevented an act from peacefully raising a flag, even threatening them in the green room? The Israeli TV.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the show. But if the organizers are not to blame for all the issues that happened, then who is, lol? So everything that goes right is thanks to Israel, but everything that goes wrong is the fault of someone else?
I didnt watch any problems in the camera work, madona cant sing and israel couldnt know that, raising a flag of country that doesnt exist and are in a war with israel cant be peacefull when you do it in the hosting country…you are just hater that probably never won eurovision…
No I’ve never won Eurovision, and unless your name is Netta, Loreen or Aleksander, you’ve never won it either. The broadcaster of my country however has sent 5 representatives who have won Eurovision in the past. And if you want to play the game of who won what, my country also won 2 world cups and 840 Olympic medals (Israel can’t even qualify and won… 9 medals). I don’t have anything to prove to you
Not hating on anyone, just calling out your many contradictions. Chill tfo and stop insulting people to push your nationalist propaganda.
let’s be fair, ukraine and israel didn’t really ASK for the drama, the contest is meant to be apolitical… i wish politics hadn’t gotten in the way of 2 amazing editions :(.
As a Dutch person I didn’t necessarily expect this trio but that makes it fun! They’re all very experienced and I’m excited to see them in ESC next year, when I’ll hopefully be able to go 🙂
you had me at Edsilia.
It’s great that she’ll be joining the list of former performers who also hosted the show. It’s a fun group.
preferred geraldine kemper over edsilia but really happy! I hope Nikkie will have a part to, maybe the youtube channel
Edsilia had really bad luck to compete in the hardest ESC semi ever. Andorra had really bad luck to. Sad she was the one who had to do it. But i dont think she would have qualified in this format either with that song. Andorra i think would have qualified. Great choice of presenter 🙂
The unlucky ones were places 11-13 (Portugal, Andorra and Iceland), who all should have qualified. The rest in my opinion was no loss at all. Although I did have a soft spot for Estonia and the Czech Republic. The question is, however, who shouldn’t have qualified? I personally did not care for Turkey and Bulgaria but they qualified very comfortably. At least the outrage over the ‘victims’ Portugal, Andorra and Iceland finally got us the two semi finals.
Macedonia shouldn’t have qualified. She was ok, but not top 10 material, especially in that semifinal.
Hell no. Karolina is a national treasure.
ah ah ah ;). Its Northmacedonia. Very important to know :). We dont want a war.
I remember i sat and said. Moldova, Moldova,Moldova. And in the last envelope it was Moldova :). The voting in the final was one of the worst ever. i mean Slovenia 15th….. no way.
I know! Slovenia was my winner. Like, wtf, 15th?!
good taste 😉
Hopefully they sing together for an interval performance. It’s a wasted oppurtunity otherwise when you have 3 singer hosts.
By the way, I looked up Jan Smit on Wikipedia and it says that he is 33 years old. Is that true? From his photos I thought he was like 50 or something!
haha do you look your age? maybe some think you are 35. what would you say then if someone told you?
Well, Duncan Laurence claims to be 25, so…
Seems right:) Everyone looks a little older with beird anyway
Cute guys shave.
Both Jan and Duncan seem to have aged prematurely, either because of stress or they don’t use sunscreen!
Jan was a child star, heavily promoted in the German-speaking Schlager market, primarily aimed at geriatric people over 100. This kind of music and audience has got to age you, especially when you’re constantly exposed to it like he was.
lol… Right. It’s a well known fact: humans age just by being exposed to old people.
The amount of bs you find on the comment section, I swear… 😀
Also just being honest, some people are genetically predisposed to aging like milk.
I’m the opposite. I’m 23 and still pass as 14, and I’m baby faced. I’m going to be carded at bars for the rest of my life.
Duncan looks great. People age. Hallo! if you are not Madonna or cher that have millions and can stop it.
But why say he’s 25 when he’s clearly 30-something?
I suppose playing a losing game will also make you age terribly? Who knows.
He says he’s 25 because he’s 25.
hes 25 . Hallo!
Can you prove it?
Who’d say he’s actually the youngest of hosts. I was guessing around 43 more than 33. (But we are living in a world where Paul Rudd is 50 and Keanu Reeves 55).
That aside, he is handsome and quite possibly one of those people who will look fairly similar for the next 15 years and then people will say how young he looks later on. Think Jon Hamm or Daniel Craig.
I’ve loved Chantal ever since her role in Wicked and I was really hoping she’d do it. Jan is also pretty well known here in Germany (at least to people who like Schlager) and obviously Edsilia is well known to Eurovision fans. So truly something for everyone and I’m VERY excited with this combo. Avrotros is doing great so far
edsilia rombley… i couldn’t have asked for more. she’s one bubbly, energetic, charismatic individual n she sure knows how to entertain the crowd !
We agree on something. Never happened before 😉 maybe a trend now 😉
get those upvotes swedish king !
The new presenters Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley and Jan Smit were interviewed this evening on Dutch TV: https://www.bnnvara.nl/dewerelddraaitdoor/artikelen/vanavond-in-dwdd-presentatoren-songfestival-edsilia-rombley-chantal-janzen-en-jan-smit
Super excited to see these in action, seems like a lovely and fun trio! Hope to get Nikkietutorials as a side kick or smth for the green room lol.
BTW i’m very impressed by the dutch production and how they’re handling this show, compared to the mess last year…
Seems like a decent enough trio. Could work
Y’all could’ve gotten some hot Turkish/Moroccan male host but alright…
Just becauce Netherlands gave Turkey 12 points 400 times when it was 100% televoting they dont have to pick a turk as host you know. There lives a lot but you dont pick because of that.
So, what’s your point exactly?
why talk about turkey when netherlands are hosts. Thats my point:)
I don’t think that a presenter should be selected because of his hotness, but why would it disturb you to see a Dutch person hosting the contest with Turkish origins?! I mean does the fact that he has a Turkish background make him less Dutch or not appropriate to host a music event in the Netherlands?
no. i just think that Turkey should be left out of the ESC seen. They have a dictator so i dont want Turkey to take credit for something in ESC anymore. He and Putin are the craziest leaders in Europe.
I agree on Erdogan and Puttin, although there are other ones as well in Europe just as crazy. But the issue is that it would not shock me if there would be a presenter of Turkish background and in Norway there was one with Marrocan background or do you have a problem with that?
All right, racist..
Doesn’t Erdogan hate Eurovision because of how pro-LGBT it has become? I don’t think he would be happy or want to take any credit for a Turkish person being involved in it.
Things always go so smoothly when ESC happens in the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Portugal, … When it happens in troubled countries like Ukraine or Israel, it’s always drama after drama (no money, can’t choose a host city, cyber attacks, not all performers are welcome, etc.)
Just say you hate poor countries and go.
Is Israel poor??
Isn’t Portugal poorer than Israel? They still made Eurovision happen flawlessly. 😉 I don’t hate anyone, but just look at the fact: we’re in December and the Dutch already have their host city, the venue, the logo, the funding, the stage design and the presenters. They could host Eurovision this weekend if they wanted.
Israel is not poor. Israel is richer than Portugal.
Austria took away the sound from the audience because they were afraid there was booing and put clapping sounds in. Portugal took away the led screens. But i agree. Ukraine was the worst. Israel was the gayest ESC ever with the host wanted all to take of their shirts all the time. very stereotypical and not in a good way.
Surprisingly, all the the points you’ve made here are 100% correct. Your comments are really getting better. 🙂
I feel like I MUST come out of limbo expressly to agree with you on this one, Vanilla Bean! It’s already the third or fourth comment by Rasmus I read today & I agreed with them all… I honestly don’t know what is going on… :-DDDD
Very bad decision from Austria to cancel out the booing (and very good decision from Portugal to take away the LED – so tacky). Doesn’t change the fact that the organization was smooth and flawless. Look at what the Netherlands are doing: we’re in December and host city selection ran like clockwork, they already have the venue, the logo, the stage design the funding and the presenters. Honestly, they’re ready to host Eurovision next weekend. Similar stories for Austria, Sweden and Portugal. In comparison, Ukraine and Israel were a total mess. Israel tried to push Jerusalem until the last minute,… Read more »
The Icelandic act were rightfully warned not to break the rules by the EBU which they disobeyed in a distastefully white saviour manner, they were not ‘threatened’
The decision about the abesence of LEDs in Portugal was aesthetic and possibily also financial, but it had nothing to do with bad organisation.
Watching the finals in the Eurovision Village of Ukraine was the best ESC experience I ever had. Not in the last place because of the atmosphere from all those great fans from all over Europe. I sure hope we can have that same atmosphere in the Eurovision Village of Rotterdam too!
Exactly!
Tickets next week. I noticed they reveal something about 2020 every week recently.
I think this will be a very decent host trio, much more than most others. I’m getting really good vibes from this. Just a tad sad that they didn’t go for the cool one, the actor guy. Edsilia should totally perform the iconic ‘Hemel an aarde’, which is still an awesome song. Contrary to the boredem of 2007. I did love all the orange, though. The world needs more orange.
Great choice, now all thats left is Dutch people to give us a show as good and as energetic in tel aviv. They definitely can do it!
Oh it is going to be one million times better than Tel Aviv. But this is not such a great endeovour, as 2019 was a horrible show
you are joiking right? Tel Aviv is hundred times better than Rotterdam, netherlands is boring
Shut it
I’m on top of the world about this announcement!!
I see what you did there…
They going quite fast with those announcements huh?
Well that just shows the professionalism and effectiveness of the Dutch crew.
I know, right? Can’t they just “slow down, brother”?
OK, I’ll be honest here, I don’t know that much about Jan and Chantal (though from the bits and pieces I’ve read and seen they both seem really good), but if you’ve got Edsilia Rombley as one of your hosts, you cannot go wrong. She’s such a legend – always positive, full of energy, charismatic, engaging, amazing vocalist and presenter. Having finished both top 5 and bottom 7, her class and great attitude remained the same the whole time. Honestly, if she would have won in 1998 (a year packed with extremely many great songs), I wouldn’t mind. On the… Read more »
The fact that 2007 was “the biggest Eurovision semi final up to date” does not make Edsilia’s 21st place sound any better. But anyway, the truth is, she was robbed. Let’s just pretend that awful semi final never happened, okay?
She was robbed not winning in 1998. The 2007 song got exactly what it deserved, even with the horrific system of 2007.
Edsilla’s 2007 song was fine. Compare it to awful songs sent by The UK, Montenegro, Belgium, Austria, Denmark and Ireland’s on-stage debacle. It wasn’t top 10 material, but it was nice. Even by today’s standards, it would hold-up a decent level.
Anyway, welcome back, Edsilla! 🙂 I am excited to have her on board!
Not too happy with Jan Smit, he’s so boring….but very very pleased with Edsilia and Chantal. I love their humor.
Eww, gatverdamme, Jan Smit… I don’t like him, do not care for Chantal but i like Edsilia
I feel like these hosts are gonna have better chemistry compared to the hosts in Tel Aviv, way too many awkward moments and lack of chemistry between hosts.
Dream on
I have to say I enjoyed the hosts of 2019. At least 3 out of 4 of them. I think they worked better separately maybe than together.
xd
I want Filomena!
But she already hosted the contest, in 2018!
And I want Petra Mede!
But she already hosted the contest, twice, in 2013 and 2016!
Seems like a nice enough trio. Balanced and professional.
No why ay ay ay lady?! HUGE mistake!!!!!!!!!!!!
Edsilia can still wear her dress as a tribute.
So you’ve guessed one, good job 😀
I know literally nothing about them, but what I know for sure is that 3 is better than 4.
AMAZING CHOICE. So happy. There will be NO staged fake humor guys. Instead they chose 3 hosts that are actually funny and spontaneous!
Even if they are spontenous, there is absolutely no room for sponteinity these days. EBU dosen’t allow it. Everything what the presenters say must be written, exept maybe for the interviews in the green room and even these ones are completely rehearsed. That is why that the jokes feel so fake.
I’m generally quite pleased with the hosts (although I’m a bit surprised Chantal was chosen given the fact that she works for a different broadcaster).
I’m so excited for them to host Eurovision! I was already hoping for Chantal but kinda doubted it because she wasn’t part of the public broadcaster. I’m so happy they did invite her though. Eurovision 2020 is looking amazing already 🙂
Hey, could you help me by filling a short form about ESC voting 🙂
https://forms.gle/pXjo9ZDsudsswRoA8
Y’all slept on Edsilia Rombley. SLEPT! But she is here and I could’t be happier that she is going to host ESC. She is excellent and I’m sure that with the right material she will do a great job as host. Jan Smit and Chantal will do a great job as well. I usually hate the shows that Chantal hosts, however I think she will also be a very capable host alongside Jan and Edsilia.
I don’t know much, or anything, about Dutch TV personalities, but I’m happy! I still think I prefer just two, though.
My ideal trio would be: Chantal, Douwe Bob and Emma, but this three are also really good!
I would have switched Jan for Sharon Del Adel or Romy Monteiro but otherwise a good line-up for hosts here’s hoping for NikkieTutorials hosting the Green Room or doing something within Eurovision, like doing a meet and greet VT interval during the Semi-Finals or something like that.
As a Dutch person, I can tell you that this is arguably the best trio we could have. Edsilia is a double ESC-participant and is still involved in Eurovsion -related events, Jan Smit was one of the few to defend Dutch participation during the ‘dark’ days, and Chantal simply has the full package. They can all sing, speak (near) perfect English, and have been known to the Dutch public for many years. I like the visual package.: one man and two ladies, of which one of colour. It shows Europe the diversity of Dutch society. And let’s be honest, we’ve… Read more »
I don’t care about anyone’s colour. I care about their abilities and I think Edsilia is great. Hate when people think that they should hire people just because they are black or gay, we shouldn’t even think about that stuff, but about their actual skills and knowledge.
^ In an ideal world, sure, but this is not an ideal world, and certainly not a meritocracy. I have every confidence in Edsilia, and nobody is suggesting she only got the role based on her colour, anyway. She’s perfect for the job in a lot of ways.
well true, but we can at least try to feel like it’s a world like that.
I’m not saying that she was chosen based on her skin colour. All I’m saying is that it’s nice to see diversity in the hosting line-up. Don’t twist my words please.
sorry, I LOVE her too
What do you mean? We had diverse representation in Tel Aviv’s hosts…
I’m not talking about the hosts in Israel in particular, I’m more so focussed on the last 5 years or so. I mean, look at ESC 2017 for example: three white male presenters, with a slogan ”Celebrate diversity”…
You can’t judge Ukraine, there isn’t any known personality of colour. And seriously we’re in 2019, it’s not like they discriminated women by not selecting them as hosts… like no
don’t want to be rude I just hate quotas.
Gaitana?
The fact that they dare to invite Chantal in made me even more sure of Sietse Bakker and Inga Van de Weerd leading the project.
Edsilia’s dress in 2016 during the voting sequence was clearly the inspiration for this year’s slogan
2015, which is originally Whyayayay Oosterhuis’ dress.
Smart choice Netherlands!