Earlier today, the European Broadcasting Union issued a statement on the impact of the coronavirus on Eurovision 2020. The EBU noted that they were exploring “different potential scenarios”. And now one of these scenarios appears to have been revealed. Natalijo Gorščak, a director at Slovenia’s broadcaster RTV SLO, has spoken about a potential plan B for Eurovision 2020.
Commenting on RTV SLO’s general response to the impact of the coronavirus, Gorščak mentioned the EBU’s plan B for Eurovision. It would be used if it becomes impossible to host the show entirely in Rotterdam. Gorščak explained:
“At the EBU, they are preparing as if Eurovision will still be held. I am personally in touch with management who has a Plan B, which suggests that we [national broadcasters] will become more involved. In Slovenia, this is supposed to be in the studio. If this scenario were to be fulfilled, each member would play their recording of the performance, then probably someone [hosting in Rotterdam] would link it. That’s what they’re thinking. They are still discussing everything, but in principle, they are still acting as if Eurovision will be held in Rotterdam.”
Her statement suggests that if it’s decided that it would be unsafe for the acts to travel to Rotterdam, they could stay in their home country and perform their song remotely, at a local television studio.
Some fans are already criticising this potential format, noting that the participating broadcasters of Eurovision have different types of production facilities. Some broadcasters do not have the resources to produce shows that look as slick as others.
However, this plan has not been explicitly confirmed by the EBU, nor has the EBU released any details of it.
Eurovision and live satellite links
In a regular Eurovision show, most content is either performed live on stage or is played from pre-recorded clips (for example, postcards). In most years, only content broadcast remotely is usually the jury points section. This is delivered by spokespeople connecting live from their country. While these segments usually go smoothly, sometimes the link to some countries is lost, causing delays.
The concept of a remote performance was earlier proposed in 2017. Russia’s act Julia Samoylova was unable to travel to Kyiv as she faced a travel ban from the Ukraine government.
As a workaround, the EBU proposed that she could perform in Russia, with her performance getting linked up via satellite to the main Eurovision show. However, Russian broadcaster Channel One rejected the proposal. They said, “We feel it’s a strange offer — remote participation — and that it contradicts the very meaning of the event.”
Eurovision 2020 and Coronavirus
But whatever plan B the EBU has, Gorščak’s remarks make it clear that this is ONLY a back-up option. As she also said, planning is continuing for a Rotterdam-hosted show.
Earlier on Friday, the EBU confirmed that plans for Eurovision 2020 are continuing. In a statement, the organisation said that it is too early to make any final decisions regarding the contest.
Coronavirus precautions are also effecting pre-parties. Spain’s PrePartyES and Israel Calling have both been cancelled, while the London Eurovision Party organisers say they are reviewing options.
Ok this “plan b” is absolutely horrible!!! Wouldnt that mean 41 different stages with different accoustics and atmosphere and so on?!? Songs and performances wouldnt be judged on the same merits at all!!! Best option is to have it as planned in Rotterdam, without the audience, but with delegations as audience and maybe even the dutch ogae fan club. Bring all the artists and delegations to rotterdam a week early and quarantine them for a week in a hotel only reserved for the artists and the delegations, and then only let them go to the arena for rehearsals and the… Read more »
The worst case scenario is the best case scenario at this point!
Let`s go for plan B and save lives!
The tv studio thing is not fair at all. As you saw with Depi Evratesil in Armenia, their sound mixing is just awful and stages are small. Meanwhile, countries such as Sweden and Denmark will have amazing quality (big stages, good mixing, good camera quality)
You forget to mention Sweden uses prerecorded back vocals and also postprocess in real time what comes from the microphones….. MF is a joke of a called live show. NFs like Armenia, Moldova or Portugal sounds more live and authentic than Sweden.
It isn’t ideal, but two advantages of plan B. First the sequence of contests isn’t broken. Second it would give us all something to look forward to in May. To know that there will definitely be a contest of sorts.
If they opt for remote broadcasting, EBU should state both a bottom and top line to every broadcaster, so we don’t see overproduced acts against low-budget ones. It would be fair, since costly acts would directly influence televoting.
The way things seem at the moment, the only relevant and responsible option would be to postpone the event for a few months, maybe even until next year. There’s just not enough time for this situation to be resolved and there’s no way to know how long will it take. Plus, I think The Netherlands deserves to host a proper Eurovision and the fans and the artists deserve to enjoy a proper Eurovision. I can’t see any realistic solution other than postponing
This would just be horrible…. Finally the contest is in my country and I will not be able to see it live because of this. Tbh if it is not safe enough for the contest to be held, in my opinion the only option would be to do it on another date. If not I’m waiting another 44 years to be able to see it live….
If you absolutely want to see it live in 2020 it will maybe be one of the last thing you do. This is a serious situation, deal with it!
I think the first alternative plan should be to perform in an empty stadium, but, if the contest cannot be held in Rotterdam, then at least remote broadcasting would be a viable option! Sure, not all countries may have the technical capabilities of others, but even the smaller countries can make entertaining performances with a smaller budget — it’s not impossible! And at least we could still watch our dear ESC!
I don’t think that would be possible – for one thing, there has to be an independent EBU appointed person or persons in each country to prevent any manipulation such as prerecorded performances being passed off as live ones (or even allegations), and that would again imply a lot of travelling… I think the best thing is to postpone the contest for a safer moment and to keep it in Rotterdam, regardless of the (rather unimportant) fact that the hype about particular songs may die down. Everybody’s health is the most important thing. We shouldn’t be surprised if in a… Read more »
I am native speaker. The translation of her statement is poor (also she’s not a director of whole national broadcaster RTVSLO but only television part of it) but the interview was a bit confusing as well. “Plan B, which suggests that we will become more involved.” “We” in this sentence refers to national broadcasters of participating countries. What is “we” supposed to mean was also confusing for the host of the interview, that is why director explained that each country would record their performance in its own studio (therefore people wouldn’t see live performances from Rotterdam but recordings, filmed in… Read more »
If we arrive to that point I think it will be better not to do it. As the post mentions, not all broadcasters have the same technical resources and it is also hard to verify if all the participating countries are meeting the requirements or are cheating during their live performance. I think that if everyone takes the recommended isolation seriously, we will be able to make normal life again. The higher number of people respecting the isolation and the hygiene recommendations the sooner we will get out of this situation. I still think Eurovision will take place in May.… Read more »
Isolation and hygiene are supposed to slow the virus down to make it easier to handle, not to get rid of it completely. There’s no way to do this within two months. So what options do we have? A contest with audience is essentially off the table. Cancelling the whole thing would be really sad and kinda unfair towards the artists. A delay of this year’s edition wouldn’t really work, because no one wants to watch a contest with songs that are 1 year old. That would coast the event all the buzz around it. So the only realistic options… Read more »
It would be harder to check that all rules are being followed but I’m sure the EBU can get broadcasters to sign some legal papers to ensure as little cheating as possible. Also, I think it would be quite easy to tell if autotune is used or more backing singers than allowed are used and in that case, fines could be given out.
I have a BIG question guys. And important.
If this year’s competition is cancelled (let’s just pretend, I DO NOT want it to be cancelled, I’m for plan Bs like no audience arena or TV studio), what will it mean?
Will the songs stay the same for the next Eurovision and Rotterdam will host the contest in 2021? Or artists will stay the same and will be obliged to change their entries??
Such a confusing question, please reply if you have the answer or versions.
No one knows! It could be that they simply choose next years host at random. And countries have already started to plan for their 2021 selection so what will happen there? Should they just cancel those? And then there is the question of would everybody agree to a contest with outdated songs?
It would be interesting to see if the EBU would allow songs released in 2020 to be performed at a contest in 2021. However, I’m sure they could not force broadcasters to send the same songs and performers. I guess it would be up to the broadcasters and artists to decide what to do. If the contest is cancelled altogether I envisage a weird mix of 2020 artists (maybe with different songs) and new artists with new songs in 2021.
Regarding the host country, I am 100% sure that if this year’s contest is cancelled altogether, it will just be hosted in the Netherlands next year (or at least the Netherlands will be offered first to host it). I feel like that’s obvious, and I highly doubt anybody would object to it. As for the songs, I can’t imagine they’ll just move all the entries to next year’s show if 2020 is cancelled, because so many countries have national finals, which (unlike in the UK) they put a lot of effort and planning into. In some of these countries, the… Read more »
I’ve posted a reply to Polegend Godgarina 3 times & it vanished 3 times. Am I being censored? Ooooooh my god!!…..
…no, that’d be horrid. just delay the contest
What a ridiculous idea. I think best option is just to cancel it this year and have Rotterdam hosting in May 2021. So we shall have to be waiting over a year. Big deal. Is better than to be watching everybody from their own countries which would not be fair on the countries that are not having the same resources as others. Also it wouldn’t be fair on the singers either, who wouldn’t get to enjoy the Eurovision experience at all. How boring would it be for them, just performing their song and then that is it? And The country… Read more »
And what do you suggest should happen for those countries planning a national selection for 2021? Should they be allowed to compete with the songs that win there? Are you saying they should scrap it? And you honestly think any one except fans would watch a contest in 2021 with songs from 2020?
Do you really think countries have planned extensively for a national final for next year? Don’t be ignorant. We are in March of 2020. Obviously there would be no national finals next year. And for the ones that are held annually like melodifestivalen etc. they could still hold them but they would have to advise singers and songwriters before entering their songs that they will not be selected for Eurovision if they win. So the songwriters/singers can decide if they want to enter that year or wait till 2022. And yes, why wouldn’t anyone not want to watch eurovision 2021… Read more »
Problem is Most people don’t care about ESC, and hearing that a 2021 edition will have 2020 songs wont exactly peak their interest. Only hardcore fans would care about it.
Lol, why would they care? They won’t have heard the songs. You really think someone is going to think “oh cool, Eurovision is on this week… wait what? The songs are the same ones that should have been performed last year? No thank you, not watching it”. ROFL give me a break. If someone who doesn’t care about Eurovision is going to watch it next year then I can assure you that just because the songs that were selected this year are being performed won’t deter them. If Eurovision is on then people will want to watch it, because it’s… Read more »
LOL, Eurovision fans think that everyone cares about ESC as much as the fans do. That they would “watch it because it’s on”. They won’t . ESC is pretty low down their list and if everybody mentions these are last year’s songs they won’t bother.
I’m not sure fans would even watch it, I know I wouldn’t. Why watch something that was meant for last year, with songs already been listened to many times?Where is the excitement?
Did I say that I think that everyone cares about ESC as much as the fans do? No. And obviously they don’t. However they still watch it. The diehard ESC fans don’t even make 1% of the 200 million viewers each year. If eurovision is so low down every casual viewers list then why are 200 million people worldwide tuning in to watch it every year? Stop assuming that everyone is going to be put off by watching it because they hear mention that the songs were selected last year. So what? I already told you in the post before… Read more »
I don’t want to be alarmist… but isn’t ESC2021 at risk as well? From what I hear on TV it’ll take 18 months to maybe find a vaccine, fabricate it and make it available to everyone…
From lost in Verona to lost in Corona. Still waiting on the revamp of that one.
So, from all the downvotes I gather it’ll be back to normal in 2021. Let’s just hope it is so.
We don’t even know where ESC2021 will be held, what can we or EBU do to help?
18 months? byeee, americans said it’ll be ready by june maximum
And if Americans say something, you know it’s the truth lol I do love Trump’s press conferences, though. But that’s easy to say for someone whose country takes care of his health.
On French TV the experts speak of 18 months. That’s why I asked about the 2021 edition. I don’t know if their prediction is accurate & experts aren’t always right. I think, though, it’s better to proceed with ESC2020 in the best possible of ways & plan for a better ESC2021 under these new extraordinary circumstances. But let’s just hope that by May 2021 we’re done with Corona & that I’m worrying for no reason.
As an American Trump is a liar. At this point we are following the governor’s advice since the federal has proven to be inept for this case scenario.
I fear you many be right Henrikh. Things are going to get worse before they get better and I can well imagine that in 61 days from now, not many of us will be in the mood to enjoy a song competition. I hope we are wrong, naturally.
I heard it will take between 12 and 18 months to get a vaccine.
Easy…do it in december like normal…
Why just not postpone Eurovision to November and then Jesc and Esc will be held in Poland?
Maybe because The Netherlands still won the right to host and they’re not the same competitions?
Great idea, but let’s just keep it in Rotterdam.. And do Jesc there.. They’ve done it before of course.. So that the amazing stage gets used..
At least it wont be postponed and that is positive. That means that in whatever shape there will be an ESC in May. And that is all I need, even if it means studio shots.
It’s good that EBU sees things more clearly than fans. If you think about it you would get why postponing dont work..
Brilliant, yet another arrogant poster. Please explain why in your greater intelligence and deeper intellectual thinking that postponing it won’t work?
You’re right, postponing could work, but it may not be the same as it is now. Is there a slight chance that one of the 41 groups of artists would not be available at the new date? If EBU allows countries to change songs in case the artists cannot make it, and if we suppose the arenas, tickets and other things do not cause any problem, yes, I see postponing would actually work.
Because of contracts? Because of clash with Jesc?
Because schedules? ESC isn’t high priority at all, most have concerts and tours in cities that are bigger. Would EBU allow other acts to replace if the selected act can’t go?
In Greece, the show will be held outdoor, featuring the singer flying up to a tree to rescue a cat.
Well, maybe the Slovenian person only recalled what she had been told by EBU, but did not get the whole picture, so she herself does not really know what EBU has in mind. Perhaps when she said “In Slovenia….”, she said it on behalf of Slovenia only. She could not say it for others. Other countries may have other choices, like outdoor (seriously, would it be an option? Health-wise, performing outdoor may be better than staying in closed door.)
I think that if they go for remote presentation, it will be a televote only voting then. It’s impossible to verify who exactly sings, the lead singer or a mini crowd of hidden back singers when the song is performed remotely. Local broadcasters can mix the sound any way they want. I’m not saying that people will be cheating. I’m saying it would be impossible to legitimately provide professional jury opinion under the circumstances. So the only thing left to do would be to rely upon overall impressions and this is why a televote might be the only voting segment… Read more »
Makes me wonder, if this is happening, can they use live instruments or am orchestra ? Probably not
I prefer the version without auditorium and very reduced delegations.
Seems unlikely since people can’t leave their own countries. I think this version recording the performances in each country is the most likely to happen, unless they cancel or postpone the contest.
People who bought tickets, get refunded. then they csn give out free tickets for people who can proof that they already had covid-19. So far vast majority of evidence says that reinfections are unlikely to impossible within one season. By may, you will have thousands of europeans who should be safe to gather. With proof that you had Covid-19 already, those people should be allowed to travel again. So you can have a (small) audience. Artists and their crew shall take safety measures. maybe no kissing on the stage. 😉 Also event/broadcaster taking safety measures. And have people/celebrities host the… Read more »
Researchers have figured out that it is very common for someone to get the virus twice, so I don’t know where you’re getting your information.
Actually most have that you most likely gets immune from the virus if you get it but they haven’t said how long you will be immune.
Nothing will be postponed. The best possible scenario will be implemented, whatever that will be in May. For once, I’m glad that the EBU never listens to fans.
So what? Given the circumstances, even that is a highly acceptable plan. Eurovision was never completely fair to begin with, even on the same stage countries always have different budgets. Nobody will simply vote for the act with the biggest stage. Ridiculous. Russia 2017 WAS unacceptable because there was no health crisis. But this plan is okay given the time we are in. Eurovision won’t be postponed. It will be adapted, as it should be. I’d still make that plan C, though and plan B the empty arena.
Can’t they just postpone it?
Logistically, that’s impossible
They did in 1977
1977? This happened 400 years ago!
It would be better to move it to the first week of September than to pull the plug altogether.
At that time Eurovision wasn’t so huge and only have 18 countries, no semi-finals. And it was delayed for 5 weeks after negotiations with the BBC crew that were in strike. Here we can’t negotiate with a virus.
Maybe they could do something with green screen so it looks like everyone is still performing on the same stage in Rotterdam… I don’t know how this would be technically possible but hey it’s 2020 – I’m sure someone can work it out!
Things are very fluid at the moment, but it seems that EBU is preparing for the worse although denying it officially. There’s no way that the contest will take place like nothing is happening. Most countries haven’t experienced yet the peak of the pandemic and I can’t see how in less than 2 months delegations will be able to travel given the restrictions are currently being put in place. If EBU doesn’t want to cancel or postpone the contest then plan B is a viable option. I feel sorry for Rotterdam but I feel million times more sorry for the… Read more »
When do people finally understand that postponing Eurovision to August or September is simply NOT POSSIBLE.
There are lots of things that are in the organisation of the contest, starting with the venue but also things like the schedule of the performers. They‘ll have other duties than waiting for Eurovision to happen.
Really? What other commitments? Surely their commitments are as a result of Eurovision taking place? I would think most artists would cancel plans as they know Eurovision is bigger. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!
Lol some of those performes have serious careers you know, album recordings, country-wide or European tours planned. Eurovision is bigger than what? A multi-city arena tours?
Seems like their other commitments could be cancelled as easily as cancelling a reservation at a restaurant. There are sponsors, tickets, arenas etc. to deal with.
You do realise these artists have schedules right? Or you cant possible think their whole artistry is focused on just ESC? Most of them actually have careers and have planned summer or autumn tours. You think ESC is bigger than sold out arena tours?
Eurovision should be a bigger deal for them – that’s what I don’t like about Eurovision – artists come with their fans already in place waiting to vote for them – they can send a big pile of rubbish and people would still vote for it because they are popular.
Guys, we probably have to accept at this point that Eurovision will not be going ahead as normal. Either it will be cancelled altogether for this year, or we will have a reduced version (no audience or remote performances). Postponing until the summer or autumn is clearly not an option for many reasons (seriously just think about it for 5 seconds and you will realise why) so criticising Plan Bs such as this is just pointless. I’m happy for a remote contest rather than no contest. And, hey, we’re all gonna need the entertainment even more when we’re all in… Read more »
I’ve thought about it for 5 seconds, please explain why it couldn’t be pushed back until the summer/autumn? A vast array of different public events are being pushed back, why couldn’t Eurovision do the same?
The venue might be booked by other companies such as e-sports tournaments. Artists may have other commitments like concerts and etcetera.
Most large arenas are not booked up permanently. Granted it might be difficult, perhaps they would need to simplify the preparations, but I very much doubt the Ahoy is permanently booked out for the rest of the year. As to artists, Eurovision would be their priority. They would cancel whatever else they had planned.
That’s not as easy as it seems. Artists have their concerts planned across all year, they can’t change their schedule immediately when/if their tickets are already sold out (Little Big). There is no guarantee that summer will resolve Covid-19 either.
All the medical advice suggests the peak is 10 weeks away, that is the end of May. Hopefully by August we should see cases falling down, there may even be a vaccine by then. I realise there are no guarantees, for me it’s a better option than cancelling it altogether (which I see as the only other viable option).
Norway’s forecast have the peak hitting May-August, and now that we are (most of us anyway) taking preventative measures to delay it, the peak is going to come later than initially expected. If UEFA is discussing postponing the Euros by a year, we’re all deluded if we think Eurovision is happening as normal anytime this year.
I have also read advices suggesting that the virus would continue for years, which advice should we trust?
I don’t think that currently any arena bookings and artist commitments are of any importance. Things are changing dramatically and large events will continue being postponed or cancelled for many months to come. I believe that the reason that EBU is considering plan B is exactly this uncertainty and not any difficulties that may arise by rescheduling the contest.
Well in those five seconds I remembered 1977 when they did postpone the event for five weeks, but then it was a single show with 18 countries so I accept that it would be rather more difficult to do these days.
All I know is I don’t think they should go ahead with Eurovision as before. If the virus is still very much active in April. I can take it. Not a very good year any way imo 😀
When I wake up first thing on my mind is the Corona Virus, wishing it all went away.. I live near Rotterdam, I work opposite Ahoy, I dreamed of a Eurovision filled city, fun time in may, all thanks to Duncan.. Now everything gets ruined.. Sick of it
And also I just had stemceltransplant to beat MS, in Moscow.. Fighting my way back to life, but aiming towards Eurovision, because I love it and desperately want to be part of it.. I know it’s not about me but this is so heartbreaking..
If you’ve just had a stem cell transplant, you should definitely stay away from large gatherings for the first 100 days at the very least – you have effectively got a new immune system – any virus, let alone this one, is very serious to you. Please take extra care. I know this is disappointing but you have got to play the long game – you did the trans plant for your long term health, you just have to put your life on hold for a bit, but it will be worth it.
Thank you, you’re right.. I came back December 7.. I was supposed to go back in public but my doctor told me to stay in quarantaine until at least April.. It’s all going really well, doing exercises every day to get my leg back to it’s former strength.. MS is a bitch but so is Corona.. Thanks for your reaction, it does good.. Let’s just hope all will be fine
I know , really sad . Netherlands have waited so long for a Victory again and now this…. i hope it just get planned later
What if the recordings feature auto-tune? Singing live inarguably has huge impact on deciding the winner – jury votes, change of your favorites and etc.
EBU will closely check the remote performances. One can immediately recognize a non 100% live performance.
And if so that country would be automatically disqualified.
Don’t kid yourself.
here’s something to think about – in Australia, where I live, it has only just become autumn. we had cases of coronavirus in the summer. so if anyone says “oh lets just wait till summer it will be better then”, that’s a complete lie. it is only just autumn here, and 200 people so far have been infected. that’s all
It’s not a lie and yes obviously if you have COVID-19 you are not suddenly going to be cured by being in a naturally hot environment. But aren’t Oz’s cases mostly from travellers who arrived in the country from abroad?
It’s a lie. There is no confirmed source saying that the virus will be inactive when in high temperature. And that’s why the worldwide stock markets plummet like crazy like never before. We can only wait for the vaccine to come out sooner.
Exactly. On the contrary there’s a study indicating that most likely the virus will continue being active during the summer months especially in humid places.
they were, and now it is beginning to spread further. one of our ministers (even tho I hate his ideals), Peter Dutton, as well as tom hanks and his wife who were filming here, are now hospitalised. but that question doesn’t even make sense in regards to what I said, which is that people who said that you would be cured by being in a hot environment (as it has been in Australia) will be fine. they are not. we are not.
Of course the virus don’t die in “hot” temperature. It needs to live in body temperatures of 37°, it causes fever, so it should take even more then that. I say this out of logic. I have not seen an official source saying the temperature matters
exactly
I’m OK with plan B given the circumstances.
They can’t turn Eurovision into OGAE. Every country would have vastly different productions and money allotted for performances. And you wouldn’t trust most that they wouldn’t use canned backing tracks. Either delay it or scrap it. But remote performances from 40 different studios is ridiculous. I’m sure Ireland from the Late Late Show studio would look sad next to the giant space Russia would pull off. Just look at how vastly different the national finals look like. Belarus vs Melodifestivalen?!?
I am okay with Eurovision being postponed to Summer.
not possible
This virus won’t be gone in summer and you also can’t have these songs out there for half a year and still expect the general public (not just the fans) to care
Maybe it’s just the U.K., but the general public still won’t have heard the songs by summer if the contest isn’t held.
I would personally prefer to see that the 2020 edition gets postponed to may 2021, with the same venue and the same entries. All these alternatives which have come forward the last couple days seem to be far from ideal.
I thought about that too, but does it mean all countries with national finals should not hold one next year? If they hold it anyway, could they send the new songs instead of the old ones? Also the whole show would be very outdated with songs more than 1 year ago.
That won’t work. Any songs released before September of this year are ineligible for next year’s Eurovision. I can’t beat this is happening.
If this really happens, I believe EBU would make an exception for one year, but I wonder if it is a good idea.
In a choice between SOME Eurovision and NO Eurovision at all I’m personally choosing the former option. But EBU has to decide fast because the final wave of ticket sales is coming.
There is 0 evidence this will be better in the summer unfortunately :(.
Staying healthy should always be the priority, but the remote performance would be a shame. One of the things I mostly like about Eurovision is the effort being put into the production of the shows. I just love to see the same stage and how each country makes it their special thing in those 3 glorious minutes.
That wouldn’t be Eurovision. If the can’t perform it live, just cancel or postpone it.
I think whatever happens, I would rather see Eurovision take place than to be cancelled. I’ve seen a lot of comments saying that it’s a shame this is happening while it’s the turn of the Netherlands to host but from another perspective we could say at least this is happening while the Netherlands is hosting. As a well-organised, well-resources cohesive team who are dedicated to and passionate about hosting Eurovision, I feel confident in their ability to make Eurovision work as best as possible in these difficult circumstances. If we were at the same point now in 2017, with the… Read more »
I can’t believe all of this is going on. I’m now worried about this contest. 2020 is becoming a very sad year so far.??
This would be a horrible idea i’m sorry rather see them perform on the stage without audience then