Alternative Eurovision 2020 schedule: Thursday’s shows, specials, documentaries and concerts

Eurovision 2020 is cancelled. But the spirit of the contest lives on, especially over the next seven days or so, in what would have been the week of the contest. Broadcasters all over Europe are organising their own alternative schedules and replacement shows.

And we’ve gone through the TV guides so you don’t have to! Listed below is all of the alternative Eurovision programming being broadcast on Thursday 14 May.

Given the sheer amount of content, we haven’t been able to provide links. But most broadcasters should have online players. Geo-blocks may apply

These listings, while comprehensive, are not necessarily conclusive. If we are missing a show from your country, please let us know in the comments and we’ll update the post.

Find a week-long guide here.

All times are in CEST unless otherwise stated.

Pick of the day: Sveriges tolva (Sweden’s 12 Points)

 21:00: SVT 1

On Monday SVT revealed the nineteen Eurovision 2020 songs that received the most votes on the Melodifestivalen app following last weekend’s Inför ESC show. There were nine from semi-final 1 and ten from semi-final 2. Tonight’s show will be hosted by Melodifestivalen veteran Sarah Dawn Finer.

In the final 25 countries will compete against each other, that is the 19 countries that qualified from the two semi-finals and the six automatic qualifiers (United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Germany, France and The Netherlands). The votes will be reset to zero and a new voting process starts. Similar to Eurovision 50 % of the votes will come from the audience and 50% from a jury group. The jury will give their 1-12 points and the Swedish audience will give their 1-12 points. The jury consist of well-known faces such as Melodifestivalen 2020 runner-up Dotter, Swedish Eurovision star Charlotte Perrelli and Eric Saade, Eurovision songwriter Fredrik Kempe, and Alcazar singer — and Melfest 2020 host Lina Hedlund.

When all the points from both the audience and the jury has been handed out  we will find out which country that will receive Sweden’s 12 points and win. Sweden’s The Mamas do not compete in any of the shows as SVT decided to stick to the Eurovision rule that you cannot vote on your own country. This also makes the result more fair. However, The Mamas will perform in the final with their song “Move”.

SVT has confirmed that the show will be available to watch internationally on SVT Play. One pro-tip for non Swedes could be too watch on catch-up as SVT typically uploads subtitles which are readable by translation facilities in browsers such as Google Chrome.

Best of the rest

De Beste Zangers Eurovision special

 20:25: NPO

NPO were originally intending to re-broadcast their 2019 Eurovision special of De Beste Zangers — the popular show where Dutch singers perform other people’s songs. That featured Glennis Grace covering Loreen’s “Euphoria” and Jan Smit and OG3NE will tackling ABBA’s “Waterloo.” However, plans have changed and a new episode recorded before Corona will be shown instead. This will include Edisillia Rombley (1998 and 2007) and Lenny Kuhr (1969 winner).

De weg naar de winst (The Road To Victory)

 21:40 NPO 1

Eurovision commentator and Eurovision 2020 Creative Advisor Cornald Maas wrote and shot a documentary about the Netherlands’ road to success at Eurovision. De weg naar de winst (The Road to Victory) explores why it took the country over forty years to win the song contest again. The documentary was originally scheduled for a different date and time, but has now been given a prime time slot.

The Eurovision Song Celebration 2020

🌍 21:00: YouTube

While the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 won’t be taking place, fans will still have the opportunity to enjoy the thrill of the Eurovision semi-finals. The Eurovision Song Celebration 2020 is an online event to honour the competing acts of Eurovision 2020.Tonight’s edition is for semi-final two as today is the date it was supposed to take part.

The semi-final allocations were drawn back in January — and those allocations will be kept for the shows. As well, the songs will be played in the producer-decided running order that had been intended for the now-cancelled live Eurovision shows. While the EBU has not specified details of the song performances, it is thought that they will use existing national final performances or music videos, rather than new “at home” performances.

This event will be non-competitive and no vote will be held. The events are intended to “spotlight the songs” that would have been competing in the song contest this year. The show will also include “Fan Recaps”.

Thursday 14 May — Full Guide

 05:30: SBS — Eurovision 2018 — Jessica (13:30 local time AEST)

 14:05: YLE TV2 — Eurovision Diaries (15:05 local time)

 15:05: RÚV — The Icelandic Eurovision songs 1986-2020 (13:05 local time)

 16:45: RÚV — Eurovision 1990 in Zagreb (14:45 local time)

 18:05: YLE TV2 — YLE Olohuone: Eurovision 2020 (19:05 local time)

 19:30: YLE TV2 — Eurovision 2014 grand final (20:30 local time)

 20:00: BNT 1 — Junior Eurovision 2015 (21:00 local time)

 20:25: NPO — De Beste Zangers Eurovision special

 20:30 LRT — Eurovision Winners (21:30 local time)

 20:35 RTBF 1 — Les Belges au Top (Belgians At The Top)

 21:00: SVT 1 — Sveriges tolva (Sweden’s 12 Points)

 21:00: TVM — Eurovision Special Programme

🌍 21:00: YouTube — The Eurovision Song Celebration 2020

 21:40 RÚV — Alternative Eurovision: Our 12 Points (19:40 local time)

 21:40 NPO 1 –De weg naar de winst (The Road To Victory)

 23:55: RAI Premium — Eurovision 2018

Read our complete week-long Eurovision 2020 replacement shows guide.