As the closing credits rolled on Eurovision: Europe Shine A Light, the EBU broke some much-needed positive news. Eurovision will return in 2021. Furthermore, it will once again be set to take place in Rotterdam under the “Open Up” slogan.
Eurovision to return in 202
The official press release reads:
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and its Dutch Members NPO, NOS and AVROTROS are excited to have reached an agreement to stage the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam at the Ahoy Arena. The Dutch city was due to host the Contest this month before the event was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Martin Österdahl, the new Executive Supervisor, says:
We are extremely happy that we can now move forward. It’s vitally important that the Eurovision Song Contest returns next year, and we’re pleased to have the necessary commitment from our Members in the Netherlands to bring this much-loved show back to audiences across the world.
I firmly believe that all of us involved in the Eurovision Song Contest will stand united through challenges and change to bring the Contest back stronger than ever, ensuring its longevity for decades to come.
Eurovision 2021 – Uncertainties
As with so many aspects of life at the moment, there remains many uncertainties surrounding the next year’s contest.
The EBU admits that:
Developments surrounding COVID-19 will clearly affect planning in the coming year for a complicated global broadcast with many international stakeholders. In this ever-changing and challenging environment, the EBU will, therefore, work with its Dutch Members and the City of Rotterdam to ensure the continuity of the event in a number of different scenarios.
Shula Rijxman — the NPO Chairperson — says:
Now more than ever it is important that we, as a public broadcaster, are committed to continuing this European tradition and are organizing a great event that people can look forward to during these difficult times. We will do everything in our power to arrange a very special Contest.
Sietse Bakker — the event’s Executive Producer — adds:
Our team is proud and excited to look forward with renewed energy to organize a fantastic Eurovision Song Contest in 2021. Yes, with a sense of realism that fits with the times we live in, but also with ambition and creativity. We are looking forward to working with the entire Eurovision family to make it happen.
More details are set to be released in due course.
I think the Netherlands deserves to host it. I didn’t find the show very uplifting too and yes, a bit boring and predictable, except for Netta’s performance. (And yes, Diodorato made the whole evening) However, I don’t think the Dutch broadcaster could have done much differently under the current circumsances. I think they stroke a the right tone. After all this is a said moment and we cannot just pretend it is not. What I don’t understand is why we didn’t have more live acts insted of recordings… Also, could there really not have been a competition where the acts… Read more »
I honestly have different kind of point of view….. The moment The Netherlands organizers let go ESC 2020 without trying an altrnative solution where people and fans keep commenting and suggesting then they don’t deserve to host again. I prefer that one of the BIG 5 should host it but EBU already decides so lets see how is ESC 2021 then. And what if this pandemic wasn’t alleviated by that time? Are they going to cancel again?
It will be.
We will have a vaccine, if not a treatment, if not, then enough of the population will probably have had it, that herd immunity would have suppressed it.
We are talking 12 months.
Of course, as a big 5 member, Italy would have hosted the 2020 edition in the middle of the Corona epidemic. Come on… Eurovision Shine a Light was the best possible option giving this situation.
I totally agree with you, it wasn’t the ESC, but it was something similar, and I found it enough to what I had expected.
There was too less time left to organize a FAIR competition from the moment they had to cancel. Otherwise they would have done it without a big show in Ahoy… (This was what the executive producer said)
Shine a Light was such a boring show. I enjoyed Free European Song Contest, at least all the songs there were performed live. Diodato was the saving grace of SAL, the rest were snoozefest. How many times do you need to hear a reworking of Hero, Molitva etc? Out with the old & in with the new. The song Shine A Light was also terribly cheesy, this is the type of song that people laugh at Eurovision for being cheesy. The Eurovision stans really have no taste
You call it boring, I call it empathic. There was an important reason why this show wasn’t one happy big party.
Please please react soon to Diodato’s amazing performance in Verona Colosseum!!! It’s a winning act – great staging, song and singer flawless!!! ???? #FaiRumore
I honestly think Italy would’ve won if the contest had gone ahead as planned.
Told ya. Let’s see.
Mediocre show, they talked too much about Corona. It doesn’t help to wash your hands, if someone sneeze or cough on you.
I hope too see many new artists next year, these are quite boring. Rotterdam 2021, Sydney 2022, San Marino 2023.
Good news for me. I’ve lived in the Netherlands and have always wanted to see them do well and host. It was shaping up so perfectly until the virus came.
Looking ahead, what date is in mind? Can they do this in May 2021, how much will the rules have changed by then? Or will we be looking at an Autumn event? Can we still have a big arena full of 20,000 fans, or will they use one of the Ahoy’s smaller rooms? Fan parks?
They will probably prepare several options. I can imagine that it will be an all seater again and maybe they will move the green room to one of the adjacent halls to make room for enough chairs.
Wiwibloggs, will you make a post about the incredible rude thing hooverphonic did? I really hope they don’t come back next year. Hooverphonic is cancelled!!
It was so incredibly rude that I completely missed it. Can you clarify please?
Hooverphonic decided not to join the other artists to sing Love Shine A Light because one of the members, Alex Callier, thought that the song sucked…
Yeahh what EuroNerd said. They refused to take part in something that was meant to unite europe, just because they thought, and I qoute what they literally said ‘ the song sucks’. They clearly don’t get the eurovision spirit so they shouldn’t be there next year if you ask me.
But that song sucked, they are right.
The song has resemblance to a gospel song and maybe they are just too afraid to sang a gospel song regardless they’re band also sucks. See, famous band can’t even come up with original lyrcis,sigh, and still use a phrase of Duncan’s Arcade.
Strange. Thanks for answers, now I see that there’s a post about it. Basically it boils down to artistic integrity and whether you should ever set it aside and make compromises. Sitting out certainly comes across as arrogant, but on the other hand, as they point out, the proceeds did not go to charity so in a way, I can understand their/his point of view as well.
The thing is, Eurovision is still considered public service, as a way to celebrate music, art and culture with the whole of Europe, as the show is organized by a union of mostly publicly-funded broadcasters. What is being asked for doesn’t require much of Alex, much less do some crazy stunts for the sake of it. Everyone else seem really game and many of the contestants were either too young or were not around yet when “Love Shine a Light” won.
still better than “release me”
So all the artists have to compose and organize new songs but the producers of ESC can stuck with the old slogan? wow.. not fair
A whole contest gets cancelled, 41 entries wasted, countless singers and songwriters left disappointed and Europe (nay the world! ) left with an empty hole in 2020 all so that Rottendam gets “its turn” to host.
Haha stay salty
This show was not good. Excuse me for being negative, but they didn’t honour the songs at all and the whole tone of the show was negative. Furthermore, it looked like they enjoyed the special performances rather than the 2020 entries and it was a bit boring. Not good. Why couldn’t there be a vote across Europe with the exact same voting as usual???
I found it more sad too. Watched it afterwatds.It only made me more depressed over the whole thing rather than uplifted and inspired. But people found it inspiring and that’s OK. We all think differently
It’s tailored for both fans and casual viewers. Casual viewers tend to form the bulk of those who tune in live every year so if what they get is 2 hours of all the songs played in their entirety, they would tune out before the first half hour.
If casual viewers can watch 3 hrs 30 minutes of songs in entirety every year, why wouldn’t they watch it for two hours?
Actually, in one semi-alone, all songs will collectively last approximately an hour out of the two hour-show. The song would be spread out to fill the airtime with supplementary breaks, spiels, voting windows and of course the results segment. People will tune in for that. And of course, all the songs would have to be performed live on the ESC stage itself. The same cannot be said with having a two-hour block filled with national final performances and music videos in a special one-off two-hour show. With that said, those entries were all played in full in the previous song… Read more »
There couldn’t be a vote because you’re an idiot
Who do you think you are???
Can anyone comment on the fact that Polish Tv has censored and didn’t show Nikki Tuttorials?
What seriously?
They were probably just having advertisement (just as many other countries in Europe, including mine – Slovenia)…
Probably advertising.
My broadcaster RTÉ took advertising breaks at this point. I doubt there was any agenda at play here.
I agree. Ireland doesn’t strike me even remotely as the kind of country that’d purposefully cut out a transgender person (especially given how LGBT+ friendly their act was this year).
Finland did not show her either, they showed discussion on the studio instead. I didn’t even realize she was on the show until I saw it on Youtube afterwards. Really do not understand why since personally I find the Finnish hosts very annoying and would rather have listened to Nikkie
At that point Finnish broadcaster YLE showed Krista and Mikko (our commentators) interviewing Aksel. At the same time I watched Youtube’s broadcast and it showed Nikkie. I think that part was up to the broadcasters to decide what to show.
Close minded fs
You’re crazy, guys. There are commercials as always, we never get to see all those interviews in the green room because it’s supposed to be a tv-break all over the Europe. And Nikki was some kind of green room host, she was making a content for all those who has not commercials and those watching it on Youtube.
You’re not alone.
Reading through the lines I see “we realise now that we could have staged some sort of contest in 2020 after all, so by the time 2021 comes around we’ll be in a position to do that even if restrictions are still in place.”
That’s unfair. Yes, they realise NOW, but it certainly wasn’t something they could aim for with any degree of confidence back in March. Besides, I’m not even sure that all 41 countries’ regulations necessarily allow for even a studio peformance at this moment.
Everyone was panicking in 2020, and there are bigger uncertainties to be considered — you caon’t just change a big whole plan made in 8 months to change entirely in 2 months. Now that everything’s a bit more normal and details about the conditions could be discovered, I think it’s fair to start it next year.
Hey guys, we made a parody of ESC 2020 performances and we put a lot of effort into it ? Tell us which ones you like the most m! You can even vote in the comments 1-12 esc style ??
https://youtu.be/Qqitx8QoOHo
That’s your free choice, I think.
What difference would it make to bring it to Sweden or Germany? Netherlands is not stricter than Germany. And even if so, it doesn’t bring the way you like to see the contest necessarily nearer. In that case too, the question is if citizens are allowed by their own governments to visit such mass-events. So, under pressure of other governments Sweden or Germany would be forced to have restrictions in the hall. Simply, wherever it will be held, I don’t see a lot of differences.
The show was great and they just had a few weeks to put it together. And the hosts were great. I’m looking forward to the Eurovision Song contest 2021 in Rotterdam. I think it will be a very good show next year. Season 2021 has started today.
After a year with close down, Open Up is the ideal slogan!
Oh by the way, does anyone think Hungary and/or Montenegro will come back in 2021? What do y’all think the probability is?
Hungary is not coming back and we may never see them again.
Really? I didn’t know it was confirmed. That’s disappointing.
This will be the case for multiple countries.
I think Montenegro did broadcast Shine a Light so I think they will return at least 🙂
Heck, Bosnia and Herzegovina broadcast Europe Shine a Light. There could be hope for them!
yep, they would return if they had money, but they don’t so..
After saying esc is gay and not broadcasting europe shine a light….. I’m sure that Hungary is becoming turkey 2.0
Montenegro might. Hungary no. They even said it’s to gay so they wont return ever. That said I dont think we will have 41 countries next year. I truly expect some many countries to drop out next year.
Open up really has a new, and better meaning now, doesn’t it?
Rightful and deserved. I am surprised that they announced this so quickly, given recent government announcements, but overjoyed nonetheless. Rotterdam is the only realistic option for The Netherlands to host Eurovision as Amsterdam is overflowing already and is usually at peak capacity due to year round tourism as is much of the country. If the situation arose where the Dutch couldn’t host and it went to a different country, most likely either Germany or Sweden and went on as usual from that point on until Australia wins, so you think in this hypothetical situation that the Dutch should be given… Read more »
Does anyone know why has the album been made unavailable on iTunes!?
Probably to fix the problem that the Greek and Croatian songs are the wrong way round (Greece plays when you choose Croatia, Croatia plays when you choose Greece)
I also think the Junior Eurovision announcement was a bit of a shock.
It’s still going ahead, only on a reduced scale and it’s taking place in Warsaw instead of Krakow.
I honestly thought that would be cancelled too.
I’m guessing it will probably be in TVP studios or a very small venue in the city.
I’m not gonna downvote you. I’m just gonna tell you that there is a whole year waiting before the next Eurovision is taking place. All of us should have some hope. I’m having a long distance relationship for example and I don’t when I’ll see my boyfriend again but I have hope! That’s all we have left! And if we all work together and we keep us and other people safe we’ll see our loved ones again AND we’ll see the Eurovision Song Contest next year! Just believe in it!!
Lots of love and stay safe ??
Tonight was incredibly moving and I hope that we’ll all see us next year in Rotterdam and give each other a big hug while celebrating this great event!!!
Can’t wait until next year when we will be able to watch the whole contest with out watching 30 seconds of the videos
Yeah having just 30 seconds was a joke
To be honest I think it was less than 30 seconds because the song had barely started to play before it was over. A minute was needed to get a feel for the songs. That was my main criticism as the rest of the show was excellent.
Perfect. More and more artists are confirmed. I just need the last internal acts to be announced for 2021 (France, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Germany, UK, Ireland, Russia) + as many “external choices” countries as possible and it’ll be perfect, for me.
I reckon Athena has a good chance of being internally selected given that Srbuk was internally selected only last year. Serbia also internally selected in 2016 and 2017 so maybe we’ll see Hurricane back?
Alicja might also have a good chance to represent Poland next year as Tulia was internally selected last year and they are hosting JESC 2020. And also VAL from Belarus and Natalia from Moldova are probably also internally picked.
I watched the show tonight and despite some initial hesitation, I actually really enjoyed it, it gave me hope and joy and actually surprisingly felt like Eurovision. The hosts are really good too (bring them back next year!) Was it Eurovision?? Yes, it actually was. There was no competition or staging tonight, but as Graham Norton said, it still feels like the Eurovision family. I feel like everyone was a winner tonight. The announcement at the end made my night though, and gave me hope for normality. Rotterdam deserves to host in 2021. They worked so hard for this moment… Read more »
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS and tonights show was very moving. I admit, i shed a few tears
Glad that SexySietse will get another chance to produce the show. However am disappointed that after this break year, Netherlands still won’t be putting it’s best foot forward and hosting it in its capital city which is a major international city known the world over. 2020 I sort of had to accept as Amsterdam wasn’t able to due to scheduling and it was meant to just be an ordinary year (well 65 years is pretty special) but was hoping with the extra year Netherlands would want to go ALL OUT and host a major show in a MAJOR city
Rotterdam is just as capable of hosting and as many attractions. Netherlands as a country is wanting tourists to visit other parts, not just Rotterdam.
Besides next year there will still be restrictions on travel. For the vast majority of us watching from home does it really matter what city hosts? An amazing show on tv doesn’t depend on location. It depends on an enthusiastic team, which Netherlands seem to have on board.
Seriously? Rotterdam is as capable to host this.. as Amsterdam.
The Netherlands is soooo much more than only Amsterdam, Open up!
So everything is a copy paste from 2020, except for songs? I think at least the slogan could be new, something to punctuate that ESC is back with a vengeance or something. To make it more of a party feeling rather than re-hashing the old logo from a cancelled contest.
maybe financial savings
The slogan “Open Up” will make so much sense in 2021. I don’t mind if they keep it.
Europe and the world will be opening up again after this pandemic.
“Open up” is even more fitting of a slogan now than it was before! Come next year, the world is literally going to be in the process of opening back up.
Obviously, the symbol that they used this year is going to need to change next year though since they already sold 2020 merch with that symbol.
The logo would be slightly changed but not completely.
Don’t see it as a copy and paste. See it as a sign of respect to everyone that worked so incredibly hard for this years contest. It’s very good that not all of it is going to waste.
Welcome back to The Netherlands next year!
Hope you all enjoyed Shine A Light tonight.
I found it great. I wasn’t bothered by the no-voting element at all!
I don’t think by next year the world will be as it was before covid. They need to come up with a plan to host the competition and not the miseryfest we watched tonight.
you are a miserable human being, I’m sure!
at least i am not someone who televised a funeral full of shots of empty streets to a continent. #byefelicia
Problems in accepting reality as a starting point for a better situation soon?
Wtf, be happy that there was kind of a ‘eurovision’ kind of show? Be happy
Honestly, that show was incredible, giving the circumstances! I shed so many tears tonight. Be a little grateful. Nothing’s normal this year!
I didn’t see a miseryfest, more a description of today’s reality and a unity in hope for a better near-future. I liked it.
Well what did you expect. Did you think they would do one of these indian dancing scenes where everybody joins in through out the streets of europe?
As much as I love the slogan and theme art, not many artists are being confirmed for 2021, so it won’t feel the exact same.
Be ready for more confirmations soon. Right now 25 countries are going to partipicate in the 2021 contest and 18 of them are bringing their 2020 artists
I am beyond happy that the contest will still take place in Rotterdam :’) I’m also so grateful to see so many 2020 artists being announced to compete next year, that’s fills my heart with joy! And after tonight’s show, which was amazing, I feel so warm and positive, can’t wait ‘till next year <3
Thank f**k for that – I loved tonights show. Next year is going to be amazing
I hope this stupid virus ends soon
Only fair and correct choice! Well done!
Ngl was hoping for London or Amsterdam.
If it had to be Netherlands they could have reopened the bidding process as Amsterdam couldn’t do 2020 but possibly could have submitted a bid for 2021.
Looking forward to 2021, first show with SexySieste in the exec chair!
Why London? Didn’t you heard that Duncan (read: The Netherlands) won the latest edition?
Amsterdam was very divided in yes/no organizing it and only offered 5 mio euros. On top of that Amsterdam tends to be very slow in procedures and organizing big things, while the mentality in Rotterdam is more ‘decide today, let’s work immediately on it’ . As a dutchie I trust Rotterdam much more in this respect.
That would be just as unfair for Rotterdam as it is for the 2020 edition artists that are not granted participation in the 2021 edition.
It was all in all a very moving program.
It’s official guys: Eurovision season 2 begins
At the end of the day we will open up to rotterdam and corona won’t destroy it again.
YEEEEY! I am so happy! Dutch people are amazing, it will be epic. Open up for the next year