The ongoing pandemic continues to impact the Eurovision Song Contest. Following a positive test in its six-person group Gagnamagnid, Iceland won’t perform live in the contest. And now the EBU has confirmed that Eurovision 2019 winner Duncan Laurence has also tested positive. That means he’s had to cancel his live performance in the grand final. Here’s the official statement.
Duncan Laurence tests positive for Covid-19: Official statement
Duncan Laurence, winner of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest for the Netherlands and was scheduled to perform live during Saturday’s Grand Final, has tested positive for COVID-19, his management and the Host Broadcaster have confirmed. Duncan has mild symptoms. Because of the 7 day minimum isolation period, Duncan will not be able to perform live in the Ahoy venue in Rotterdam, but will still feature in the show in a different form.
Last Monday, Duncan tested negative in the Eurovision Test Pavilion, which granted him access to the venue for his performance in the first Semi-Final. On Wednesday, he showed mild symptoms and then unfortunately delivered a positive result in a rapid antigen test.
“We are of course disappointed, first of all for Duncan, who deserves a live performance on our very own Eurovision stage after his 2019 victory and the worldwide success of Arcade,” Sietse Bakker, Executive Producer, said. “We couldn’t be more proud of his opening act for the first Semi-Final. Of course we wish Duncan a speedy recovery!”
“Duncan is very disappointed, he has been looking forward to this for two years. We are very happy that he will still be seen in the final on Saturday, May 22,” his management said.
A strict COVID-19 health and safety protocol is being applied at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. All those working within the perimeter of the venue must be in possession of a negative COVID-19 test, not older than 48 hours.
Since 6 April, when the load-in started in Ahoy, over 24,400 tests have been conducted amongst crew, volunteers, artists, delegation members and press. Only 16 of those (0.06%) have returned positive results. In most cases, they were from people who hadn’t previously been to the venue, or who hadn’t been there recently. To date, no infections have been conclusively traced back to the venue.
Why is everyone testing positive left and right? Is no one bothered to stay indoors??
Let’s keep it real here. The delegations and production has been tested for in total 25,000 tests, and just 16 were tested positive.
Exactly, it’s a very good result. The only problem is that some of performers got unlucky as well. But zero cases was never a realistic goal.
I would have isolated completely if I knew I’d be performing at Eurovision. I am so gutted for him. This must be tough for him.
Can’t stop thinking about how close he stood to the hosts on tuesday…yikes
No big deal, that’s not how it spreads. I lived with an infected person for several days before I finally got it by sharing a glass.
I’m a bit surprised though that very few participants seem to be vaccinated. Sure, there wasn’t an abundance of vaccines in Europe until recently, but surely they could have been given some priority and vaccinated in mid-April to reduce risk?
The participants, hosts & some interval act performers, I mean
Such elitist. Of course people at risk should get the vaccines first. Being stupid and travelling during a pandemic is not a reason
I didn’t mean that. Of course those at risk should be CL vaccinated first… But at least in the EU countries I am familiar with, by late april/early may the stock of the vaccine was getting quite high. And I don’t find it THAT egregious if a country gives one or two vials to the handful of people who will be performing.
They vaccinated many athletes pretty soon, too.
I’m a bit scared there’s been a small outbreak at Eurovision… I sincerely hope no one else gets infected before the final on Saturday :/
You can calm down, its not going to happen. from over 25,000 tests (delegations and crew) only 16 came out positive. This is just simply unfortunate.
off topic but the trophy hand over is always a rushed mess at eurovision and needs to be better thought out to make it more of a celebration.
Yes I know it takes time for the winning act to walk to the stage and then get mic’d up etc.
Then their handed an oversized bunch of flowers and a heavy glass trophy and a mic shoved in their face asking for their thoughts. Now go and sing!
Poor ol Duncan never had his staging for his reprise last time either.
Hope this is improved this year
Too bad he cannot perform live in the arena. There is so much technology today that could solve the handing of the trophy though. * A drone controlled by Duncan. * A robot with arms to carry the trophy and a camera on it so Duncan can control it *Clips of Duncan winning the trophy, cuts to a placing of the trophy in storage of some kind of box, then the winner opening the box. *Alternatively reversing the clip of Duncan receiving the trophy from Netta but having a cut out where you place the head of the winner with… Read more »
To quote Brenda…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyxm8cjMSCo
I don’t understand the rules. Yes, he should stay home because of confirmed diagnosis. But shouldn’t he stay home because of symptoms as well. Here in Sweden you need to stay home when you have symptoms and remain home two days after you have no symptoms left. If you have a confirmed diagnosis you can come back after one week if the fever is down and you only have mild symptoms. Here it’s like the test itself is the only tool. What about distance? Avoiding large crowds? Staying home if you have symptoms? This is very confusing to me. And… Read more »
I’m glad he will always have semi-final one to remember happily, I loved his opening.
Damn covid. The guy who took the contest home after decades won’t be able to be there to give away the trophy, it’s very sad. I hope Duncan gets well soon and that this is our last scare. But EBU should reinforce the use of masks in these final days, at least on backstage.
he (and the guy from iceland) acted irresponsibly and caught covid. instead of performing on the stage in front of his own audience, he’ll be watching the show from home. two years of waiting and we ended up with this scenario. disappointing.
Even if you’re extra careful, you could still be unlucky enough to get covid. I’m sure Duncan did everything possible to avoid getting infected
You could be right, but you don’t know for sure. So you can’t say it like that…
How random that out of all the people there (24 000!), it’s Duncan Laurence, the reigning winner, that got infected. It’s like Ms Rona decided to infect one of the most notable person there.
First of all I hope Duncan gets well soon! Can’t help but feel so sad to me he is the best winner in years and I was looking forward to see him on stage.
Honestly I’m crying now, I really can’t think now, I remember how he was happy that he won and that eurovision was coming to his country and then bam, a global pandemic started and cancelled the contest for the first time ever, a year after the pandemic is still on and The Netherlands had to scale down the celebration and now he got infected and now he can’t perform his winning song that has brought esc to his country in his country, I don’t even know what to say. My wish is that in a few years from now Duncan… Read more »
That would be amazing! If it can be done, I certainly believe Duncan can do it.
Yeah, he has many amazing songs along with Arcade
Props to the Dutch for taking this thing very seriously. Otherwise we would not see the final this year.
and now who will show the famous holland on that stage? Mark Rutte?
Geert Wilders of course 😀
you’re right, it’s more folkloric!
I know you’re being faecitious but he’s awful
Great, hopefully they just make the show shorter so that I can sleep.
But happy recovery to you Duncan, im very sorry for you.
Ultimately, every live event that aims to have zero spread is doomed because it’s just not possible. Of course you can have some protocols to reduce the spread but stuff like testing or masks has very limited effect. The only thing that actually stops the spread is avoiding social contacts altogether, which is against the nature of such events. The humanity has to decide whether we accept some spread or close the society forever. I for one am happy that this year’s ESC is taking place in a country that takes a more liberal approach to covid and we can… Read more »
Vaccines prevent the spread too, but otherwise you have a point
Biggest problem here is you bring people there coming from countries with different approaches. They blend and go back to their respective counties. If I was a virus I’d be sooo happy about events like this because I could finally get the chance to spread big and maybe they’ll find out about this only when they got home and started effecting more people at home.
Such a wet dream for a virus
You’ve certainly got my juices flowing!
first johann from iceland and now duncan .man, i hope they recover fast. Eurovision this year means nothing without them
I believe neither of them are ill, they just tested positive during a routine testing.
Duncan, per the statement, has mild symptoms so he *is* ill. Just not severely so, thankfully.
I missed that. Thanks for the correction 🙂
Stop being such a drama queen! Maybe you should take to your bed with some smelling salts.
I hope Duncan is healthy and safe, and that they find a way for him to remain the spokesperson for the results via zoom.
Obviously, he cannot give the trophy, so this tradition will be surpassed for the first time ever. Who’ll handle the trophy transaction now? Martin Ostendahl? Duncan’s co-writers? Maybe consider inviting Tamara Todevska or KEiiNO?
Is Ilse Lange in Rotterdam? What about her?
Good idea! She almost won in 2014, and she mentored Duncan, and gave her insight in Arcade before it was released. She would be a deserving person to handle the trophy transaction.
All lovely ideas, but what about the lady from Teach-In (? Geert) the last Dutch winner before Duncan?
She’s 70+ and is not welcome at Ahoy because is is a fieldlab experiment.
I agree, she was literally on the stage singing on the stage with him in Tel Aviv after he won.
Why considering Tamara and Keiino? They are not Dutch and they didn’t win!
Well, they won the juries, and televote, respectively, and we are now looking for the next best option in a tough situation. It could also be Mahmood (the runner-up). Ilse de Lange, as suggested, also seems like a great option.
Maybe Wouter Hardy can present it to himself if Switzerland win.
Romy Monteiro will be the spokesperson of the results instead.
Let’s be honest here, they’re not social distancing nor wearing masks enough in Rotterdam. I’ve seen it on photos, livestreams, news specials… The artists, the delegations, the hosts, they’re not careful enough. Also testing regularly doesn’t stop covid, it’s wearing a mask and keeping distance that does. I’m fearing for more positive tests… let’s hope no artists or hosts will be left out at saturday.
Yep. They are wearing more masks than I expected but not enough, you are right. Plus, the audience was basically maskless from the vids I’ve seen.
the audience was maskless because it’s a fieldlab test, run by the Dutch government.
Imagine if Iceland wins.. hahahahah XD Poor trophy!!
That’s bad news. Hope he recovers soon and that he hasn’t spread coronavirus to others. What’s even worse, though, is that there are some people here commenting that such a new leaves them indifferent because he wasn’t their 2019 winner. WTF? I don’t think that he should win back in 2019, but still there’s no need to spread such bad vibes for a person that got infected people!!!! If the only thing you have to say is mean, you shouldn’t bother commenting. Once again, I really hope he recovers! It is a pity. He was waiting for that moment! He… Read more »
I hate that this breaks the previous winner gives the new winner the trophy tradition but what can you do, he has to isolate. Fingers crossed this does not become a superspreader event
No worries about Edsilia! She tested negative… Thank god!
It’s too soon to be sure. False negatives are common when infected too recently.
Maybe, but a negative test result still means a green flag…. so she will be on stage tonight.
Same as a false positive result darlin’.. happened to a lot of people, they were diagnosed with this horrible dying disease, went into quarantine, absent from work, no payroll.. so yeah, let’s all do the thinking what is going on here..
Thank heavens! All the best to Edsilia! 🙂
I feel sorry about him. This means something is being done in a wrong way in Rotterdam! Very worrisome!
Duncan had close contact with the hosts and many others without wearing a mask. I am just hoping nobody else is infected and Eurovision doesn’t become a super spreader event. Do we already know how many of the 3,500 fans got infected? I just hope that in the end everything will be fine.
Only 16 tests have been positive, which is 0,006 % of all tests taken. No major outbreak has cone from ESC
Thank you. This is good news. I hope it will stay the same and also that none of other artists will be infected
Ha! This does not bother me. He should not have won in 2019 anyways. KEIINO!
Duncan has a international career after the contest Keino is not even famous in their own country
Jeez, I agree with your statement but you really should change your name to “RUDEi” (it doesn’t make sense but I would recommend that)
woow that was harsh
I’m wishing Duncan all the best and I feel sad for him… He was so cute and yummy in his red outfit on Tuesday! I’d like to also use the opportunity to send HUGE thanks to the Netherlands for making this year’s contest a reality. The fact that there is a contest this year in no short of a miracle. Yes, a miracle! I’m pretty sure, most countries taking part in ESC, if faced with the same situation the Netherlands has been facing, would probably say “No, thanks. This is just too much. Talk to us again in 2022 to… Read more »
Sweet!!
So true!
I applaud what you have said.
Thank you for your wonderfull and kind words. You are right.
Hopefully now they’ll invite the Why-ay-ay-ay Lady to perform instead of Duncan. She’s much better than Duncan anyway.
I am really getting scared now…
Mans Zelmerlöw has entered the chat
This is so sad… Winning ESC 2019, becoming a huge global success, welcoming the world to his home country, and then just at the wrong moment, COVID ruins it all for him. Can’t even imagine how he feels.
And so that means that Duncan will be replaced by another spokeperson because he was named as the Dutch spokesperson for giving the Dutch jury results
Technically he could still do that from home.
He could still do that from isolation, no?
Actually I hope they do organise that for him—will be quite touching and powerful if that’s the only time we get to see him live on the night—there’ll be a lot of love for him!
Yeah… Using FaceTime… Why not… Just like home office…
If he was meant to do that I think he still can because it’s usually done remotely. What’s puzzling is why he was named as the spokesperson to begin with because reigning winners never are
This may sound stupid and crazy. But what about making something like plexiglass cube that could be safely delivered with Duncan inside on the stage at Ahoy?!…
Farid Mammadov has entered the chat.
Or aquazorbing ball 😀
Oh Jan, I hope you organise a Eurovision one day! 😛
So that means that everyone from the semi final 1 has to be tested, cool.
They are, and will be tested regardless. Those are the contest rules – tests every other day. But if they haven’t been in a contact with Duncan on less than two meters without masks, they’ll be fine (knock on wood).
Even Edsilia had her contact with him in under a minute, and on cca. 2 meters distance, so her chances are good (good luck, Edsilia!)
Hope for the best. Stay healthy, everyone!
Lol no, they might very well not be fine, COVID is airborne, it’s just been officially confirmed (although suspected for very long), so it saturates the air as an infected person breathes and the more they stay in the room, the more saturated it gets and it doesn’t matter how far away you are, as long as you are in the same room, there’s a risk. Good ventilation and air filtration should help with this a bit but I don’t think we are there yet, technology-wise.
OH MY GOD……
So he will still feature? Live from his room or what? A studio link?
Thing is he had contact with the hosts and many other people on Tuesday… I’m seriously worried now, let’s hope no one got infected but be extremely careful
It’s unlikely he would spread it as it seems he is asymptomatic and his infection was only found out via the routine testing. They will be fine.
That being said, some level of spread will naturally occur on every event like this. Just like it did with other infectious diseases prior to 2020.
See how Corona is affecting the Contest
Damn. I hope this year’s Eurovision doesn’t turn into a superspreader event.. I wish a speedy recovery for Duncan and I think his test result was accurate, because he is said to be having mild symptoms. I fear that we will not be seeing Edsilia today, because she was very close to Duncan during the 1st semifinal.. Do they know though where Duncan might have contracted the virus? Maybe someone from the audience got a false negative test result and their shouting spread the virus into the air inside the arena, who knows?
I think a close contact is needed to spread the virus, the public is way too far from the arena.
Yeah, that’s true. I have heard though that the virus can stay in the air (in an indoor place) for a long time and you can contract it even tho a sick person had previously been in that same space a long time ago. I think it’s very unlikely though. Hopefully they can keep everyone involved as safe as possible.
If people from the competition are testing positive, I’m sure there are some positives in the audience too.
It’s because the audiance were not wearing masks and I was very shocked
the virus needs time to develope symptoms – so he must have gotten it a couple of days before the jury show on monday. In Germany it’s adviced to take a PCR test 5 days after a risk situation, because then the result can be valid. Symptoms show (if at all) usually later.
I believe Duncan doesn’t have any symptoms. They usually come on fifth day of the infection.
So if Iceland wins…. No one gives and no one receives anything 🙁
OMG just realised that now
Sounds like your lockdown, Darren!
Omg I burst out laughing reading that and how incredibly accurate it is Jimmy haha
Yup. It’ll be like JESC2020 where the French delegation were celebrating on link while Viki was showing the trophy.
Oops!
I think someone else will give the winner their trophy… it will just be sad
What a disappointment! It’s very frustrating news for Duncan! I hope he gets better as quickly as possible.
Call in Molly Sandén and Husavik!
I assume it’ll be the first time a winner is not gonna get the trophy from the previous one. We all knew this year to become a little challenging but I never thought Duncan to get infected or any other members of production team. I, personally, only focused on the participants from the beginning and totally ignored the other people that can still get infected somehow.
Can you imagine the chaos that can occur if all the presenters get infected? In such case, they should ask William to do it lol.
It will be the first time since 2007 where the previous winner didn’t award the trophy to the winner
I’m sure Ilse de Lange is ready to do it!
Ilse would be a good alternative indeed – unless she spend a lot of time with Duncan as well…
Yeah, I was half joking, but I’d be more than happy to see Ilse give the trophy—she’d be a great alternative and happy to do it I’m sure.
So who awarded the trophy in 2007?
Santa Claus did, it was in keeping with the “True Fantasy” theme
Hopefully the people who came in contact with him, will quarantine and maybe skip being in today semifinal 2, can’t let it spread any further and jeopardize the final.
Mostly worried about the host who stood close to him in semifinal 1.
Yess I just hope Edsilia is safe
She tested negative.
Yeah, but it won’t show this fast
Please axe contest Dow Hill any way
Yes let’s stay negative, that often helps ??
Staying negative seems like a good advice this year :p
Noooo not Duncan as well! I feel like we’re in the Hunger Games now and however survives gets to perform live (I’m joking of course, that’s a serious subject so I wish him a fast recovery)
Wishing Duncan a fast recovery soon! 🙁
Wish Duncan a fast recovery from this. Stay strong and hope to see you in other ways in the Grand Final
Stay strong, Duncan! I feel so sorry for him!