Eurovision Song Contest 2021: Rotterdam
Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands in May 2021, after Eurovision 2020 was cancelled due to coronavirus. Find all the information about Eurovision 2021: Date, City, Participants, Arena, Eurovision Village, Euroclub and Euro Café
The slogan for Eurovision 2021 was Open Up and the logo and theme artwork had also been revealed – The slogan copied from the cancelled Eurovision 2020, and the logo was slightly modified.
The contest had four hosts: Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley, Jan Smit and Nikkie de Jager.
When was Eurovision 2021?
The Eurovision week had three shows: Semi-final 1 on Tuesday, Semi-final 2 on Thursday and the Grand Final on Saturday.
- Semi-final 1: 18 May 2021
- Semi-final 2: 20 May 2021
- Grand Final: 22 May 2021
Eurovision 2021 and COVID-19
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Dutch Host Broadcasters NPO, NOS and AVROTROS had been working on 4 basic scenarios for hosting Eurovision 2021, depending on the status of COVID-19.
They had come to a conclusion, to go ahead with Scenario B: Social distancing.
Read more: Eurovision 2021 and COVID-19: Scenario B confirmed.
Read more: Eurovision 2021 and COVID-19: EBU will focus on Scenario B.
Host City: Rotterdam
Following the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, the European Broadcasting Union, EBU and the Dutch broadcasters NPO, NOS and AVROTROS and the City of Rotterdam entered discussions on the possibilities of hosting Eurovision 2021 in Rotterdam.
It was later confirmed that Eurovision Song Contest 2021 would be held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Arena: Rotterdam Ahoy
Rotterdam's Ahoy Arena was chosen as the arena for Eurovision Song Contest 2020, and again for Eurovision 2021.
Rotterdam Ahoy consists of three halls with the largest being with a capacity of 15,000, which meets all the conditions set by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
For Eurovision Song Contest 2021, there were a maximum capacity of 3,500 people in the audience due to COVID-19 restrictions. All spectators were seated.
Two smaller halls in the complex have a capacity of 6,000 and 4,000, Perfect for delegations and press centre.
Rotterdam Ahoy hosted Junior Eurovision 2007.
Participants
39 countries participated at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021:
Some of the artists remain the same as for Eurovision Song Contest 2020. Each country's broadcaster decided if their 2020-artist should represent their country at Eurovision 2021, or if they should select another artist. 26 artists from 2020 were selected for Eurovision 2021:
Who's in which Semi-final?
The Netherlands and the Big-5 countries (Germany, France, Italy, Spain and United Kingdom) were pre-qualified for the Grand Final. The rest of the countries were allocated to one of the two Semi-finals. The Semi-final allocation remained the same as for Eurovision 2020, except for Armenia who withdrew from Eurovision 2021, and Belarus who was disqualified from the contest.
10 countries from each of the two Semi-finals proceeded to the Grand Final that featured a total of 26 countries: 10 from Semi-final 1, 10 from Semi-final 2, Big-5 and Netherlands.
Tickets
The tickets bought for the cancelled Eurovision 2020 were refunded. The ticket holders for these tickets had the option to buy one of the 3,500 tickets for Eurovision 2021.
Read more: How to get tickets for Eurovision 2021.
Eurovision Village / EuroClub / EuroCafé
Usually there are lots of events happening outside the arena for the whole Eurovision week:
- Eurovision Village is normally the official festival area during Eurovision Song Contest, with live performances by artists, DJs, special events and public viewing of the shows broadcast from the Arena.
- EuroClub is the venue for some special parties, the official after parties and performances by participants.
- EuroCafé (also known as Euro Fan Café) is the place for fans to meet for parties and special events during the Eurovision week, organized by the OGAE fan clubs.
All the events surrounding Eurovision Song Contest 2021 were cancelled. Due to the current COVID-19 measures and restrictions the delegations have been asked to stay in their hotels as much as possible.
