The city of Rotterdam has revealed the provisional list of key dates for the Opening Ceremony, Semi-Final Allocation Draw and more.
The host city of Rotterdam has published the agreement it signed with NOS, regarding the hosting of the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest. Within the document the key dates for the competition have been outlined provisionally.
The provisional dates in the document are:
- Reference Group Meeting – November 11 & 12, January 27, March 8
- Host City Insignia Ceremony & Semi-Final Allocation Draw – January 28
- Heads of Delegation Meeting – March 9/10
- Opening Ceremony – May 10
- Access to the Ahoy – April 1 to May 23
- Rehearsals & Dress Rehearsals – April 27 to May 16
The Reference Group are set to meet in Rotterdam for the first time at the beginning of next week, with the next meeting one day before the planned Host City Insignia Ceremony and Semi-Final Allocation Draw. This event marks the official start of Rotterdam’s time as the Host City of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.
The deadline for song submissions is set as either March 9 or 10, meaning all songs must be submitted to the EBU at this date. At the beginning of April, preparations will begin at the Ahoy, with the venue officially made available for the contest to start preparing for the contest.
The Eurovision Song Contest will officially commence on May 10, with the Opening Ceremony. This will see all of the competing delegations welcomed to the host city of Rotterdam.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 will be held at the Rotterdam Ahoy, which was opened in 1971, and has undergone multiple refurbishments. The venue can hold up to 17,000 people and has previous experience of hosting Eurovision events.
To date, 41 countries have confirmed preliminary participation. These countries are:
- Albania
- Armenia
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Malta
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
Duncan Laurence was selected to represent the Netherlands in Tel Aviv with the song “Arcade”. He won the final with 498 points, giving the Netherlands their fifth Eurovision win and their first since 1975. Duncan’s victory also sees Eurovision returning to the Netherlands for the first time since 1980.
Source: Rotterdam
