Eurovision Song Contest 2020 | Rotterdam

Rotterdam, the Netherlands will host Eurovision 2020

The Netherlands won the right to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2020 following the win of Duncan Laurence’s “Arcade” in Tel Aviv, Israel. Rotterdam Ahoy was selected to host guests from around the world for the event. The semi-finals were scheduled to take place Tuesday, May 12 and Thursday, May 14. The Grand Final of the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest was to be held Saturday, May 16.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, brought about by a novel coronavirus discovered in late 2019, the European Broadcasting Union announced on March 17, 2020 that the Eurovision Song Contest would be cancelled. It was further decided that the songs selected for 2020 would not be eligible to compete in the next edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, tentatively scheduled for May 2021.

Selection Season

Participating Countries

Participants selected their entries via several different methods:

Internal Selection: The broadcaster selected the act and the song.
National Final: The broadcaster held a one-off competition to determine their act and song.
Festival: The broadcaster held a slightly longer competition, usually with one or two semi-finals and a grand final. Sometimes the competition took place over the course of a week (Italy’s Sanremo or Albania’s Festivali i Këngës) or over a couple of weekends (Portugal’s Festival da Cancão or Iceland’s Söngvakeppnin).
Selection Series: The broadcaster held a long-form competition to determine their artist and song, usually with multiple rounds of winnowing down options.
Hybrid: A broadcaster may use one method to determine their artist and another method to select their song.

First Semi-Final

Eurovision Song Contest 2020 First Semi-Final

Country	Artist	Song
Australia	Montaigne	Don’t Break Me
Azerbaijan	Efendi	Cleopatra
Belarus	VAL	Да вiдна (Da Vidna)
Belgium	Hooverphonic	Release Me
Croatia	Damir Kedžo	Divlji vjetre (Wild winds)
Cyprus	Sandro Nicolas	Running
Ireland	Lesley Roy	Story of My Life
Israel	Eden Alene	Feker Libi
Lithuania	The Roop	On Fire
Malta	Destiny	All of My Love
North Macedonia	Vasil Garvanliev	YOU
Norway	Ulrikke	Attention
Romania	Roxen	Alcohol You
Russia	Little Big	UNO
Slovenia	Ana Soklič	Voda
Sweden	The Mamas	Move
Ukraine	Go_A	Solovey

These are the countries that will participate in the First Semi-Final of the 65th Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on May 12, 2020. The Netherlands, Germany, and Italy will broadcast and vote in this semi-final. Ten of these entries will move on to the Grand Final on May 16. (Last update: March 12, 2020)

Second Semi-Final

Eurovision Song Contest 2020 Second Semi-Final Participants

Country	Artist	Song
Albania	Arilena Ara	Fall from the Sky
Armenia	Athena Manoukian	Chains on You
Austria	Vincent Bueno	Alive
Bulgaria	VICTORIA	Tears Getting Sober
Czech Republic	Benny Cristo	Kemama
Denmark	Ben & Tan	YES
Estonia	Uku Suviste	What Love Is
Finland	Aksel	Looking Back
Georgia	Tornike Kipiani	Take Me As I Am
Greece	Stefania	SUPERG!RL
Iceland	Daði & Gagnamagnið	Think About Things
Latvia	Samanta Tina	Still Breathing
Moldova	Natalia Gordienko	Prison
Poland	Alicja	Empires
Portugal	Elisa	Medo de Sentir
San Marino	Senhit	FREAKY!
Serbia	Hurricane	Hasta la Vista
Switzerland	Gjon’s Tears	Répondez-moi

These are the countries that will participate in the Second Semi-Final of the 65th Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on May 14, 2020. France, Spain, and the United Kingdom will broadcast and vote in this semi-final. Ten of these entries will move on to the Grand Final on May 16. (Last update: March 12, 2020)

Automatic Qualifiers

Eurovision Song Contest 2020 Grand Final Participants

Country	Artist	Song
France	Tom Leeb	Mon Alliée (The Best in Me)
Germany	Ben Dolic	Violent Thing
Italy	Diodato	Fai Rumore
Netherlands	Jeangu Macrooy	Grow
Spain	Blas Cantó	Universo
United Kingdom	James Newman	My Last Breath

These are the countries that will participate in the 65th Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final to be held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on May 16, 2020. The Netherlands and the Big 5—France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom—automatically qualify for the Grand Final. Ten countries will advance from each semi-final to bring the complete field to 26 countries. (Last update: March 12, 2020)

Rein Alexander performs "One Last Time" at the NRK Melodi Grand Prix final

#77: Anarchy in the NRK

February 18, 2020 53:16

The Eurovision 2020 songlist has hit double digits after this past weekend as we encounter internal selections and national final results.

Show Notes

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Go_A performs Solovey on Ukraine's VidBir

#78: Remedial Dance Party

February 25, 2020 38:18

We're in the eye of the Eurovision Selection Season storm thanks to a light TV schedule this weekend. Time to practice the "I'm a Little Tempest in a Teapot"...

Show Notes

Podcast: Play in new window | Download