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Eurovision 2021: Which scenario does EBU prefer?

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With just nine months to go until the first semi-final of Eurovision 2021, the EBU and the Dutch organizers have unveiled the four plans they are working on in order for the contest to run smoothly.

A Q&A article on the official website of Eurovision gives detailed explanations regarding the four plans that exist in the design of the organizing committee.

In particular, the desirable scenario is that of the normal conduct of Eurovision 2021, based on pre-coronavirus data. The Dutch really want to host one of the most impressive contests in the history of the event. The implementation of Plan A will largely depend on the course of Covid-19 in the coming months. Their intention in any case is to conduct an unforgettable show, in whatever form it takes.

The desirable scenario may be the first, but the EBU considers Plan B to be the most likely. If the second plan is implemented, fewer delegation members, fewer accredited people, fewer journalists and fewer fans will attend Ahoy Rotterdam.

The final decision will be made in the first months of 2021. The EBU, NPO / NOS / AVROTROS and the Rotterdam City Authority will co-decide, taking responsibility for the 65th Eurovision Song Contest.

In any case, Eurovision 2021 will take place, regardless of which of the four scenarios will be chosen. Details of the fortnightly shows, events and activities will be announced within the next six months.

Source: eurovision.tv

EBU: The announcement for the coronavirus and Eurovision 2020

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EBU released an announcement a few minutes ago about the progress on Eurovision 2020 procedures! As is typically stated in the announcement, the work by the organizers continues as normal.

The EBU closely monitors the course of the coronavirus as well as the guidelines provided by the World Health Organization and local authorities. Therefore, the EBU and NOS-AVROTROS-NPO are working closely together at this time. The goal of all parties is to explore possible scenarios for Eurovision 2020!

However, with 2 months to 3 live shows and a rapidly changing situation in both the Netherlands and the countries of the participating broadcasters, it is still too early to make any final decisions.

As one can see, we are in the final line of developments with regard to this year’s Eurovision. Everything is fluid and will largely depend on how the virus spreads. The fact that almost all major events in Europe are on a deferred course is clearly a negative sign.

Eurovision 2020: The whole creative team of the contest just announced|No Swedish after years

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Dutch Public Broadcaster, which has taken over Eurovision 2020, has announced the entire creative team for the contest. For the first time in many years there is no Swedish man, most notably the absence of Christer Bjorkman, who will next year be in the role of head of the Swedish delegation.

The only non-Dutch person on the creative team is set designer Florian Wieder, but he was selected by competition. The other members of the creative team are:

Sietse Bakker – Head of the show

As the show’s leader, Sietse Bakker is essentially and creatively responsible for the three live shows to be broadcasted from Rotterdam Ahoy. Together with the creative team, he is responsible for the content of all broadcasts. In addition, Bakker manages the presenters and writes the script and full execution instructions for the three shows. Previously, Bakker has led countless creative television shows.

Image result for Sietse Bakker

Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen – Head of Contest

As the Head of Contest, Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen is ultimately responsible for the competition between the 41 participating countries, which is being held in two semifinals and one final. Together with the directors and the contest team, it is his duty to present all entries in the best possible way on the big Eurovision stage in Ahoy. Since the beginning of the selection season, he has kept in touch with the various agencies and will process their creative wishes in live performances.

Image result for Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen

Eric van Tijn – Music Director

Eric van Tijn has been recruited to compose the music for three live performances. It will not only make the single sound for the Eurovision 2020 song contest release, it will also give musical direction to the special actions created for the shows. Eric van Tijn is no stranger to the Eurovision song contest as he was the composer of the Dutch entry in 2007 with Edsilia Rombley.

Image result for Twan van de Nieuwenhuijzen eurovision

Gerald van Windt and Natasja Lammers – Choreographers

Gerald van Windt and Natasja Lammers have been hired as choreographers for the Eurovision 2020 song contest. They are both familiar with the Eurovision contest. Van Windt, for example, collaborated with Edsilia Rombley on the Eurovision stage and Lammers choreographed O’G3NE.

Image result for Gerald van Windt andImage result for Natasja Lammers

So,the whole creative team For Eurovision 2020 is formed as follows:

  • Eric van Tijn– Musical Director 
  • Gerald van Windt – Choreographer
  • Natasja Lammers–  Choreographer
  • Gerben Bakker-Head of Show 
  • Twan van Nieuwenhuijzen–Head of Contest
  • Marnix Kaart–  Show Director
  • Marc Pos– Show Director

The Eurovision 2020 song contest is taking place in Rotterdam. The semifinals will take place on Tuesday, May 12 and Thursday, May 14, with the final taking place on Saturday, May 16, live in Ahoy. Ticket sales are expected to start before the Christmas holidays. The organization of the Eurovision 2020 Song Contest in the Netherlands is a collaboration between NPO, NOS and AVROTROS, in co-production with EBU.

Πηγή: NPO

Eurovision 2020: Rotterdam – Maastricht: the battle of the venues

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The battle of Rotterdam and Maastricht to claim Eurovision 2020 hosting has been culminated, with the visit of the Dutch public broadcaster , the so-called ”Eurovision 2020 Committee”, in the two cities, to look closely at everything they propose for the next contest , in case ,of course, this takes place in their city.
The focus of interest for the the Eurovision 2020 Executive Producer, Sietse Bakker, was of course the venues  visit proposed to host the next event.
The questions that concern the people involved are of course the size, the location in the city center, its accessibility, the lights that can be supported by the roof, the existence of space for journalists, delegations, dressing rooms, press room etc .

MECC – Maastricht:
What do we know about the MECC in Maastricht?
* Capacity: about 11,000 – 12,000 people
* Floor area: 10.225 m2
* Ceiling height: about 16 meters

As the Maastricht’s  municipality has revealed, the city has been preparing its candidacy for hosting the contest for five years since the Netherlands came to a breath near to victory in 2014 with Common Linnets and ”Calm After The Storm”.

During the Committee’s visit to MECC, the officials had the opportunity to see in virtual reality how the venue will be set up to for the needs of the Event.

Ahoy – Rotterdam:
What do we know about Ahoy in Rotterdam?
* Capacity: about 11,000 – 12,000 people
* Floor area: 3.300 m2
* Ceiling height: about 23 meters

Ahoy of Rotterdam looks more ready for such a big event, since it hosts many important concerts each year.

The final decision on the city that will host the 65th Eurovision Song Contest will be announced in August.

Source: NOS

Eurovision 2020: The Eurovision 2020 Committee also inspected Rotterdam

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Following the visit to Maastricht, yesterday it was Rotterdam’s turn to welcome the Eurovision 2020 Committee, consisting of the three responsible broadcasters for the organization of Eurovision 2020 (NPO / NOS / AVROTROS), to examine the city’s potential  to host the event, according to what it has submitted  in its candidacy bid.

The committee was welcomed by Mr. Said Kasmi (Rotterdam City Council) and Ms. Jolanda Jansen (Rotterdam Ahoy Director). And of course, their first and foremost station was Rotterdam Ahoy, the proposed venue for the event, where the members of the committee observed the excellent work done by the staff  while they are already in contact with the relevant venues of other cities which had hosted Eurovision events  in order to be prepared better.

The officials, of course, Committee do not forget that Rotterdam and Rotterdam Ahoy specifically have hosted the 2007 Junior Eurovision , which will be taken into serious  account for the final decision  in mid-August.

Ms. Jolanda Jansen (Rotterdam Ahoy Director) said:
“The meeting was incredibly substantive. First we went through the bidbook in great detail, we presented ourselves as a city and toured the premises. We spent a few hours discussing various ideas about the different spaces and halls.We have been doing a lot of homework lately, for example we have been in touch with some of the former Eurovision venues and host cities that have organized the contest in recent years, such as Stockholm, Vienna and Lisbon.
It was very good to discuss all these things with each other. A very important lesson is that all of this is greater than anything I’ve ever experienced. ”

Mr. Said Kasmi (Rotterdam Councilor for Culture) stated:
“We could soon host the biggest music competition, I suppose there will be 246 million viewers worldwide watching the show. All eyes will be focused on Rotterdam and we will have lots of visitors landing in the city. We are working hard so that everything falls into place ».
Finally, Mr. Sietse Bakker (Eurovision 2020 Executive Producer) concluded:
“The EBU has had a very good experience with the 2007 Junior Song Contest here. I think that certainly counts. Ahoy is a very nice location for three very spectacular TV shows. There are many spaces and halls in close proximity to the main hall that can house the press, delegations, production and technical teams etc ».

Eurovision 2020: What did the Eurovision 2020 Committee see in Maastricht?

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The Eurovision 2020 Committee  (NPO / NOS / AVROTROS) completed yesterday  its first visit to Maastricht,the first is the two candidate cities for hosting ESC 2020.

The committee, as we wrote in our previous article, had technical meetings with the responsible parts  as well as visits to the proposed venues for the contest.

The Eurovision Committee 2020 was welcomed  by the Director of MECC MAASTRICHT, Mr. Van de Wiel and ESC Maastricht Project Leader, Ms. Inge Dovermann.

The meeting began with a virtual trip to the MECC, emphasized of course, on the stage created to host the great musical event.

The journalists did not have access to the meetings of the two parties but were given the opportunity to meet the city’s  officers  and the Eurovision 2020 Committee afterwards.

Sietse Bakker, Executive Producer ESC 2020, at the end of the meetings, stated:

« The MECC is a good, fantastic location with many options. You could host a great Eurovision here.
I am pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm in Maastricht. It’s really amazing! »

while, regarding the stage, he said:

« In terms of height, width and depth, the MECC hall is reminiscent of the venues in Kiev and Tel Aviv. This makes it challenging! They really want to have the contest here in Maastricht.
In both cities we look at the suitability of the location, what the city itself contributes and which accommodations are available. Rotterdam and Maastricht both meet these three points ».

Finally, Mr. Van de Wiel, MECC Director,said:

« They wanted us to move the stage a little, because the logistics around the stage are much bigger. So we have to go back to the drawing table ».

We are expecting tomorrow the Committee’s impressions from its meetings in Rotterdam!

Source: esctoday.com, 1 Limburg, Limburger.nl

5 Dutch cities trying to become Eurovision 2020 host city!

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The “Host City” contest has officially stared! 5 Dutch cities have submitted their bid book to Dutch national broadcast in order to host Eurovision 2020. The 10th of July was the deadline and despite the fact that 9 cities had expressed their desire to host the contest, finally only 5 of them officially submitted for their nomination. These are Rotterdam, Maastricht, Arnhem, Utrecht and Den Bosh. We can already say that Rotterdam and Maastricht are the favorites to earn the title of the “Host City”, but let’s see precisely what each city had to present!

 

 Rotterdam

Wethouder Kasmi, the Deputy Mayor of the city brought a suitcase, obviously referring to tourism, while the whole delegation showed its enthusiasm by wearing tourist scarfs! According to Dutch media, Rotterdam has a full-package nomination. Today it was also released the promo video and the slogan of the city: “Rotterdam for real. Rotterdam make it happen!”

The venue that city proposes is the “Ahoy Rotterdam”, which has a capacity of 16.500 people. This city has to offer not only a big budget for the show, but also a good number of hotels to host whoever comes for the Contest! It seems like a good combination for a host city!

 

Councilor of culture Said Kasmi presented the bid book: “The Eurovision Song Contest is about being yourself, diversity, inclusivity and those are words which describe our city as well with our inhabitants of 175 different nationalities. The Eurovision Song Contest also stands for talent, development and giving that talent a stage. We do the same in Rotterdam. We want to give the viewers an unforgettable memory.”

Maastricht

The Mayor of the city, Annemarie Penn-te Strake, presented the bid book accompanied by a Limburgian band showing their great desire to bring the Contest to the north of this country. Maastricht proposes as venue the “MESC Maastricht” with a capacity of 20.000 people and their slogan is: “Come closer”. Furthermore it is planned more cultural events to be held at the same time in the 44 neighborhoods of the city during the Eurovision. It’s about a very important city due to its significance and its history, not to mention the rumors of Maastricht being EBU’s favorite!

Arnhem

Mayor Ahmed Marcouch presented the bid book, which was wrapped in the same fabric as Duncan Laurence’s clothes which he wore during the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. The big delegation arrived in a bus advertising city’s nomination. Arnhem has to offer concerts in various roofs and the Vitesse’s stadium “GelreDome”, contemporary stadium which is about to host many games for the “Euro 2020”. The football team claimed that is willing to give the stadium in order Eurovision to be held.

https://twitter.com/luudsz/status/1148883340759621634

Utrecht

This city may not have many possibilities to host the contest, but they surely found the most impressive way to show their bid book: by a bicycle-courrier! The proposed venue is “Jaarbeurs”, whose capacity is only 11.000 people.

“Utrecht wanted to be playful and different, two words which describe Utrecht perfectly. But also because it is healthy, quirky and sustainable. It suits the city,” said Karen Poot who cycled over 20 kilometers from Utrecht to Hilversum.

 

 

Den Bosh

The delegation of this city presented their bid book while offering some traditional treats. The expo centre “Brabanthallen” (capacity 11.000 people) is proposed to host the event, but since city’s budget is only 3 million euros, the lowest of all, it seems like Den Bosh has the least chances for winning over all!

Ms. Shula Rijxman (CEO NPO) says:

“It is fantastic to see the enthusiasm and attention these five cities have put on their bid books. A huge job that shows how the Netherlands is embracing the Eurovision Song Contest. This is fantastic because we hope that the whole of the Netherlands will experience the Eurovision Song Contest. Regardless of which city will be ultimately chosen: I thank all the cities for the work they have done and I look forward to all the wonderful proposals that are already here for this wonderful event.”

 

What’s next?

The Eurovision 2020 Core Team, composed by members of the EBU and the Dutch national broadcaster, will evaluate the bid books each city has submitted. During August, this team will visit the five cities in order to see closely what they have to offer. In the end of August is expected to be announced the host city of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.

 

Which city is your favorite?