- Venue & Location
- Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Host Broadcaster
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- Presented by
- Edsilia Rombley, Chantal Janzen, Jan Smit
- Executive Producer
- Sietse Bakker (Event), Inge van de Weerd (TV)
- Executive Supervisor
- Jon Ola Sand
- Multicamera Director
- Marnix Kaart, Marc Pos, Daniel Jelinek
The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam is cancelled. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has taken the difficult decision to not continue with the live event as planned due to the uncertainty created by the spread of COVID-19 throughout Europe and the restrictions put in place by the governments of the participating broadcasters and the Dutch authorities. The text below - describing the content of the 3 live shows - remains as a tribute to the great work of Dutch Host Broadcasters NPO, AVROTROS and NOS.
Glennis Grace
Glennis Grace would have performed during the interval of the Grand Final with Afrojack. Glennis is no stranger to the Eurovision Song Contest; she participated in Kyiv in 2005 with the song My Impossible Dream.
In 2012, Glennis formed the group Ladies of Soul, together with Dutch singers Trijntje Oosterhuis, Berget Lewis, Candy Dulfer and this year's co-host Edsilia Rombley. As a group, they sold out the Amsterdam Ziggo Dome twice in 2014. In 2018, she participated in America's Got Talent, where she sang Whitney Houston's Run To You during the audition round. Glennis got a standing ovation from both the public as well as the judges and made it to the final.
Afrojack in the Grand Final
DJ Afrojack was supposed to be part of an interval act during the Grand Final with an orchestra and choir; both created specifically for the Contest.
Grammy award-winning DJ and producer, Nick van de Wall - professionally known as Afrojack - is one of the most notable and iconic names in electronic dance music (EDM) today. At only 26 years old, he has made a significant impact on the music industry and is a key player in the worldwide popularity of EDM. In 2019, he came 9th place in DJ Mag's Top 100 DJs.
A Winners’ Journey
During the scheduled Grand Final on 16 May, as voters at home would have made up their minds, 7 former winners would sing their Eurovision evergreens during an unforgettable medley. Bridging between the live audience in Ahoy and hotspots across Rotterdam, we would have opened up to former Eurovision winners and the Host City like never before.
Gigliola Cinquetti (Italy 1964) would have sung her beautiful Non ho l'età, Lenny Kuhr (Netherlands 1969) would have performed De Troubadour and Teach-In’s Getty Kaspers (Netherlands 1975) would have sung Ding-A-Dong, the last Dutch Eurovision winner for 44 years, until she could pass on the baton to Duncan Laurence last year. Belgium’s Sandra Kim (1986) would have sung J’aime La Vie, Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan would once again perform Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids (Ireland 1994) and Alexander Rybak would have picked up his violin to perform Fairytale (Norway 2009). And of course, moments before passing on the trophy to the next Eurovision Song Contest winner, Duncan Laurence would have sung his Arcade once more.
Buckle up!
During each of the 3 live shows, Eurovision Song Contest presenter Edsilia Rombley (who represented the Netherlands in 1998 and 2007) would have been Eurovision's favourite taxi driver, driving around the streets of Rotterdam together with 4 past Eurovision winners: Ruslana (Ukraine 2004), Anne-Marie David (Luxembourg 1973), Izhar Cohen (Israel 1978) and Niamh Kavanagh (Ireland 1993). They would have talked about winning the Eurovision trophy and what the Contest has meant for their careers afterwards.
Redo to breakdance into 2nd Semi-Final
Internationally renowned breakdancer and motivational speaker Redo (Redouan Aiit Chit) would have opened the 2nd Semi-Final with a spectacular performance.
Redo was born with several physical malformations. He has a shorter right arm, which lacks an elbow joint, and has a total of 5 fingers – 2 on the right hand and 3 on the left. He is also missing his right hip, has a shorter right leg, and walks with the aid of a prosthetic. Despite these complications, Redo never allowed his situation to negatively affect his life.
Gerben Bakker, Head of Show of the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, said: "We would like to show Dutch talent in all its facets. Redo's enormous talent and story fit perfectly with the inclusivity and diversity of this year's contest and the theme Open Up!”
At age 14, Redo spotted a group of people b-boying (breakdancing) at his high school. It was love at first sight and he decided to take dance classes, despite his physical condition. Initially, he had a hard time learning the basics because he wasn’t able to manage all of the steps. However, through creativity, determination, and the encouragement of his friends, he was able to create a style of his own.
While Redo is familiar with international competitions and performing in front of big crowds, he considers this opportunity to be “next level”. Redo proves to anyone who thought of disabilities as limitations that anything is possible.
