Countdown to Rotterdam: 100 days to go!

06 February 2020 at 14:21 CET

Rotterdam skyline Guido Pijper

Today marks 100 days until the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. On Tuesday 28 January, the Semi-Final Allocation Draw and Host City Insignia Exchange took place, which are key milestones in the organization of the forthcoming competition. While participating countries continue to announce their respective entries for 2020, let's look at what we know so far and what to expect in the coming weeks!

Today marks 100 days until the Grand Final of the world's biggest live music show! #OpenUp by sharing your favourite moments from previous Eurovision Song Contest on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Don’t forget to @ us so we can share your content throughout the day!

Songs & artists

Dozens of public broadcasters around Europe are working around the clock to get ready for the world's largest live music event.

4 countries are ready with artists and/or songs selected for Rotterdam: Albania's Arilena Ara with Shaj, Austria's Vincent Bueno with Alive (to be revealed), the Czech Republic's Benny Cristo with Kemama and Greek delegate Stefania with SUPERG!RL (to be revealed). 9 countries, amongst them Belgium, Cyprus and France, have chosen their artist but have yet to announce their song.

As we move through February and early March, more announcements and national selection shows will take place. The deadline for participating countries to submit both their artist and song is 9 March.

National selections

With 100 days to go, many of the national selections are well underway. In Italy, Sanremo 2020 is midway through, Israel has just held their final of The Next Star 2020, and Lithuania is close to determining the winner of Pabandom iš naujo! after 3 heats and the first of 2 semi-final rounds behind them.

Meanwhile, some countries, like Romania, have begun a new national selection process. In that case, it includes a special Eurovision songwriting camp, organized by Romanian public broadcaster TVR in collaboration with a local music label.

Host City Insignia Exchange & Semi-Finals

Eurovision 2020 Host City Insignia Exchange & Semi-Final Allocation Draw Roel Dijkstra Fotografie, Marc Heeman

The Semi-Final Allocation Draw and Host City Insignia Exchange for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 took place in Rotterdam's city hall on 28 January. The annual event, hosted this year by presenters Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley and Jan Smit, is a key milestone on the path to the Eurovision Song Contest each year.

During the ceremony, Zippi Brand Frank, Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv, passed on the Host City Insignia to Ahmed Aboutaleb, Mayor of Rotterdam. The passing over of the insignia key chain, weighing over 30 kilograms with the new addition of Tel Aviv's insignia, means that the Dutch city is now officially the Host City of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020!

Tickets

The 3rd wave of ticket sales will follow at the end of March. The specific date will be announced at a later date, so keep an eye on this page and the official social media channels for updates.