It has been confirmed that all the countries who signed up for the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest are going back next summer. This is a second chance for all to impress as the contest in Rotterdam in May was cancelled.
The list of the countries is Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and United Kingdom. These countries will be battling it out for the Eurovision title which will happen next year in May.
The Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest Martin Österdahl said, “We are grateful for the commitment of the 41 participating broadcasters in helping us bring Eurovision Song Contest back in 2021.
We have the exact same line up of countries that would have competed in 2020 and we are thrilled that they will all return next year. Together with our host broadcasters we are continuing to develop the 4 different scenarios and maintaining a dialogue with all participants. the team from NPO, NOS and AVROTROS are working hard on ensuring the Eurovision Song contest will provide the excitement and innovation expected by over 180 million viewers, despite the challenging circumstances.”
Sietse Bakker, Executive Producer of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 also said, “It is fantastic that the same 41 countries that would have taken part this year still want to come to the Netherlands in May 2021. This demonstrates their confidence in our country still being able to organize a successful Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam next year, after the cancellation of the 2020 edition.
We have set the bar high to create 3 amazing live shows for an audience of 180 million people, even in these challenging times. To achieve this, we are working on an extensive protocol that guarantees the health of employees, participants, the press and visitors as much as possible.”
