Eurovision Song Contest 2020
The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was planned to be the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It would have consisted of two semi-finals on 12 and 14 May and a final on 16 May 2020, to be held at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was being organised by the European Broadcasting Union and host broadcasters Nederlandse Publieke Omroep , Nederlandse Omroep Stichting, and AVROTROS, all of which would have staged the event after AVROTROS had won the for the with the song "Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. This was the first and only edition in the contest's history to be cancelled, being called off on 18 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Broadcasters from forty-one countries would have participated in the contest; and would have returned after their absence from the 2019 contest, while and had confirmed their non-participation after taking part in the previous edition. All 41 competing songs and artists were confirmed by the participating broadcasters by early March 2020.
Following the cancellation, the EBU began discussions of potential carryovers for the, such as the host venue, the songs, and artists, with the participating broadcasters. In place of the cancelled contest, the EBU, NPO, NOS, and AVROTROS organised a non-competitive replacement show, Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light, to showcase the selected entries on 16 May, the day of the planned final. The Dutch broadcasters remained the hosts of the 2021 contest on 18, 20, and 22 May 2021 in the same venue in Rotterdam, however, the songs selected for the 2020 contest were not eligible for 2021.
Location
The 2020 contest was to be held at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the with the song "Arcade", performed by Duncan Laurence. It would have been the fifth time that the Netherlands had hosted the contest, having previously done so in,,, and. Rotterdam Ahoy had previously hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007.Preparations
Preparations for the 2020 contest began on 19 May 2019, immediately after the Netherlands won the 2019 contest. Jon Ola Sand, the executive supervisor of the contest on behalf of the European Broadcasting Union, handed AVROTROS, the Dutch participating broadcaster, a stack of documents and a USB drive with tools to begin the work needed to host the next contest, during the winner's press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel. AVROTROS was to co-organise the event with sister broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting and their parent public broadcasting organisation, Nederlandse Publieke Omroep .Bidding phase
Already prior to the 2019 contest, when bookmakers expected Duncan Laurence to win, several Dutch cities, including Amsterdam, The Hague and Maastricht, announced their intent to host the contest should the Netherlands win. A spokesperson for NPO also stated that the broadcaster had a rough plan for how they would select the host city in the event of a Dutch victory. When Laurence won the contest, mayors of various municipalities immediately began lobbying Mark Rutte, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, through text messages. Public figures, including Laurence, Esther Hart, Getty Kaspers and André Rieu, voiced their support for their respective favourite host cities.The hosting broadcasters launched the bidding process on 29 May 2019. In the first phase of this process, cities were to formally apply to bid. Nine cities—Amsterdam, Arnhem, Breda, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Hague, Leeuwarden, Maastricht, Rotterdam, and Utrecht—did so and received a list of criteria they and their venues needed to meet on 12 June 2019. Initially, Zwolle had also considered launching a bid to host the event but the city ultimately decided against doing so because it deemed its venue, the IJsselhallen, to have unsuitable proportions. Enschede could have been a potential host city as Enschede Airport Twente considered bidding to host the event in its eleventh hangar, however, it later learned that Enschede's municipality executive board had decided against financially supporting such a bid.
From this point on, these nine cities had until 10 July 2019 to compile their bid books to demonstrate their capabilities to host the contest. Further cities were still able to join in on the bidding race by applying prior to the deadline. During this period, four cities withdrew. Amsterdam could not host the contest because it was preoccupied with hosting other events during the contest's time frame. Breda dropped out due to financial concerns. Leeuwarden ceased bidding due to the insufficient height of the ceiling of its WTC Expo. The Hague dropped its bid because both of its potential venues were unsuitable for the event. The local Cars Jeans Stadion football stadium would have been large enough but lacked a roof, and installing such a roof would have made the bid financially unviable. Its other option would have been spanning a tent over the Malieveld field, but after reviewing the hosting conditions, this option fell out of favour. Following its withdrawal, The Hague turned to support Rotterdam's bid instead.
The five remaining cities—Arnhem, 's-Hertogenbosch, Maastricht, Rotterdam, and Utrecht—delivered their finished bid books to a ceremonial event held in Hilversum on 10 July 2019. The hosting broadcasters reviewed the bids presented and on 16 July 2019 announced that it eliminated those for Arnhem, 's-Hertogenbosch and Utrecht, shortlisting only Maastricht and Rotterdam. Utrecht was specifically eliminated because its proposal to span a tent over its Jaarbeurs offered limited possibilities for testing on location and had a questionable suitability for events like the Eurovision Song Contest, while 's-Hertogenbosch was dropped due to an insufficient ceiling height in its Brabanthallen and too few hotel rooms blocked for potential visitors of the contest.
To review and discuss the location, venue and surrounding events for the remaining bids, NPO visited Maastricht on 17 July 2019 and Rotterdam on the following day. By late July, additional visits to the two shortlisted cities were deemed necessary to review production logistics. The EBU did not pay visits to either city. Maastricht and Rotterdam were to hand in revised versions of their bid books by 9 August 2019 to add details involving the cities' social programmes, side-events and programme licensing. A "concept agreement" was put before the organisers in both Maastricht and Rotterdam in August 2019. While Rotterdam signed this agreement, the city council of Maastricht discussed and rejected it. Within the same council session, it was also clarified that the MECC would not receive additional renovations. On 30 August, Rotterdam was announced as the host city during a special broadcast on NPO 1 and NPO 2.
Key:
Host venue
Shortlisted venues
| City | Venue | Notes | |
| Arnhem | GelreDome | Joint bid with the city of Nijmegen and the Veluwe region. | |
| Maastricht | MECC Maastricht ‡ | Candidacy was supported by the province of Limburg and surrounding cities. | |
| Rotterdam | Rotterdam Ahoy † | Candidacy was supported by the province of South Holland and the cities of Dordrecht and The Hague. The venue previously hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007. | |
| 's-Hertogenbosch | Brabanthallen | Candidacy was supported by the province of North Brabant and the cities of Breda, Eindhoven, Tilburg and Helmond. | |
| Utrecht | Jaarbeurs | — |
Other sites
The Eurovision Village would have been erected to serve as the official Eurovision Song Contest fan and sponsors' area during the events week. There, it would have been possible to watch performances by local artists, as well as the live shows broadcast from the main venue. The Binnenrotte was the planned location for the Village. The Binnenrotte is one of the largest open spaces in the centre of Rotterdam. It is located in the heart of the city, next to some of Rotterdam's most famous architectural marvels, such as the Markthal.The EuroClub would have been the venue for the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants. Unlike the Eurovision Village, access to the EuroClub would be restricted to accredited fans, delegates, and press. It would have been located at the Maassilo. Maassilo is located on Rotterdam's waterfront at Maashaven Zuidzijde, a 10-minute drive from Rotterdam Ahoy.
The "Golden Carpet" and Opening Ceremony events, where the contestants and their delegations present themselves in front of the accredited press and fans, would have taken place at the Rotterdam Cruise Terminal on 10 May 2020.
Planned participants
Eligibility for potential participation in the Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active EBU membership capable of receiving the contest via the Eurovision network and broadcasting it live nationwide. The EBU issued an invitation of participation in the contest to all active members. In contrast to previous years, associate member Special Broadcasting Service representing did not need an invitation for the 2020 contest, as it had previously been granted permission to participate at least until 2023.The EBU announced on 13 November 2019 that forty-one countries would participate in the contest, with Bulgaria and Ukraine returning after their absence from the 2019 contest, while Hungary and Montenegro opted not to participate, mostly due to financial reasons. Following the cancellation of the contest, the participating broadcasters were given sole discretion on whether to retain the artists who would have participated in this edition for the following year, but they were required to enter new songs in accordance with the contest's rules.
| Country | Broadcaster | Artist | Song | Language | Songwriter |
| RTSH | Arilena Ara | "Fall from the Sky" | English | ||
| AMPTV | Athena Manoukian | "Chains on You" | English | ||
| SBS | Montaigne | "Don't Break Me" | English | ||
| ORF | Vincent Bueno | "Alive" | English | ||
| İTV | Efendi | "Cleopatra" | English | ||
| BTRC | VAL | "Da vidna" | Belarusian | ||
| VRT | Hooverphonic | "Release Me" | English | ||
| BNT | Victoria | "Tears Getting Sober" | English | ||
| HRT | Damir Kedžo | "Divlji vjetre" | Croatian | Ante Pecotić | |
| CyBC | Sandro | "Running" | English | ||
| ČT | Benny Cristo | "Kemama" | English | ||
| DR | Ben and Tan | "Yes" | English | ||
| ERR | Uku Suviste | "What Love Is" | English | ||
| Yle | Aksel | "Looking Back" | English | ||
| France Télévisions | Tom Leeb | "Mon alliée " | French, English | ||
| GPB | Tornike Kipiani | "Take Me as I Am" | English | ||
| NDR | Ben Dolic | "Violent Thing" | English | ||
| ERT | Stefania | "Supergirl" | English | ||
| RÚV | Daði og Gagnamagnið | "Think About Things" | English | Daði Freyr | |
| RTÉ | Lesley Roy | "Story of My Life" | English | ||
| IPBC | Eden Alene | "Feker Libi" | English, Amharic | ||
| RAI | Diodato | "Fai rumore" | Italian | ||
| LTV | Samanta Tīna | "Still Breathing" | English | ||
| LRT | The Roop | "On Fire" | English | ||
| PBS | Destiny | "All of My Love" | English | ||
| TRM | Natalia Gordienko | "Prison" | English | ||
| AVROTROS | Jeangu Macrooy | "Grow" | English | ||
| MRT | Vasil | "You" | English | ||
| NRK | Ulrikke | "Attention" | English | ||
| TVP | Alicja | "Empires" | English | ||
| RTP | Elisa | "Medo de sentir" | Portuguese | Marta Carvalho | |
| TVR | Roxen | "Alcohol You" | English | ||
| C1R | Little Big | "Uno " | English, Spanish | ||
| SMRTV | Senhit | "Freaky!" | English | ||
| RTS | Hurricane | "Hasta la vista " | Serbian | ||
| RTVSLO | Ana Soklič | "Voda " | Slovene | ||
| RTVE | Blas Cantó | "Universo " | Spanish | ||
| SVT | The Mamas | "Move" | English | ||
| SRG SSR | Gjon's Tears | "Répondez-moi" | French | ||
| UA:PBC | Go_A | "Solovey " | Ukrainian | ||
| BBC | James Newman | "My Last Breath" | English |