It must be Rotterdam, not anywhere… Dutch broadcasters announced on Friday that the port city will host the 2020 edition of the glitzy Eurovision song contest.
Rotterdam’s Ahoy stadium beat the historic southern city of Maastricht — home of the EU’s founding treaty — in the race to stage next year’s musical pageant on May 16.
The Netherlands won the right to host Eurovision after Dutch singer Duncan Laurence stormed to victory in this year’s contest in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.
“Welcome to the Netherlands, welcome to Rotterdam,” Laurence said in a special Eurovision video to announce the result.
Rotterdam and Maastricht were the final two Dutch cities left after organisers whittled down a shortlist that included Amsterdam, Utrecht, Den Bosch and Arnhem.
The main Ahoy Arena has seating space for 16,000 music fans and has been hosting music concerts and other events since 1971, including the 1997 and 2016 MTV Europe Music Awards and the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2007.
Addressing the difficult decision between Maastricht and Rotterdam, Jon Ola Sand, the EBU’s Executive Supervisor for the Eurovision Song Contest, said, “Rotterdam has shown fantastic enthusiasm and commitment and has the right facilities to welcome delegations from over 40 countries next May. We look forward to working with Rotterdam and NPO, NOS and AVROTROS on an incredible state-of-the-art Eurovision Song Contest in a great city next year.”
France 24 / Eurovision TV
