On 18 March 2020, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest would be cancelled; it was scheduled to take place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 12, 14 and 16 May. Rotterdam remained host of the 2021 contest on 18, 20, and 22 May 2021, and countries were required to submit new entries; many countries announced plans to retain their existing musicians with new songs for 2021. The EBU announced that it would air a non-competitive special on 16 May (the original date of the grand final), "," featuring the artists that were set to participate.