The show also showcased the artists and songs that would've been performed at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, by showing short videos of the songs' music videos or stage performances, along with video messages from the artists themselves.
The countries below broadcasted the live show:
County Longford
County Longford () is a county in Ireland. It is part of the province of Leinster. The main town is also called Longford.
Eurovision Song Contest 2021
The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest that took place in the Netherlands's second largest city Rotterdam, after Duncan Laurence won for his country in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was replaced with a live TV show called . It was later announced that Rotterdam will host the 2021 edition. The contest took place from 18 to 22 May 2021 with two semi-finals and one final. The Netherlands hosted the contest for the fifth time.
The EBU confirmed that 39 countries will participate in 2021. Like last year, Hungary and Montenegro will not take part. Armenia will also not participate in 2021, while Belarus was disqualified after their intended entry violated the contest's rules. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the EBU presented several scenarios (A, B, C and D) in which the competition could take place.
The contest happened in in Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam and was organized by the Dutch broadcasters NPO, NOS and AVROTROS.
There were four presenters hosting the contest in Rotterdam: Chantal Janzen, Jan Smit, Edsilia Rombley and Nikkie de Jager.
The slogan of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was "Open Up". It was already planned for the 2020 contest and later confirmed that it would be used again.
For the 2021 edition, it was announced by the EBU that pre-recorded backing vocals will be allowed for the live shows. In previous years these had to be performed live.
Because the contest was cancelled last year, many countries decided to send their representative from last year again. However, the EBU announced that completely new songs have to be submitted for 2021.
The first semi-final took place on 18 May 2021 at 21:00 (CEST). Sixteen countries participated in the first semi-final. Those countries plus , and the voted in this semi-final. was originally allocated to participate in the first half of the semi-final, but was disqualified from the contest after submitting an entry in violation of the rules.
The highlighted countries qualified for the final.
The second semi-final took place on 20 May 2021 at 21:00 (CEST). Seventeen countries participated in the second semi-final. Those countries plus , and the voted in this semi-final. was originally allocated to participate in the second half of the semi-final, but withdrew from the contest due to social and political crises in the aftermath of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.
The highlighted countries qualified for the final.
The final took place on 22 May 2021 at 21:00 (CEST). Twenty-six countries participated in the final, with all thirty-nine participating countries eligible to vote.
These countries confirmed that they will not take part in 2021:
Saint-Hilaire, Aude
Saint-Hilaire is a commune of 773 people (2017). It is in the region Occitanie in the Aude department in the south of France.
Saint-Martin-Lalande
Saint-Martin-Lalande is a commune of 1,116 people (2017). It is in the region Occitanie in the Aude department in the south of France.
Saint-Martin-le-Vieil
Saint-Martin-le-Vieil is a commune of 226 people (2017). It is in the region Occitanie in the Aude department in the south of France.
Saint-Martin-Lys
Saint-Martin-Lys is a commune of 25 people (2017). It is in the region Occitanie in the Aude department in the south of France.
Saint-Michel-de-Lanès
Saint-Michel-de-Lanès is a commune of 464 people (2017). It is in the region Occitanie in the Aude department in the south of France.
Saint-Nazaire-d'Aude
Saint-Nazaire-d'Aude is a commune of 2,032 people (2017). It is in the region Occitanie in the Aude department in the south of France.
Monroe County, Ohio
Monroe County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. In 2010, 14,642 people lived there. The county seat is Woodsfield.
Clinton County, Ohio
Clinton County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. In 2010, 42,040 people lived there. The county seat is Wilmington.
Baldwin County, Georgia
Baldwin County is a county in the central part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, 46,337 people lived there. The county seat is Milledgeville.
Columbiana County, Ohio
Columbiana County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. In 2010, 107,841 people lived there. The county seat is Lisbon.
Harrison County, Ohio
Harrison County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. In 2010, 15,864 people lived there. The county seat is Cadiz.
Holmes County, Ohio
Holmes County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. In 2010, 42,366 people lived there. The county seat is Millersburg.
Jefferson County, Ohio
Jefferson County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. In 2010, 69,709 people lived there. The county seat is Steubenville.
Meigs County, Ohio
Meigs County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. In 2010, 23,770 people lived there. The county seat is Pomeroy.
Pike County, Ohio
Pike County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. In 2010, 28,709 people lived there. The county seat is Waverly.
Scioto County, Ohio
Scioto County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. In 2010, 79,499 people lived there. The county seat is Portsmouth.
Morrow County, Ohio
Morrow County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. In 2010, 34,827 people lived there. The county seat is Mount Gilead.
Ha*Ash
Ha*Ash is an American Latin pop duo from Lake Charles, Louisiana. The band was formed in 2002 by sisters Ashley Grace and Hanna Nicole. The duo's name is a combination of their names.
They recorded their self-titled first album "Ha*Ash" with the Mexican producer Áureo Baqueiro in 2003. In April, they released their first single, "Odio Amarte". The second single was "Estés Donde Estés" which was released in July 2003. In February 2004, a third single was released: the ballad "Te Quedaste". This was followed by their second album "Mundos Opuestos" again with Áureo Baqueiro. "Amor a Medias" was the first single and reached number four on the Mexican Chart in April 2006. The song was chosen to promote Sony's products. "Me Entrego a Ti" was the second single which was written by Colombian artist Soraya and had the same success.
Early 2008, they recorded their third album, "Habitación Doble", in Nashville, Tennessee. This album have a collaboration of the singer Brandi Carlile with the song "Already Home", their first English song recorded by them (like officially). "A Tiempo" is the fourth studio album. It was released under the label Sony Music Latin on May 16, 2011. A Tiempo was recorded over a period of almost a year between Los Angeles, California and Milan, Italy. Ha*Ash worked with producer Áureo Baqueiro and invited Michele Canova.
After completing the tour for "A Tiempo" in 2013, it was revealed that Ha*Ash had begun production of the album "", which was released in 2014. Ha*Ash is the youngest group to record a Primera Fila concept album. The album includes material from her past four studio albums as well as 8 newly recorded songs. The CD/DVD has images from their hometown in Louisiana and a live concert filmed in Estudios Churubusco, Mexico City.
"30 de Febrero" was released on December 1, 2017 by Sony Music Latin. The album features artists with Prince Royce and Abraham Mateo on the title track. "100 Años" with Prince Royce was the first single and reached number one on the Mexican Chart in December 2017. On October 20, 2017, Ha*Ash released the video for the album's lead single. On October 3, 2018, Ha*Ash became the first Latin music band to be featured in the "Spotify Singles" concept.