Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Semi-final 2 date
 Final date
 Presenter(s)
Edsilia Rombley
Jan Smit
 Director
 Executive supervisor
 Host broadcaster
 Opening act
 Interval act
 Debuting countries
 Returning countries
 Winner

The **Eurovision Song Contest 2021** was the 65th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held at the Ahoy Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands following Duncan Laurence giving the country its fifth win at the 2019 Contest in Tel Aviv with the song "Arcade". The Contest consisted of two semi-finals and a final held on 18, 20 and 22 May respectively.

Following the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic the EBU and the Contest's group reference group set about discussing carryovers from the with various parties such as host city and participating artists.

Although several artists confirmed their return to represent their country it was confirmed on March 20 that due to EBU rules they must perform an entirely new song.

Thirty-nine countries announced their participation with no country debuting and both Bulgaria and Ukraine returning. Belarus, who had originally announced their intention to participate, were eventually disqualified after their second attempt at submitting an entry was deemed to be against EBU rules due to its political theme.

It was won by Italy who was represented by rock band Måneskin with the song "Zitti e buoni". This was the third time the country had won the Contest, as well as being their first victory since 1990 in Zagreb. With France and Switzerland completing the top 3 (and also achieving its best results since the 1990s), it would mark the first time since the 1995 contest and the first time since the free language rule was re-introduced in 1999 that the top 3 songs were in a language other than English.

## Location

Following the EBU began talks with Dutch broadcasters AVROTROS, NPO and NOS, as well as Rotterdam, on the possibility of being the host city at this year's edition.

A special televised event, which officially confirmed that Rotterdam, which was set to host the would be the host city.

### Venue

The venue of the Contest, the Ahoy Rotterdam in RotterdamOn 30 August 2019, it was announced that the Ahoy Rotterdam was the chosen venue to host the 2021 Contest. The venue is a convention center with a capacity of 11,000 to 12,000 and was previously the host venue for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007.

## Format

**Semi-final allocation draw**

* Austria
* Croatia
* North Macedonia
* Serbia
* Slovenia
* Switzerland
* Denmark
* Estonia
* Finland
* Iceland
* Norway
* Sweden
* ~~Belarus~~
* Georgia
* Moldova
* Russia
* Ukraine
* Cyprus
* Greece
* Malta
* Portugal
* Romania
* San Marino
* Czech Republic
* Ireland
* Israel
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Poland

### Theme

In September 2020, the EBU announced that the planned theme 'Open Up' would be used once more for this Contest.

### Logo

The revamped official logo and branding was unveiled on 4 December 2020. Designed by CLEVER°FRANKE, it is "an abstract presentation inspired by the map of world and visually connects the location of the capitals of the 40 participating countries with Rotterdam as Europe’s beating heart".

### Stage

The StageOn 2 December 2019, an image of the stage design was revealed with organizers opting for a flatter, more minimalist and modern look typical of the Dutch landscape. It was also confirmed that the Green Room would be making a return to the arena.

During the announcement of the dates of the Contest, Sietse Bakker, executive producer, stated that the stage design will also be used.

## Participating countries

### Returning artists

 Vasil | Appeared at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kiev as a backing vocalist for the country's representative Tamara Todevska.

 Following the reference group announced they were exploring the option of letting the for compete the following year instead: However, EBU rules state that this is not possible

### Semi-Final 1

Sixteen countries participated in the first semi-final. Those countries plus  Germany,  Italy and  Netherlands voted in this semi-final. The qualifiers are highlighted below:

### Semi-Final 2

Seventeen countries participated in the second semi-final. Those countries plus  France,  Spain and the  United Kingdom voted in this semi-final. The qualifiers are highlighted below:

### Final

Twenty-six countries participated in the final, with all thirty-nine participating countries eligible to vote.