Eurovision 2020: 8 cities have officially applied so far for hosting the next contest
Last month Duncan Laurence with his entry “Arcade” won the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Following his win The Netherlands are called to host for a 5th time the contest. The three national broadcasters, ΝOS, AVROTROS and NPO made an open call to all interested cities to submit their applications. Until yesterday according to local media 7 cities had officially applied to join the race while today The Hague’s application rose that number to 8.
According to initial reports a total of 10 cities had expressed interest in hosting Eurovision 2020. New reports on Niews RTL mentioned yesterday a total of 7 cities while today that number rose to 8 after The Hague submitted officially its application.
As days are going by the national broadcaster , NPO must know until 5 June which countries will be joining the host city bid race.
Babet Verstappen from NPO stated:
We send those cities a package with all the conditions. They are given four weeks to make an appropriate proposal of their own. Issues such as location, logistics, accommodation and safety are dealt with. Everything that entails organizing the event will be included in the package.
Believing that is really great that there is such big interest across the country she went on saying:
So cool that the Eurovision Song Contest returns after so many years! This is really something for the entire country, we want to emphasize that.
The 8 cities that have officially applied to host Eurovision 2020 are:
- Amsterdam
- Rotterdam
- Arnhem
- Utrecht
- Maastricht
- Leeuwarden
- Den Bosch
- The Hague
On the there hand the cities that have pulled out of the race are:
- Zwolle
- Groningen
- Tilburg
Zwolle although initially expressed the intention to take part in the race and claim the right to host Eurovision 2020 eventually withdrew from the race. The same happened in the case of Groningen which stepped out from the bid. Spokesperson of the city stated to RTL Niews:
We discussed it in the council, and the majority was against it. So Groningen does not get involved in the battle and lets the Eurovision Song Contest pass by.
Tilburg had expressed its wish to host the competition η οποία αρχικά είχε εκδήλωσε την επιθυμία να λάβει μέρος στην κούρσα διεκδίκσης. However as the city doesn’t have a proper venue for the contest, made the authorities to pull out of the race and prefer to join forces with other cities in the region of Brabant in a joint application. Το complex of Brabanthallen in Den Bosch is the venue they propose.
The host city bid process
The whole bid process will unfold during June and July and will include three stages:
- In the first half of June, all interested cities/regions will receive a document from NPO/AVROTROS/NOS with criteria they will need to meet for hosting. This will form the foundation for each city’s bid.
- The cities/regions in the running for Host City will then have 4 weeks to compile their “bid books”, to be submitted in the first half of July.
- In mid-July, the organizers have the option to visit the cities and regions that have applied. The host city for the 65th Eurovision Song Contest will be decided in consultation with the EBU following an assessment of all the bids.
Interested Dutch cities and regions can email the organization.
However we have to wait and see which of the cities will meet the criteria EBU is requiring in order to make it to the final round of evaluation. Meanwhile the EBU and the three Dutch broadcasters will determine the dates on which the three live shows of the next Eurovision will take place in The Netherlands, after Duncan Laurence’s victory last month in Tel Aviv.
