Initially nine cities ( Amsterdam, Maastricht, Rotterdam, The Hague, Brenda, Leuwarden, Den Bosch, Arnhem, Utrecht) expressed interest in hosting the next edition of the Eurovision Song Contest to be in 2020 in The Netherlands. From those, four cities ( The Hague, Brenda, Leuwarden, Amsterdam) decided to withdraw, while five cities eventually submitted their bid books to the Dutch broadcaster NPO. After careful examination, the selection committee – in collaboration with technical experts and the EBU decided not to explore the proposals of Arhem, Utrecht and Den Bosch, clearing out that the only two cities that can battle for the right to host Eurovision 2020 are Maastricht and Rotterdam! 

Let take a look at each candidate city and outline the advantages each one has to claim the right to host the next competition in 2020. 

Maastricht

The city of Maastricht has expressed its intentions to host Eurovision 2020 from the very beginning . The city is the provincial capital of  Limburg and lays on the southeastern side of The Netherlands. The small  Maastricht Aachen Airport is nearby connecting the city with several international destinations. The city received major publicity when the Treaty of Maastricht was signed there on February 7, 1992 contributing to the progress of the European Union objective.

The city plans to hold the competition at  MECC Maastricht.

MECC Maastricht

MECC Maastricht is in the center of the city , a few minutes away from the train station  Maastricht-Randwyck and very close to Maastricht Central Station. The venue is easily reached from several airports among which are: Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport, Eindhoven Airport, Cologne-Bonn Airport, Dusseldorf Airport, Brussels Charleroi Airport,  Brussels Zaventem Airport.

Rotterdam

The city and port of Rotterdam is one of the hot favorites to host Eurovision 2020 at the Rotterdam Ahoy. The Dutch port has hosted in the past another Eurovision event, that of  Junior Eurovision 2007. Rotterdam is the second biggest city of the country , a significant located port combining modern sky scrappers with modern architecture. It has an extended transportation network, significant number of hotels while near to the city is  Rotterdam The Hague Airport with direct flights to several European destinations.

Rotterdam Ahoy

Rotterdam Ahoy is in the heart of the city and exists since 1971. It can welcome 15.000 spectators during a concert. The space there has seen major stars holding their concerts among which : Lady Gaga, Queen, Shakira, Kylie Minogue, Gloria Estefan, U2, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears etc

Rotterdam’s candidacy has been endorsed by the Province of South Holland which has stated officially to financially contribute 1 million euro to Rotterdam’s effort, if it eventually hosts the next Eurovision.  This year’s winner , Duncan Laurence, who brought the trophy in The Netherlands after 44 years, has openly expressed  his support in favor of the city considering it as the most appropriate to host the competition. Not to forget The Hague, which as soon as it withdraw from the host city bid race, cleary edorsed Rotterdam’s candidacy. Recently The Rotterdam City Council held a vote  in order to approve the city’s plan of action and budget for hosting Eurovision 2020. The majority of the parties voted in favour of Rotterdam’s Eurovision bid with 37 votes in favour and 8 votes against, showcasing the full support of the local administration to the city’s candidacy.

Rotterdam has released  a special promotional video in order to back its Eurovision 2020 Host City candidacy with the slogan ‘For Real’.

The final decision