Grow

Eurovision 2020

The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was planned to be the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It would have taken place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country’s victory at the 2019 contest with the song Arcade by Duncan Laurence. This edition was the first and only one in the contest’s history to be cancelled, with it being called off on 18 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The contest was scheduled to be held at Rotterdam Ahoy and would have consisted of two semi-finals on 12 and 14 May, and a final on 16 May 2020. Forty-one countries would have participated in the contest; Bulgaria and Ukraine would have returned after their absence from the 2019 contest, while Hungary and Montenegro had confirmed their non-participation after taking part in the previous edition. All 41 competing artists and songs were confirmed by the relevant broadcasters by early March 2020.

Following the cancellation, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) began discussions of potential carryovers for the 2021 contest, such as the host city and participating artists, with various parties. In place of the cancelled contest, the EBU and its Dutch members NPO, NOS and AVROTROS organised a replacement show, Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light, to showcase the selected entries on 16 May, the day of the planned final. Rotterdam remained host of the 2021 contest on 18, 20 and 22 May 2021; however, the songs selected for the 2020 contest were not eligible for the competition.

Canceled

The Eurovision Song Contest, which was supposed to take place in Rotterdam Ahoy this year, is canceled due to the coronavirus. The organization of the Eurovision Song Contest confirmed this on Twitter on Wednesday.

“It is with great regret that we announce that we have to cancel the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam,” the press release reads.

In recent weeks, the organization has discussed various options to allow the festival to continue. The measures currently in place in Europe have led to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) having to take “the difficult decision” to cancel the live show this year.

The EBU remains in discussions with the NPO, NOS, AVROTROS and the municipality of Rotterdam. The will is there to still organize the festival in Rotterdam in 2021. “We would like to pay tribute to the organizing team in the Netherlands and everyone else who worked so hard to plan this event.”

It is currently being determined whether people who have purchased a ticket will receive a refund or whether their ticket will remain valid for the show in 2021. When there is news about this, ticket holders will be notified via the email address they used to make their purchase. doing.

Jeangu Macrooy would participate on behalf of the Netherlands in the song competition with the song Grow. AVROTROS has already confirmed that it also wants to work with Macrooy in 2021. “AVROTROS continues to support our Dutch entry and is happy to continue the collaboration with Jeangu in 2021 with new energy and a lot of passion,” a spokesperson said.

The organization of the Eurovision Song Contest is still considering the possibility for artists to keep their song for next year’s edition.

The Netherlands was allowed to organize the Eurovision Song Contest thanks to Duncan Laurence’s win last year in Tel Aviv, where he achieved the highest score with Arcade. The semi-finals of the 2020 competition were scheduled for May 12 and 14, with the final scheduled to take place on May 16.

Apple Music has taken the song Grow and the accompanying video by Jeangu Macrooy offline, after the music platform released it earlier on Wednesday morning. It may be the record with which he will represent the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest this year.

A recording that could be listened to on YouTube has also now been taken offline due to a copyright claim by AVROTROS. This indicates that it is indeed the singer’s Eurovision entry.

In addition, the album opens with sounds from a slide projector, which could also previously be heard in the teaser that Macrooy posted online on Monday.

It was previously announced that the Eurovision Song Contest entry would be announced on Wednesday evening. The song will be performed during De Wereld Draait Door. Macrooy is present in the studio and the clip is shown in the talk show. The artist will sing the song live for the first time on Thursday.

In the calm Grow, in which gospel influences can be heard, Macrooy sings about the uncertainty that comes with growing up.