Topic: [Discussion & Betting] Eurovision Song Contest 2020 (Read 1786 times)

I see that Denmark, Lithuania and Iceland are in the top five positions in the rankings. I wonder how much the live performances influenced the votes of the jury and the audience?

In Germany there was a little ESC today, which was also televised in one of the main TV stations. People could pre-vote the ten best semifinalists, that would then be presented with their songs in a little show. Denmark, Lituania and Iceland sent their artists to Hamburg and they performed live in the studio, while the remaining seven were just shown with a video clip. I didn't watch the show, but heard it was pretty garbage. Nevertheless there was a tele- and jury-voting and the winner is......

A few countries have already announced going forward with the same artist for 2021 ESC, but with a different song of course:

Austria - Vincent Bueno
Australia - Montaigne
Romania - Roxen
Azerbaijan - Efendi
Belgium - Hooverphonic
Bulgaria - Victoria
Georgia - Tornike Kipiani
Greece - Stefania
Israel - Eden Alene
Spain - Blas Cantó
Switzerland - Gjon's Tears
Netherlands - Jeangu Macrooy
Ukraine - Go_A

I would expect most countries to do the same, since it's kind of unfair, to rip the artists off that possiblity basically for no reason. Don't think the domestic broadcasters, juries or whomever took the decision, can use the fact of the betting odds having been bad, to justify selecting another artist. Otoh you could argue, that it will also be a different song, which might not be as good as the 2020 one, so a new decision/selection process is reasonable. Not easy.

But I understand this decision, national broadcaster want to get big ratings and revenue from sold tickets.

That moment when my country first time in the history had chance to win Eurovision, they cancel whole event ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This year's song will be not eligible in Eurovision 2021:
https://eurovision.tv/story/intention-to-honour-eurovision-2020-songs-artists

EBU are planning to make alternative programme, but it won't be a competition.

Agreed. It would really be easy to setup, but from those FAQ's you can already see there being no chance at all due to it being against the DNA of it. It is against the DNA, yes, but this is a special situation, where EBU and other involved parties could just adapt to also value the efforts of all the artists. They also need to make some money, so why not give them a reduced platform to present their songs.

If Europe is still in Corona lockdown by May, such an Online-ESC would get huge exposure. Everyone sitting at home, being tired of watching Netflix and having arguments with their wives, the ESC would present a nice change and would get them a lot of first time viewers imo. And just imagine all those desperate betting people. They would finally have something to bet on again. Volumes in the ESC markets would explode

Otoh, if the situation gets really bad with very high fatalities, a fun show like the ESC is probably not the right thing to do. Would be disrespectful. Not easy to make decisions in these times.

Well I don't understand why they don't organize a mini Eurovision on internet.

I traded a bit on the ESC market already, mainly with Sweden and Russia, and was sitting at a loss there. With the cancellation of ESC, the market was of course voided and I got my money back - lucky me

I don't understand why they can't make Eurovision later this year, in September for example.

It's interesting what will happen next year - will we see performance of singers who have been already selected this year, or there will be new national selections.

Why not postpone the event?
– The current situation across Europe is likely to remain uncertain for the coming months and at this stage we cannot guarantee we would be able to stage an event of this size with this many stakeholders later this year. A Contest later in the year would also reduce the amount of time the winning broadcaster would have to prepare for the following year’s competition.

Could you not have held the contest without an audience?
– We are carefully following the advice of the relevant authorities to protect the health and wellbeing of all citizens. Dutch restrictions on gatherings of large numbers of people and international travel restrictions mean that holding the event, even without an audience, is impossible at this time.

Why couldn’t you have held the show remotely?
– It’s in the DNA of the Eurovision Song Contest to bring delegations, artists and fans together in one place and provide an equal platform for all artists to compete together on the same stage and the same opportunity to shine. We felt that under the extreme circumstances we face this year, organizing the Eurovision Song Contest in another way would not be in keeping with our values and the tradition of the event.

The unique format of the Song Contest as an international live event means that it is not possible to identify any realistic alternative. We therefore have no choice other than to cancel the show.

Will the selected artists be able to perform their songs next year?
– This is to be discussed with the Reference Group and the participating broadcasters and a decision will be communicated later.

Do we have a date for next year’s Contest?
– The EBU, NPO, NOS, AVROTROS and the City of Rotterdam are continuing their conversation regarding the potential hosting of the Contest in 2021. It is currently too early to discuss any specifics regarding the event next year.

Eurovision Song Contest 2020 has been cancelled.

This is really early tbh, still two months to go. And I think being mainly a TV event, the EBU could have come up with some other format or ideas, where a live performance isn't necessary, but people still can vote for their favourite song. Anyway, what can you do

Lets see, if some countries will send the same entry next year. Monitoring the odds, some countries might think twice about that