Eurovision Song Contest 2021

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Eurovision Song Contest 2021
"Ignore the Map!"
Dates
Semi-final 118 May 2021
Semi-final 220 May 2021
Final22 May 2021
Host
Presenter(s)Petra Mede, Aminata Savadogo, Jack Lawson
Executive supervisorÅri Agam
Participants
Number of entries41
Vote
Voting systemEach country awards two sets of 12, 10, 8–1 points to 10 songs: the first - from a professional jury, the second - from viewers
Winning songTBD
2020 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 2022

The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 65th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, following Duncan Laurence's unfortunate win with "Arcade" in the 2019 contest. A contest did not take place in 2020 due to the year being non-existent. As I'm sure you know, we just skipped directly from 2019 to 2021. That is because the 2020's are a leap decade.

This was fully the fifth time that the Netherlands hosted the contest, the last time having been the 1980 contest, as you would recall from the list of Shocking Moments.

Location

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Rotterdam Ahoy, the venue of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.

In either 2019 or 2021, it was announced that the 2021 contest will be held at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.[1] The venue had previously hosted the J2007 contest, after the Netherlands won J2006. Oh, wait. Not how that works. Albanian singer Efi Gjika called the selected venue "super super good, super super super good".

Preparations

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At some point in time, the EBU began talks with the Dutch public broadcasters AVROTROS, NOS and NPO, as well as the city of Rotterdam, on the possibility of staging the 2021 contest in the city.[2] They talked for a while and decided "yes, this is a good idea".[3][4] Many people supported the idea of Rotterdam hosting the contest because it kinda feels like they should. Jon Ola Sand expressed his joy that Rotterdam was selected, stating: "Any other choice would have felt weird af Idk". Efi Gjika stated that the the choice was "super super good, super super super good".[5]

Bidding phase

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Oh, there wasn't one. They all kind of agreed (?) that it's going to be Rotterdam.[6]

Key:  †  Host venue

City Venue Notes Ref.
Rotterdam Rotterdam Ahoy Automatically chosen as a result of no other cities bidding to host the contest. [6][7]

Format

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Visual design

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The contest's slogan, "Open Up", was unveiled on 24 October 2019.[8] It was later changed to "Ignore the Map!", in order to encourage people to ignore the map of Europe in the infobox on the article you're presently reading. The official logo, which depicts a swan, was unveiled by Charlotte Valerie on an Instagram chat with host Jack Lawson.[9]

Postcards

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The concept of the 2021 postcards was based on host Jack Lawson's wishes. Every participant went out on a date with Lawson and did whatever he wanted (out of will, without resisting),[10] unless Lawson decided the participant was "utterly undateable". In such cases, the undateables were seen somberly walking in the rain, around the city as well as downtown. These artists described the experience as "wild", "mind-numbing", and "like a holocaust".

Presenters

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Petra Mede, Aminata Savadogo and Jack Lawson were announced as the hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 the day after Duncan Laurence's win in Tel Aviv. Svante Stockselius praised the choice, calling it "necessarily blessed". Åri Agam said they based the choice on the presenters' level of attractiveness, namely Savadogo's bi-racial goddess beauty in contrast to the other two's dull facial appearances. Jon Ola Sand called Agam's choices "presently hunk" and "fully cool cool". Eurovision star Efi Gjika noted that Lawson, in particular, was "super super hot, super super super hot".

When asked by EuroMix on the topic, Agam said the choice to make the hosts racially diverse was intentional. Mede is Swedish of Ukrainian-Jewish descent, Savadogo is Latvian with Russian and Burkinabé parents, and Lawson is Fohawk.

Stage design

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The EBU revealed the stage design for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with great remorse. The design is inspired by the slogan "Ignore the Map!" and is in the shape of the 50 countries of Europe (denoting "map"), as well as a giant X on it (denoting "ignore"). The Eurovision stage was designed by German stage designer Florian Wieder, who also designed the stages for the contests in 2011–12, 2015, and 2017–19. Efi Gjika called the design "super super innovative, super super super innovative".[11]

Semi-final allocation draw

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The draw to determine the participating countries' semifinals took place this week, in Haifa. It was hosted by executive supervisor Åri Agam.[12] The thirty-five semifinalists were divided over five pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest's official televoting partner Digame. Drawing from different pots helps to reduce the chance of "Azerbaijani rigging" and increases the probability of "Shocking Moments" in the semifinals. The draw also determined which semifinal each of the six automatic qualifiers – the Big Five plus the Netherlands – would have to vote in. The ceremony included the passing of the host city insignias from Imri Kalmann, Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv (host city of the previous contest) to Esma Jansen, Mayor of Rotterdam.[12]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Pot 5


The results of the meticulous process were as follows:

Semi-final 1 - First half

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Semi-final 1 - Second half

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Semi-final 2 - First half

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Semi-final 2 - Second half

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Opening and interval acts

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Sophie and the Giants performed "Waste My Air", Dotter reprised her Melodifestivalen and UDSC entries "Bulletproof" and "Evolution", and Corry Brokken, Lys Assia and France Gall performed their winning entries as holograms. The interval acts were praised by BBC pundit Matan Ayela as "pretty good, memory lane". Celine Dion commented on the acts as well, albeit negatively, saying that they were "maybe a little too sweet; like a spoon full of tears getting sober". In response to Dion's absurd remarks, Scott Fitzgerald simply said: "old wrinkled bitch lol".

The common song (known in this edition as the "Song-Along") of the contest was "What's Another Year?". This was a gesture to the leap decade and the missing year of 2020, which led many people to ask "what's another year?". The title of the song, that won the Eurovision Song Contest 1980, was therefore deemed fitting by the EBU. However, Eurovision Expert Efi Gjika heavily criticised the Song-Along choice, saying it was "super super preposterous, super super super preposterous".

Voting

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The voting took place as usual. A 50/50 split between the jury and the public. All petitions following Keiino's loss in Tel Aviv were futile, as expected. The fact that the split was 50/50 will be relevant in the future, but we will get back to that. Also, it's important to mention that Efi Gjika called the split "super super equalitarianistic, super super super equalitarianistic".

Participating countries

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The EBU announced on 13 November 2019 that forty-one countries would participate in the contest, with Bulgaria and Ukraine returning after their absence from the 2019 contest, with Hungary and Montenegro withdrawing mostly due to homophobia reasons.[13] Following the nonexistence of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in this universe, artists performed entries that have never participated in any contest,[14] but we all already know them for some reason.[15] They just feel familiar.[13]

Semi-final 1

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The first semi-final took place on 18 May 2021 at 21:00 (CEST). Seventeen countries participated in the first semi-final. These countries, plus Germany, Italy and Spain, voted in this semi-final.[15] Highlighted songs qualified to the final.

Draw[16] Country[16] Artist[16] Song[16] Language(s)[16] Place Points
01   North Macedonia Vasil "Fire" English, Macedonian 10 130
02   San Marino Senhit "The Start" English 7 151
03   Greece Stefania "I Wanna Be a Star" Greek, English 11 128
04   Albania Arilena Ara "Don't Touch My Tree" Albanian, English 14 77
05   Lithuania The Roop "Oki doki" Lithuanian 9 130
06    Switzerland Gjon's Tears "Jamais Sans Toi" French, English 3 212
07   Ukraine Go_A "Nebo" Ukrainian, English 2 227
08   Poland Alicja "Anyone I Want to Be" English, Polish 5 158
09   Belgium Hooverphonic "Samen" Dutch, English 6 155
10   Romania Roxen "Ai puterea în mâna ta" Romanian 17 38
11   Finland Aksel "Mitt mod" Swedish 16 51
12   Azerbaijan Efendi "Marchin'On" English 13 101
13   Slovenia Ana Soklič "Prva ljubezen" Slovene, English, Italian 4 187
14   Moldova Natalia Gordienko "No, No" Romanian, English 15 72
15   Estonia Uku Suviste "Réalta na Mara" Irish, Latin 8 133
16   Denmark Ben & Tan "I'll Be Standing" English, Polish 12 128
17   Sweden The Mamas "Not My Soul" English 1 246

Semi-final 2

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The second semi-final took place on 18 May 2021 at 21:00 (CEST). Eighteen countries would participated in the second semi-final. These countries, plus France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, voted in this semi-final.[15] Highlighted songs qualified to the final.

Draw[17][a] Country[17] Artist[17] Song[17] Language(s)[17] Place Points
01   Iceland Daði og Gagnamagnið "Around" Dutch, English 9 155
02   Portugal Elisa "Gosto de Todo (Já Não Gosto de Nada)" Portuguese 18 42
03   Australia Montaigne "Speak Up" English 8 168
04   Bulgaria Victoria "Planet of the Children" Bulgarian 10 137
05   Czech Republic Benny Cristo "Chasing Sunsets" English 16 57
06   Norway Ulrikke "We Are" English 6 174
07   Ireland Lesley Roy "Brice ar Bhrice" English, Irish 17 51
08   Malta Destiny "We Are More" English, Maltese 3 200
09   Russia Little Big "Bzz.." Imaginary 4 190
10   Austria Vincent Bueno "Stronger with You" German, English 13 85
11   Croatia Damir Kedžo "Love Will Lead Our Way (Ljubovta Ne Vodi)" Croatian, English 14 80
12   Serbia Hurricane "Podigni Glas - Raise Your Voice" Serbian, English 11 127
13   Armenia Athena Manoukian "Tarber" Armenian, English 7 168
14   Latvia Samanta Tīna "My Girls" English 5 177
15   Cyprus Sandro "Dance Floor" Greek, English 15 64
16   Israel Eden Alene "Parachute" English 2 211
17   Georgia Tornike Kipiani "Aliens" Russian, English 1 239
18   Belarus VAL "Pepelny (Ashen)" Russian, English 12 111

Final

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The final took place on 22 May 2021 at 21:00 (CEST). Twenty-six countries participated in the final, composed of the host country, the Big Five, and the ten best-ranked entries of each of the two semifinals. All forty-one countries participating in the contest voted in the final.

Draw[18] Country[18] Artist[18] Song[18] Language(s)[18] Place Points
01   Lithuania The Roop "Oki doki" Lithuanian 15 149
02   Belgium Hooverphonic "Samen" Dutch, English 23 47
03    Switzerland Gjon's Tears "Jamais Sans Toi" French, English 10 254
04   Norway Ulrikke "We Are" English 12 195
05   Sweden The Mamas "Not My Soul" English 3 338
06   Georgia Tornike Kipiani "Aliens" Russian, English 1 345
07   Israel Eden Alene "Parachute" English 5 280
08   Estonia Uku Suviste "Réalta na Mara" Irish, Latin 25 41
09   Russia Little Big "Bzz.." Imaginary 6 268
10   France Tom Leeb "We Will Rise" English 24 44
11   Armenia Athena Manoukian "Tarber" Armenian, English 7 268
12   Ukraine Go_A "Nebo" Ukrainian, English 2 342
13   Iceland Daði og Gagnamagnið "Around" Dutch, English 17 129
14   Australia Montaigne "Speak Up" English 16 138
15   Italy Diodato "Tu primo grande amore" Italian, English 13 168
16   Poland Alicja "Anyone I Want to Be" English, Polish 21 83
17   Spain Blas Cantó "Marte" Spanish 18 128
18   Latvia Samanta Tīna "My Girls" English 4 306
19   United Kingdom James Newman "Champion" English 19 118
20   Bulgaria Victoria "Planet of the Children" Bulgarian 20 91
21   North Macedonia Vasil "Fire" English, Macedonian 14 163
22   Slovenia Ana Soklič "Prva ljubezen" Slovene, English, Italian 11 210
23   Netherlands Jeangu Macrooy "Goed" Dutch 22 73
24   San Marino Senhit "The Start" English 8 268
25   Germany Ben Dolic "Palante" Spanish 26 37
26   Malta Destiny "We Are More" English, Maltese 9 267

Scoreboard

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Semi-final 1

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Semi-final 1
Place Televoting Points Jury Points
1    Switzerland 119   Sweden 130
2   Sweden 116   Slovenia 118
3   Ukraine 108   Ukraine 115
4   Lithuania 108    Switzerland 93
5   San Marino 88   Poland 90
6   Greece 77   Belgium 81
7   North Macedonia 76   Denmark 79
8   Belgium 74   Estonia 64
9   Slovenia 69   San Marino 63
10   Estonia 69   Azerbaijan 59
11   Poland 68   North Macedonia 54
12   Denmark 49   Greece 51
13   Azerbaijan 42   Albania 50
14   Moldova 42   Finland 38
15   Albania 27   Moldova 30
16   Romania 15   Romania 23
17   Finland 13   Lithuania 22

Semi-final 2

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Semi-final 2
Place Televoting Points Jury Points
1   Russia 116   Malta 144
2   Iceland 103   Georgia 137
3   Georgia 102   Israel 113
4   Israel 98   Norway 99
5   Armenia 96   Latvia 95
6   Latvia 82   Australia 91
7   Australia 77   Russia 74
8   Norway 75   Armenia 72
9   Serbia 70   Bulgaria 69
10   Bulgaria 68   Serbia 57
11   Belarus 65   Iceland 52
12   Croatia 58   Czech Republic 48
13   Cyprus 57   Austria 46
14   Malta 56   Belarus 46
15   Austria 39   Ireland 39
16   Portugal 35   Croatia 22
17   Ireland 12   Portugal 7
18   Czech Republic 9   Cyprus 7

Grand Final

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Grand Final
Place Televoting Points Jury Points
1   Russia 218   Malta 200
2   Armenia 195   Georgia 183
3   Ukraine 178   Sweden 175
4   Sweden 163   Ukraine 164
5   Georgia 162   Slovenia 162
6    Switzerland 158   Latvia 159
7   Latvia 147   Israel 145
8   Lithuania 146   San Marino 137
9   Israel 135   Norway 118
10   San Marino 131   Italy 113
11   Iceland 121   North Macedonia 97
12   Norway 77   Spain 96
13   Australia 77    Switzerland 96
14   Malta 67   United Kingdom 78
15   North Macedonia 66   Armenia 73
16   Italy 55   Australia 61
17   Slovenia 48   Netherlands 52
18   Bulgaria 47   Poland 51
19   United Kingdom 40   Russia 50
20   Spain 38   Bulgaria 44
21   Poland 32   France 35
22   Netherlands 21   Belgium 33
23   Germany 20   Estonia 28
24   Belgium 14   Germany 17
25   Estonia 13   Iceland 8
26   France 9   Lithuania 3

References

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  1. ^ "Rotterdam returns as Eurovision Song Contest Host City in 2021". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 16 May 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Official EBU statement & FAQ on Eurovision 2020 cancellation". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 2020-03-18. Archived from the original on 2020-03-18. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  3. ^ Granger, Anthony (2020-04-08). "Eurovision'21: Rotterdam Requires 6.7 Million Euro's Additional Funding to Host Eurovision 2021". Eurovoix. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  4. ^ Jumawan, Tim (2020-04-23). "🇳🇱 Rotterdam City Council agrees to extra funding for Eurovision 2021". ESCXTRA. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  5. ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (2020-04-09). "ESC 2021: Will Rotterdam host the contest next year? 6.7 million euros required". ESCToday. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  6. ^ a b van Lith, Nick (6 July 2019). "Eurovision 2020: Meet the bidding Host Cities". ESCXtra. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Rotterdam of Maastricht, waar is de beste Songfestivalzaal?" [Rotterdam or Maastricht, where is the best Song Contest hall?]. Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (in Dutch). 18 July 2019. Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  8. ^ "'Open Up' to Eurovision 2020". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 24 October 2019. Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Rotterdam 2020 design celebrates 65 years of Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 28 November 2019. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Eurovision 2020 postcards concept revealed". 9 December 2019. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019.
  11. ^ Rasmus (2 December 2019). "Eurovision 2020: Stage design revealed for Rotterdam". Eurovisionworld. Archived from the original on 26 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  12. ^ a b Groot, Evert (25 January 2020). "Semi-Final Allocation Draw pots for Eurovision 2020 revealed!". eurovision.tv. Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  13. ^ a b "41 countries will 'Open Up' at Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam". Eurovision.tv. 13 November 2019. Archived from the original on 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  14. ^ "These artists are already confirmed for Eurovision 2021". eurovision.tv. 23 March 2020. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  15. ^ a b c Groot, Evert (28 January 2020). "Which country performs in which Eurovision 2020 Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  16. ^ a b c d e "Eurovision Song Contest 2020 First Semi-Final". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  17. ^ a b c d e "Eurovision Song Contest 2020 Second Semi-Final". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  18. ^ a b c d e "Eurovision Song Contest 2020 Grand Final". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.


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