The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.
It took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country’s win at the 2019 contest with the song “Arcade” by Duncan Laurence.
Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcasters Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO), Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) and AVROTROS, the contest was held at Rotterdam Ahoy, and consisted of two semi-finals on 18 and 20 May, and a final on 22 May 2021.
The three live shows were presented by Dutch television presenters and singers Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley and Jan Smit, and Dutch YouTube personality and makeup-artist Nikkie de Jager.
Thirty-nine countries participated in the contest, of which twenty-six re-entered the artists chosen for 2020 (albeit with different songs, as per the contest’s rules).
Bulgaria and Ukraine returned after their absence from the 2019 contest, while Hungary and Montenegro did not return after their participation in the 2019 edition.
Armenia and Belarus had originally planned to participate, but Armenia withdrew due to its social and political crises following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, and Belarus was disqualified after its intended entry was found to be in violation of the contest’s rules.
The winner was Italy with the song “Zitti e buoni”, performed by Måneskin and written by the band’s members Damiano David, Ethan Torchio, Thomas Raggi and Victoria De Angelis.
The EBU reported that the contest had an audience of 183 million viewers in 36 European markets, an increase of a million viewers from the previous edition, with an increase of seven percent in the 15–24 year old age range
To me it’s more comparable to the early 1990’s French Antillian-flavoured entries, like “White And Black Blues” and “C’Est Le Dernier Qui A Parlé”. Yes, the choir adds a gospel touch, but on the whole this is the most serious African-flavoured entry since those French entries. Will it work? It’s totally out-of-the-box music and, for those who forgot France 1990 and 1991, ‘anti-Eurovision’ music TOO, in the sense that it’s not typical ‘Eurovision’ stuff. Unique. In a way Estonia 2001, Belgium 2003 and The Netherlands 2014 were like that too. And all in a good way. I actually think the warmth and positivity is totally sincere here and that actually televoters will respect this much more than we currently think.