Even if the grand finale does not take place until May 22nd - the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Rotterdam started on the weekend. There is a lot of rehearsal, the band The Roop from Lithuania was the first participant on the stage in the Ahoy Arena for 30 minutes on Saturday morning, followed by Slovenia, Russia, Sweden, North Macedonia and Ireland. Only singer Montaigne from Australia did not appear at her rehearsal, as previously announced: The delegation from "down under" did not travel to Europe due to the corona and instead takes part in a performance recorded on tape in March, a so-called live-on-tape performance that all artists had to submit so that the organizer is prepared in the event of a corona case.The German participant Jendrik Sigwart will be on the big ESC stage for the first time on Thursday afternoon and sing his song "I Don't Feel Hate".

Peter-Philipp Schmitt

Editor in the section “Germany and the World”.

  • Follow I follow

    Jendrik, as the twenty-six-year-old calls himself as an artist, is set for the final, as are the other four participants in the so-called Big Five France, Great Britain, Italy and Spain - they pay the largest contribution to the budget of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) - as well as hosts Netherlands.

    All other countries have yet to qualify for May 22nd.

    The first semi-final with 16 candidates will take place on May 18th, the second semi-final with 17 candidates on May 20th.

    In the final on the Saturday before Pentecost, 26 countries will then compete against each other.

    Since the competition had to be canceled last year due to the corona pandemic, Rotterdam will get a second chance this year. However, this does not automatically apply to the artists who should compete in 2020. And certainly not for the specially composed songs. Shortly after the cancellation in March 2020, the EBU decided that the songs from the previous one could not be submitted again in this one.

    The decision of who should compete this year was made by the responsible broadcasters in the participating countries.

    Only 13 performers are new, 26 return with new songs.

    Germany had to choose a new artist after Ben Dolic, who was to go to the ESC 2020 with the title “Violent Thing”, announced in November that he would not take part in 2021.

    So Jendrik got the ticket for Rotterdam.

    The EBU did not want to cancel the competition a second time.

    As early as September, those responsible published four possible scenarios for how the event could definitely take place.

    They ranged from "normal" to "lockdown".

    The latter would have meant that all the artists only participated from a distance, like Australia.

    At the end of March, however, the Dutch government officially declared the ESC to be a Fieldlab event, which scientifically investigates how such a major event can take place under pandemic conditions. For the three live shows and the six public rehearsals, 3500 spectators each can come to the Ahoy Arena, which could otherwise hold around 16,500 people. And that although the seven-day incidence in the city is currently still around 280 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants.

    The competition can also be followed from a distance: The broadcaster NDR, which is responsible for the ESC in Germany, offers a new tool on its website www.eurovision.de that makes it possible to watch the live shows online with friends, too if they are spatially separated. Up to four people can connect to each other via video - and that on just one surface. In addition, all shows on television will be broadcast on One, the grand finale will also be broadcast on First.