Wednesday, April 1, 2020

So, no Eurovision?!?!?

Yeah, so thanks to the COVID-19 outbreak there will be no Eurovision 2020. Which is really sucky because there are sooooo many wonderful singers this year. For instance, Austria's Vincent Bueno has a epic mega jam with his song "Alive". Sweden's The Mamas gave a riveting performance of their song "Move".  Greece's Stefania's song "Supergirl" was totally awesome. And these are Just Three of this year's contestants. Sadly, we will never know who is this year's favorite.  Below is what Wikipedia told me about sad nonhappening:

Impacts of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic and cancellation

In 2020, the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from China to other countries around the world raised concerns and the potential impact over staging the Eurovision Song Contest. On 6 March NPO, the Dutch broadcaster, stated "Eurovision organisers would follow the advice of health authorities in deciding what form the event, due to be held on 12–16 May, would take." In March, authorities in Denmark urged the cancellation of events with more than 1,000 spectators to limit the spread of the virus. This resulted in the Danish national final being held with no live audience. Representatives from Sweden, Finland, Israel, Switzerland, Italy and Greece pulled out of the Heads of Delegation meeting on 9 March. Jon Ola Sand attended the meeting remotely after a travel restriction was placed on EBU staff until 13 March after an employee contracted the virus. Eden Alene, the Israeli representative, revealed that she would not travel to the Netherlands to film her postcard as a precaution to COVID-19. The broadcaster noted they would try to find another way to film her postcard. The Lithuanian representatives The Roop also cancelled both the travel plans to film their postcard and their participation in pre-contest parties in London and Amsterdam. The Bulgarian representative Victoria also cancelled her participation in pre-contest parties in London and Amsterdam.
On 13 March Eurovision-Spain, organisers of the pre-party planned for 10–11 April in Madrid, announced that it would be postponed due to threats of the virus until further notice. On the same day, the organisers of Israel Calling, a pre-party planned in Tel Aviv, announced that it would be cancelled.On 16 March, the organisers of Eurovision in Concert, a pre-party planned in Amsterdam, announced that it would be cancelled. On the same day, the organisers of the pre-party London Eurovision Party announced that it would be postponed due to threats of the virus until further notice.
It was ultimately decided that the contest itself would be cancelled as a result of the pandemic, which was announced on 18 March 2020. The reference group for the contest explored the option of letting the acts selected for the 2020 contest instead take part in the following year. It decided on 20 March 2020 that, in accordance with the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest, the 2020 songs would not be eligible to compete in the 2021 contest and would instead be honoured in a non-competitive manner. The BBC has planned to broadcast a replacement for the contest. Eurovision: Come Together will feature the planned Eurovision 2020 entries and interviews with would-be participants, as well as highlights of the show's 65-year history. Host broadcaster AVROTROS is likely to fill the empty broadcasting blocks resulting from the cancellation with past editions of the Eurovision Song Contest, already existing Eurovision specials of programmes, and a documentary on how the Netherlands overcame their four-decade win gap at the contest. The EBU and the host broadcasters are working on a Europe-wide replacement show called Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light, which is scheduled to be broadcast live on 16 May 2020, the date the contest's final was planned to take place.
The Ahoy Arena itself, with all major gatherings in the Netherlands being prohibited, now serves as a temporary care facility, due to a nationwide shortage of hospital beds.

At least the arena is being put to a good use. As much as I want to gripe and complain about this year's cancellation, I can't. Stay safe people.


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