We are now one step closer to knowing which city will host Eurovision 2020, with the five contenders now down to two. The EBU have now officially announced that Rotterdam and Maastricht have submitted the strongest bids.
Last week a total of five cities put forward their bid books to host Eurovision 2020, including Rotterdam, Maastricht, Arnhem, Utrecht and Den Bosch. The latter three did not best meet the requirements of being a suitable host city candidate and as such their Eurovision journey ends here.
Both Rotterdam and Maastricht offer the right facilities to host the show, as well as the side events such as Eurovision village, EuroClub and the Opening Ceremony. The cities are both equipped to host the guests, with enough hotel rooms. Both cities are also able to financially contribute to hosting the event.
Executive Producer of the 2020 competition, Sietse Bakker has said, ‘All the cities and venues have put a lot of effort into their bids. We were impressed with all the proposals and would like to thank everyone involved so far for their positive input and commitment. We are convinced Maastricht and Rotterdam offer everything that a Host City requires. We are hoping the other cities will maintain their enthusiasm for the Song Contest. We’d love to discuss in the coming months how we can involve them in the event next year.’
The venue proposed for Rotterdam is Ahoy Rotterdam which has a capacity of 16,426. The venue has already hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2007, plus many big televised events. The MECC Maastricht has a capacity of 20,000, although it is likely to be more like 13,000 if Eurovision was hosted at this arena.
Over the next few weeks, organisers will visit both Rotterdam and Maastricht to assess the potential venues and other locations. By mid-August, the host city should be announced.