What we know for sure is that the 41 participating countries will be “put in the spotlight”. It is not yet known exactly how this will be done, only that they will deliver a personal message. We already know that this year’s hosts Jan Smit, Edsilia Rombley and Chantal Janzen will present the show from an empty studio in Hilversum.
The special segments recorded for the original show in Rotterdam will not be shown. Producer Sietse Bakker confirmed this in the Eurovision podcast Ding-A-Dong. “We had the hilarious car rides with Edsilia in Rotterdam. Those would have been a lot of fun to broadcast, but they were recorded at a time when you didn't have all the measures [corona]. People on the street, people in shops, people in the market. That does not seem suitable during this time. It would also be confusing for the public.”
So we will see a lot of new material, made in the weeks after the cancellation. For example, we will see 2007 winner Marija Šerifović (Serbia) in the empty streets of Belgrade. Other previous winners will also be present. Mans Zelmerlöw (Sweden, 2015) will perform, just like Netta (Israel, 2018). She will bring an “acoustic, meaningful, version of a new song”. Israeli winner Gali Atari in 1979 will sing his winning song “Halleluja” with a choir of Junior Eurovision Song Contest participants.
Eurovision icon (“Mr. Eurovision”) Johnny Logan also plays a part in the broadcast. What's Another Year, the song that gave the singer his first Eurovision Song Contest victory in 1980, will be performed by him and a large number of Eurovision fans.
The following artists will also appear during the special:
Duncan Laurence with his new song “Someone Else”.
Ilse DeLange (Netherlands, 2014) and Michael Schulte (Germany, 2018) will perform the Eurovision classic Ein Bisschen Frieden.
According to Greek media, Helena Paparizou (Greece, 2001 & 2005) and Eleni Foureira (Cyprus, 2018) will also have a role in the show.
The name of the program is also honoured: all 41 participants for this year will perform the song “Love Shine A Light” by Katrina & The Waves (United Kingdom, 1997) together.
The show will be broadcast on RTE at 20:00
