The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It consisted of two semi-finals on 18 and 20 May and a final on 22 May 2021, held at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and presented by Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley, Jan Smit, and Nikkie de Jager. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcasters (NPO), (NOS), and AVROTROS, all of which staged the event after AVROTROS had won the for the with the song "Arcade" by Duncan Laurence, and following the cancellation of the due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Broadcasters from 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). Compared to the 2019 edition, and returned while and did not. and had originally planned to participate, but the Public Television Company of Armenia (AMPTV) withdrew due to the social and political crises following the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, and the Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC) was disqualified after submitting entries in violation of the rules twice, and not providing an eligible entry before the deadline.
The winner was with the song "", performed by Måneskin and written by the band's members Damiano David, Ethan Torchio, Thomas Raggi, and Victoria De Angelis. , , , and rounded out the top five, with France and Switzerland achieving their best results since and , respectively. Italy won the combined vote and televote, but placed fourth in the jury vote after Switzerland, France, and . Italy was the second member of the "Big Five" since its introduction to win the contest after . For the first time since , none of the top three entries were performed in English, with France and Switzerland performing in French, and Italy in Italian.
Additionally, for the first time since the current voting system was implemented in , more than one country received no points from the televote in the final; these countries were , , the host country the , and the , the last of those becoming the first country to receive no points from both the jury and televote. It was the second time that the United Kingdom had received no points in the contest, the last time having been in . For the first time since its debut in 2015, failed to qualify for the final, making Ukraine the only country that has never failed to qualify from the semi-finals since their introduction in .
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.
Location
The 2021 contest was held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the 2019 edition with the song "Arcade", performed by Duncan Laurence. It was the fifth time that the Netherlands had hosted the contest, having previously done so in , , and . The selected venue was the 16,400-seat Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam Ahoy, a convention centre and multi-purpose indoor arena located on Ahoyweg, which serves as a venue for many events, including concerts, exhibitions, trade fairs, and conferences. Rotterdam Ahoy had previously hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007, and was set to host the 2020 contest before its cancellation. The "Turquoise Carpet" event, where the contestants and their delegations are presented before the accredited press and fans, took place at the Rotterdam Cruise Terminal on 16 May 2021.
Host city selection
By Eurovision tradition, the Netherlands received the right to host the Eurovision Song Contest after the country won the competition in 2019. The Dutch host broadcasters NPO, NOS and AVROTROS launched the bidding process in the same month on 29 May, in which five citiesArnhem, 's-Hertogenbosch, Maastricht, Rotterdam, and Utrechtsubmitted their bid books during a ceremonial event held in Hilversum on 10 July 2019. On 16 July, Maastricht and Rotterdam were shortlisted, and after NPO visited both cities, on 30 August 2019, Rotterdam was announced as the host city of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.
Following the cancellation of the 2020 contest, the EBU began talks with NPO, NOS, AVROTROS, and the government of Rotterdam on the possibility of staging the 2021 contest in the city. On 23 April 2020, the municipal council of Rotterdam approved an increased budget after Dutch media reported that the city would require an additional €6.7 million to host the contest. The decision was imminent as it was required that the EBU be informed by late April if Rotterdam was willing to host the contest. If Rotterdam declined to host the event, NPO, NOS and AVROTROS had until mid-May 2020 to find an alternative. During the broadcast of Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light, which aired on 16 May 2020, Rotterdam was confirmed as the host city of the 2021 contest.
Participants
Eligibility for potential participation in the Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active EBU membership capable of receiving the contest via the Eurovision network and broadcasting it live nationwide. The EBU issued an invitation to participate in the contest to all active members. Associate member did not need an invitation for the 2021 contest, as it had previously been granted permission to participate at least until 2023.
The EBU initially announced on 26 October 2020 that 41 countries would participate in the contest, featuring the same line-up of countries that were set to participate in the cancelled 2020 edition. and returned after their absence from the 2019 contest, while and were confirmed as non-returning following their latest appearances in 2019.
In March 2021, and confirmed their non-participation in the contest; the Public Television Company of Armenia (AMPTV) withdrew due to the social and political crises in the aftermath of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, while the Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC) was disqualified from the contest for failing to provide an eligible entry before the deadline. The number of participants was therefore reduced to 39.
After the cancellation of the 2020 contest, the participating broadcasters of 24 countries announced that, for the 2021 contest, they would internally select the same artists initially selected for 2020. Those artists were: Efendi for Azerbaijan, Montaigne for Australia, Vincent Bueno for Austria, Hooverphonic for Belgium (albeit with a different lead singer), Victoria for Bulgaria, Benny Cristo for the Czech Republic, Tornike Kipiani for Georgia, Stefania for Greece, Eden Alene for Israel, Lesley Roy for Ireland, Daði og Gagnamagnið for Iceland, Samanta Tīna for Latvia, Destiny for Malta, Natalia Gordienko for Moldova, Roxen for Romania, Jeangu Macrooy for the Netherlands, Vasil for North Macedonia, Senhit for San Marino, Hurricane for Serbia, Ana Soklič for Slovenia, Blas Cantó for Spain, Gjon's Tears for Switzerland, Go_A for Ukraine, and James Newman for the United Kingdom. In addition, the artists initially selected for Estonia and Lithuania in 2020, Uku Suviste and The Roop respectively, won their countries' national finals again to represent their countries in 2021.
Discounting 2020, the contest featured three representatives who also previously performed as lead vocalists for the same country, and five artists who participated in other Eurovision events or as backing vocalists for the same or for another country. Among the representatives who returned as lead vocalists, Natalia Gordienko had previously represented with Arsenium and Connect-R; Senhit had represented ; and Sanja Vučić, a member of Hurricane, had previously represented in a solo performance.
Former backing vocalists who competed as lead artists included Ksenija Knežević, a member of Hurricane, who had previously served as a backing vocalist for ; Destiny, who had provided backing vocals for ; Vincent Bueno, who had backed ; and Vasil, who had provided backing vocals for . Two artists had previously competed in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Malta's Destiny, who had won for , and Greece's Stefania, who had represented the as a member of the group Kisses. Mladen Lukić, who had previously competed for as a member of Balkanika, returned as a backing vocalist for Hurricane.
+ Eurovision Song Contest 2021 participants Country Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s) RTSH Anxhela Peristeri "Karma" Albanian SBS Montaigne "Technicolour" English ORF Vincent Bueno "Amen" English İTV Efendi "Mata Hari" English VRT Hooverphonic "The Wrong Place" English BNT Victoria "Growing Up Is Getting Old" English HRT Albina "Tick-Tock" English, Croatian CyBC Elena Tsagrinou "" English ČT Benny Cristo "Omaga" English DR Fyr og Flamme "" Danish Laurits Emanuel ERR Uku Suviste "The Lucky One" English Yle Blind Channel "Dark Side" English Barbara Pravi "" French GPB Tornike Kipiani "You" English Tornike Kipiani NDR Jendrik "I Don't Feel Hate" English ERT Stefania "Last Dance" English RÚV Daði og Gagnamagnið "10 Years" English Daði Freyr Pétursson RTÉ Lesley Roy "Maps" English IPBC Eden Alene "Set Me Free" English RAI Måneskin "" Italian LTV Samanta Tīna "The Moon Is Rising" English LRT The Roop "Discoteque" English PBS Destiny "" English TRM Natalia Gordienko "Sugar" English AVROTROS Jeangu Macrooy "Birth of a New Age" English, Sranan Tongo MRT Vasil "Here I Stand" English NRK Tix "Fallen Angel" English TVP Rafał "The Ride" English RTP The Black Mamba "Love Is on My Side" English Pedro "Tatanka" Caldeira TVR Roxen "Amnesia" English C1R Manizha "Russian Woman" Russian, English SMRTV Senhit "" English RTS Hurricane "" Serbian RTVSLO Ana Soklič "Amen" English RTVE Blas Cantó "" Spanish SVT Tusse "Voices" English SRG SSR Gjon's Tears "" French UA:PBC Go_A "" Ukrainian BBC James Newman "Embers" English
Other countries Active EBU members Having intended to compete in 2020, Armenia was initially confirmed for the 2021 contest when the list of participants was announced by the EBU in October 2020, and was set to perform in the second half of the second semi-final. However, on 5 March 2021, the Public Television Company of Armenia (AMPTV) confirmed that it was subsequently unable to participate due to social and political crises in the country in the aftermath of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. Having intended to compete in 2020, Belarus was initially confirmed for the 2021 contest when the list of participants was announced by the EBU in October 2020, and was set to perform in the first half of the first semi-final. However, after its intended entry "Ya nauchu tebya (I'll Teach You)" by Galasy ZMesta was rejected due to violating the rules, and no eligible replacement entry was submitted before the deadline, the EBU announced on 26 March 2021 that the Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC) had been disqualified. Six days after the Eurovision final, the EBU voted to suspend BTRC's membership due to concerns about the content that it was broadcasting. BTRC was given two weeks to respond before the suspension comes into effect on 11 June, but there was no public response. The broadcaster was expelled from the EBU on 1 July, rendering future participations impossible for an indefinite amount of time.