According to ESCKAZ, based on the recommendations of the Dutch government, the European Broadcasting Union is working as a basic option on a plan C according to which some broadcasters will not be able to send their delegations to Rotterdam. This is the so-called “C” scenario that was announced last week.
The Ministry of Health of the Netherlands divides all countries into several groups based on the spread level of coronavirus: countries from the yellow group is allowed to go to Netherlands, from the red one is prohibited, and those arriving from the orange group must pass a 10-day quarantine. This map is regularly updated.
Countries that will be on the orange and red groups for April 2021 will not be able to come to Netherlands and will perform from their countries on record.
As for today, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Georgia, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, San Marino, Slovenia, Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria could take part in the competition.
Those countries will have to prepare an EBU-approved stage for broadcast and record their performance on it. At the moment it is not determined whether the preparation for this plan will be mandatory for all broadcasters as a backup (which can significantly increase the costs of countries to participate in the show jumping), or will be discussed with each country individually.
Countries performing in Rotterdam will perform their songs live at the Ahoy Arena, probably with a limited audience (partial application of Plan B). The presenters will also be there and number of the interval acts will be shown.
Let us remind that last week the EBU has published four possible options for the development of plans related to “Eurovision 2021”.
Plan A – the usual scenario of the competition, plan B – “Eurovision” with social distancing, limited by the number of delegation members, press and audience. Plan D – R/remote “Eurovision Song Contest”, which will be similar to “Junior Eurovision” this year.
The final choice of the competition’s scenario largely depends on the development of vaccination against COVID-19 and the decisions taken by the Dutch government in this regard. One thing is certain – in May 2021 the “Eurovision Song Contest” will go on the air and its winner will be determined.