The City of The Hague is the next city to drop out of the 2020 Eurovision Host City race following Leeuwarden, with seven cities remaining in the battle to host the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest. The Hague was vying to host the event at the ADO Stadium.

Then there were 7….. The City of The Hague has decided to drop out of the 2020 Host City Bid Process due not meeting the EBU’s requirements to host the event, ie there was no suitable venue in the city to hold the event. The Hague will now be offering its full support to Rotterdam.

The Hague’s potential venue the ADO Stadium, lacked a roof and it would not be feasible to build one as it would be a very lengthy and costly affair.

The lack of a good location has now led to The Hague withdrawing as a candidate for hosting the event. The municipality hopes to benefit from the Eurovision Song Contest. The Hague supports Rotterdam, which hopes to organize the competition at the Rotterdam Ahoy. Since The Hague is close by, the city is hoping for full hotel rooms and fun side events.

The Municipality of Rotterdam says it is happy with Rotterdam’s support.

Full support for Rotterdam

Mr. Richard de Mos (Councilor of the City of The Hague) posted  the following message on his official Twitter account:

The Hague supports Rotterdam with the #Eurovision Bidbook. No suitable location; that is why we are are bringing the Eurovision Song Contest  as a region and allowing The Hague to benefit from it with full hotel rooms and fun side events.

Den Haag steunt Rotterdam met Bidbook #Songfestival. Geen passende locatie; daarom als regio het Songfestival binnenhalen en Den Haag daarvan laten profiteren met volle hotelkamers en leuke side-events. @rotterdamahoy @zuid_holland https://t.co/3erQgUWlPi

— Richard de Mos 🔰 (@RicharddeMos) June 27, 2019

In an interview with Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, De Mos commented:

This week I called Rotterdam’s Councilor Said Kasmi. Together we will look at how we can help Rotterdam win the bid to host the Eurovision Song Contest and how The Hague can benefit from it with full hotel rooms and fun side events. Fortunately we also have the support of the South Holland province.

Mr. Said Kasmi (Rotterdam City Councilor) told De Telegraaf:

We are very happy with the support!

The Hague was looking forward to bring the competition on home soil for the third time, having hosted the Eurovision Song Contest back in 1976 and 1980. Back then the contest the was held at the Congresgebouw but today the venue which is known as the World Forum is too small to hold the competition as the Eurovision Song Contest has grown immensely and now consists of three live shows and circa 40 plus competing countries.

The 2020 Host City Bid Process

Initially a total of nine cities officially applied to host the 2020 Eurovision edition, after Leuwaarden and  Den Haag‘s withdrawals only seven candidates remain in the race:

• Amsterdam
• Rotterdam
• Arnhem
• Maastricht
• Utrecht
• Breda
• Den Bosch

Applicant cities have to submit their respective bid books to the organizing body by 10 July 2019. The 2020 Eurovision Host City is expected to be unveiled in August.

The 2020 Eurovision Song Contest will be co-produced by three Dutch public broadcasters NOS, AVROTROS and NPO in liason with the EBU.