Ladies and gentlemen! After two years of waiting, the time has (at last) come! From tonight, let’s… Open Up and enjoy the return of the Eurovision Song Contest, live from Rotterdam!

Following an unprecedented cancellation of last year’s event, due to the outburst of the coronavirus, our beloved contest Eurovision is back and, as promised, “stronger than ever”! As scheduled, tonight the first semi-final of the event is going to take place at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, Τhe Netherlands, under, of course, all necessary regulations and measures of protection against the ongoing pandemic.

Eurovision is back to the Netherlands for the first time after 41 years, as the 1980 edition was hosted in The Hague. However, the last time that the country had snatched the victory was in 1975, with Teach-In and Ding-a-dong. It was Duncan Laurence with his power ballad Arcade, who made it to the top two years ago in Tel Aviv and brought the coveted trophy and the event back home. The big winner of Eurovision 2019 will perform as the opening act of the show.

Hosting all shows of the 65th Eurovision Song Contest will be singer Edsilia Rombley, who proudly represented her nation twice in the past (1998 and 2007), actor and presenter Chantal Janzen, singer and television host Jan Smit, as well as the popular makeup artist and YouTuber NikkieTutorials.

The first semi-final is here!

Tonight 16 countries will appear onstage, but only 10 of them will grab a spot in the Grand Final of Saturday 22 May. As with all other shows, the final verdict will be determined by both the public and the national juries, each having a 50% stake. The jury results have already been decided during yesterday’s Jury Rehearsal, but will only be announced after the Grand Final.

Only the 16 participating countries and 3 of the 6 pre-qualified countries (Italy, Germany and hosts The Netherlands) have voting rights in this semi-final.

The contestants who will cross their swords tonight are:

How to watch

The first semi-final of Eurovision 2021 will air live at 21:00 CEST.

You can follow the show through the national broadcasters of the participating nations, with local commentary, or via the live stream on eurovision.tv and the official Eurovision YouTube channel.

How excited are you about the return of the Eurovision Song Contest after a one-year absence?
Who do you wish to make it to the final tonight?