Rotterdam defies pandemic to ‘open up’ for Eurovision

Fans queue in front of the Ahoy convention centre, prior to the first semi-final of the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam yesterday. (AFP)

The mood is defiant among the trickle of flag-waving Eurovision Song Contest fans who have made their way to Rotterdam — like the mood of the Dutch port city itself. A huge artwork outside the Ahoy Arena is emblazoned with the words “Open Up”, the theme for this year’s version of a televisual spectacle that is meant to bring Europe together in song. The theme was actually chosen before coronavirus swept the globe and forced the cancellation of the 2020 edition, but it has proved uncannily apt. Rotterdam is now cautiously leading the way for Europe’s gradual reopening from Covid-19 and for other major events like the Euro football tournament and the Tokyo Olympics. Rotterdam glitzed up ahead of the first semi-final yesterday, with names of former winners including Abba’s Waterloo festooned across the city’s harp-like Erasmus bridge. “We do think that this is the stepping stone to the next chapter,” Dave Geensen, Project manager for the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, told AFP. “Right now we are in a phase of adjusting, and the next step obviously would be ‘opening up’.” Geensen said they had to “reinvent ourself and come up with resilience and contingency planning” to hold a safe contest in the midst of a global pandemic, but it was worth it. “These are times where we are debating each other, fighting a pandemic. Now it’s also time to have some fun.”