Tomorrow is not another day…. Day after day, another event is cancelled over the coronavirus epidemic in France and in the whole world. In late March, the famous Eurovision song contest has been cancelled. In order to fight against the spread of coronavirus, the contest has been cancelled for 2020. This year’s Eurovision was to take place in Rotterdam and air this Saturday May 16th. This is the first time the contest has to face such a crisis situation and be cancelled.
Yet, Eurovision is said to happen. A night called “Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light” has been planned to replace the initial contest. Airing on France 2 tv channel, the show will last two hours and will be broadcast live in 46 countries. In France, Stéphane Bern has been appointed host of this special show. He says, “I will be in a France Télévisions studio where I will have two to three guests, 2 meters apart”. It will no longer be a contest, but candidates will participate to this new special version of Eurovision 2020. As a matter of fact, each one of them posted a 40-second message that will be streamed during this exclusive show. “We cannot do otherwise, because if we had to share the 41 video clips in their entirety, the show would have last more than two hours” Stéphane Bern says.
To end the night, artists will perform together from home “Love Shine a Light”, a hopeful song that enabled the United-Kingdom to win Eurovision 1997. On the occasion, Eurovision 2020 French contestant Tom Leeb will sing a few notes. Last but not least, according to French Télé Star magazine, “several Eurovision top persons will cover songs from the contest” all night long.
