Eurovision - the Netherlands: Italy's raucous glam rock takes Eurovision by storm - by Stephanie van den Berg

Italy's entry, glam rock band Maneskin, won the Eurovision song contest, as the world's most popular live music event was held in the Netherlands after being canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Italian's raucous "Zitti E Buoni" beat out professional jury favourites Switzerland and France, sweeping the public vote which counts for half the points. Victoria de Angelis of Maneskin told a press conference the win was an important boost for Italy, one of the European countries worst hit by COVID-19.

Read more at: Italy's raucous glam rock takes Eurovision by storm | Reuters

European Song Festival: Eurovision makes Covid-lite return in the Netherlands

The glamour of Eurovision is back, with the Dutch hosting a scaled-down, coronavirus-safe version this week after the song contest was cancelled last year.

Delegates will be officially welcomed at the grand opening of this year's week-long event on Sunday afternoon, which includes a glitzy "Turquoise Carpet" event where contestants will strut their stuff, organisers said.

But four teams have already been nixed from the opening ceremony after a Polish and Icelandic delegate tested positive for Covid-19 and Malta and Romania are staying away as a precaution because they are staying in the same hotel.

French singer Barbara Pravi is the bookmakers' favourite to win the Eurovision song contest

Good news for U.S fans of the Eurovision Song Contest. Ahead of Tuesday’s first semi-final, it has been confirmed that the Peacock streaming platform https://www.peacocktv.com/ will air all three shows in the United States. It is set to be available to users of both the premium and free option of the site. Netflix US streams the contest on delay. Pre-qualifying contests are on May 18 and May 20 starting at EST 15.00hrs and PT 12.00hrs. The Grand Final will be on Saturday May 20 starting at EST 15.00hrs and PT 12.00hrs.

Read more at: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/eurovision-makes-covid-lite-return-in-the-netherlands/ar-BB1gMseX

Eurovision: Abba's Waterloo voted best song of all time

Eurovision: Come Together saw the public vote for their favourites, on the night that this year's song contest was due to take place.

The 2020 competition was cancelled in March amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Swedish foursome won it in 1974 in Brighton. The track, which topped the UK charts and set them on their way to fame, went on to sell nearly 6m copies.

Speaking later on the night, Bjorn Ulvaeus from the band said he found it "hard to believe" that was where it began for them all those years ago.

Read more at:
Eurovision: Abba's Waterloo voted best song of all time - BBC News

The Netherlands: EUROVISION: the popular Song contest will be held in Rotterdam next year

Read more at: 

https://nltimes.nl/2019/08/30/eurovision-song-contest-held-rotterdam

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Tel Aviv - Eurovision: Dutch contestant given the edge to win by the bookies

Read more at:
https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2019/05/dutch-eurovision-entry-and-bookies-favourite-makes-song-contest-final/

Eurovision 2014 Song Festival: The Netherlands emerges as major rival to UK at Eurovision

The United Kingdom has seen Molly rise to become the favourite to win Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen but a new rival for the title emerged during last night’s first semi final.

The Netherlands’ entry Calm After The Storm’, sung by The Common Linnets has caused a major stir in Denmark.

It sailed through in the semi final and has seen its odds cut from 100/1 outsiders to 7/1 overnight.  A week ago, the song was written off as a 250/1 rank outsider.

The Common Linnets are Ilse DeLange and Waylon, a male-female duet with a country music background. The song is perhaps the most simple ever seen at the Eurovision Song Contest. It has just three chords and the first half of the song is shown in a single camera take.

The Eurovision Song Festival celebrates its 60^th Birthday next year, and rather than thinking about retirement, the contest is stronger than ever, pulling in a staggering 180million television viewers. It is the most watched music event in the world.

There are still some storm clouds ahead for The Netherlands though. Of the ten songs to qualify from last night’s semi final, seven were ballads. There is still stiff competition from Armenia and Sweden in the genre and Malta also have a country song which is tipped to qualify from tomorrow night’s semi final.

One thing we do know is that the Eurovision Song Contest reputation for cheese and irrelevance is dying fast.

It is quickly becoming a showcase for musical talent, quality music and a great night’s television.

Read more: Eurovision 2014: The Netherlands emerges as major rival to UK at Eurovision | Metro News