The organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest have announced this year’s edition has been canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 threat.
In a post to Instagram, the statement read, in part:
It is with deep regret that we have to announce the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam.
Over the past few weeks we have explored many alternative options to allow the Eurovision Song Contest to go ahead.
However, the uncertainty created by the spread of COVID-19 throughout Europe – and the restrictions put in place by the governments of the participating broadcasters and the Dutch authorities – means the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has taken the difficult decision that it is impossible to continue with the live event as planned.
We are very proud that the Eurovision Song Contest has united audiences every year, without interruption, for the past 64 years and we, like the millions of fans around the world, are extremely saddened that it cannot take place in May.
This is the first time since the song contest began in 1956 the event been canceled.
From ABBA’s win in 1974 to transgender singer Dana International of Israel in 1998 to Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst’s victory in 2014, the over-the-top performances and often queer-centric sensibility of the competition has made the annual event a highly-anticipated international television spectacle.
