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Dutch singer-songwriter Duncan Laurence won
this year's contest in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, beating 25
other contestants with his piano ballad "Arcade". It was the
first time the Netherlands had won the contest since 1975.
As winning nation, the Netherlands automatically became the host
of the next round of the world's biggest live music event, which
reached more than 180 million viewers worldwide in 2019.
It will be the fifth time that the Netherlands, which has a
population of 17 million, has hosted the contest.
The semi-finals will be held on May 12 and 14 and the final will
take place on May 16 in Rotterdam's Ahoy Arena.
Europe's biggest seaport and the second biggest city in the
Netherlands, Rotterdam had been the favorite to win in a poll on
the Eurovision website, which gave it 57% out of roughly 26,000
votes, compared to 43% for Maastricht.
Several other Dutch cities, including the capital Amsterdam, had
already dropped out in a months-long bidding race to host the
competition.
By Friday, 34 countries had expressed interest in participating
in the competition organized by the European Broadcasting Union.
(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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