In an interview with Dutch news website, AD.nl, the Head of Show for the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, Gerben Bakker, has confirmed the roles of this year’s Eurovision hosts. Edsilia Rombley will host the Green Room while Chantal Janzen and Jan Smit host the main segment of the show. YouTuber, NikkieTutorials, will be the digital host during the three shows.
Gerben Bakker revealed that he sees Edsilia interacting with the artists in the Green Room, being a former participant herself. Edsilia represented The Netherlands at the 1998 and 2008 contests. In 1998, she finished in fourth place with the song “Hemel en Aarde”. On the other hand, Chantal and Jan, will talk through the shows, and also present the “tricky” voting segment.
Humour will also be kept to a minimum during this year’s contest – there will be no scripted jokes anyway! Bakker said that he feels that humour is not needed in an event where so many different countries are taking part.
Edsilia joins forces with former participants!
As well as being Green Room host, Edsilia has also pre-recorded videos with former Eurovision winners in advance. The videos will feature 1973 winner Anne-Marie David, 1993 winner Niamh Kavanagh and 2004 winner Ruslana, among others.
The videos could be on-board Edsilia’s taxi! As confirmed earlier tonight, Edsilia will talk to former winners while taking on the role of a taxi driver. She will talk to the singers abiut all things Eurovision and how the contest has changed their lives.
“Less bling bling” for flag parade
Following last year’s extravagant flag parade completed with a plane on the Tel Aviv stage, Bakker has revealed that he wants a quicker flag parade this year. He describes it as being, “the Dutch way”, with parades as long as 15 minutes being “really too long”. The flag parade will be accompanied by a performance by 15-year old DJ, Pieter Gabriel.
We still might be seeing “bling” on stage though, from the Dutch royal family! In the interview, it was revealed that the Dutch king and queen, along with their three daughters have been invited to the contest.
Are you excited to see Chantal & Jan take on the challenge as main contest hosts? How do you think Edsilia will fair as green room host?
Let us know in the comments below and on social media @ESCXTRA.