Europe Shine a Light was a special event celebrating the 41 countries of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 due to the cancellation of the event because of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic.
The broadcasters of all 41 2020 participant countries aired the special. Belgium's Wallonian broadcaster RTBF, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT), Kazakhstan (Khabar Agency), Kosovo (RTK) and Montenegro (RTCG) also aired the event. It was streamed on the Eurovision YouTube channel worldwide.
On 1 April 2020, it was announced that it would be held at Studio 21 of Media Park in Hilversum. This would make it the second time since 1958 that the city has hosted a Eurovision event
The EBU commissioned this special broadcast on 16 May 2020, which would have been the grand final in Rotterdam. Additionally, the EBU declared the week of 10 May to be "Eurovision Week", and has invited radio stations across Europe to dedicate some of its airtime to the 2020 contestants and past contest classics.
2020 presenters Edsilia Rombley, Chantal Janzen and Jan Smit were brought in to host the special, with social media celebrity Nikkie de Jager (NikkieTutorials) providing digital content.
This was the final Eurovision event for Jon Ola Sand, who stepped down from his role as Executive Supervisor after nearly 10 years.
It was also announced during the event that the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 would be hosted in Rotterdam.
In one segment of the show, many landmarks across Europe and Australia were lit up. Among them were three past Eurovision host venues: Crystal Hall in Baku (host venue of 2012), Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm (host venue of 2000 and 2016) and Teatro Real in Madrid (host venue of 1969).
As a sign of unity, the 2020 artists (with the exception of Belgian representatives Hooverphonic) performed the 1997 winner Love Shine a Light together to close the show. Katrina Leskanich of Katrina and The Waves performed the last line of the song.
Guest Performances
- Johnny Logan (Ireland 1980/1987) - What's Another Year with Jan Smit, Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley and a choir of Eurovision fans from around the world
- Diodato (Italy 2020) - Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu
- Måns Zelmerlöw (Sweden 2015) - Heroes
- Marija Šerifović (Serbia 2007) - Molitva
- Gali Atari (Israel 1979) - Hallelujah with participants from the 2018 and 2019 Dutch national finals for Junior Eurovision
- Michael Schulte (Germany 2018) - Ein bißchen Frieden with Ilse DeLange (Netherlands 2014)
- Netta Barzilai (Israel 2018) - Cuckoo
- Duncan Laurence (Netherlands 2019) - Someone Else
