Cities queuing for the organization of the Eurovision Song Contest, but what will it bring?

It takes some searching. Although countless tourists enjoy the view of Rotterdam from the Euromast, few of them remember a major event that took place in that same city about a year ago. They are enthusiastic about Rotterdam and the architecture, that’s for sure. But even after the hint ‘Eurovision Song Contest’ most people don’t ring a bell.

To address two Spanish tourists, a father and his son. “The Song Contest has positively changed my feeling about the city,” says the son. “I knew that Rotterdam was a modern city, but not that it is so free and open, with a lot of diversity.”

17 cities

The above does not only apply in Rotterdam. It is an issue that many cities face when deciding whether or not to organize a major event: how much will the festival provide a city in the long term? This is also the case in the Maasstad, where the Eurovision Song Contest, the largest television show in Europe, was held exactly one year ago in Ahoy.

Better advertising can hardly be, you would say.

At least that’s how they think about it in Italy. After the gain the band Måneskin asked cities if they wanted to organize the festival. No fewer than seventeen municipalities registered. Finally went Turin, in the north of the country, ran off with the profit. Today is the kick-off of a week of music, next Tuesday is the first semi-final of the European song festival.

–