12 points? Government gives public broadcasters €12.4m to stage Eurovision

The event will be staged at the Ahoy. Photo: Ahoy Rotterdam via Wikimedia Commons

Culture minister Arie Slob has agreed to give the public broadcasters €12.4m to help stage the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest.

The money will come from a media reserve which is to be used for special broadcasting projects, Slob told MPs on Wednesday.

The cost of staging the song festival in Rotterdam next May is put at €26.5m. The public broadcasters have come up with €4.5m while €9.6m will be generated by ticket sales and a contribution from the European Broadcasting Union.

The Netherlands will host the show because singer songwriter Duncan Lawrence won the contest this year – the first Dutch victory in 44 years.

The contest will be staged in the Ahoy exhibition complex which hosts trade fairs, tennis matches and the North Sea Jazz festival. The semi-finals take place on Tuesday May 12 and Thursday May 14, with the grand final on Saturday, May 16.

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