Thanks to the victory of Duncan Lawrence in Tel Aviv, our country hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in May 2021 in Rotterdam. The ambition of the Dutch team of producers was to develop a concept that is embraced throughout the Netherlands and positively surprises Europe. Our challenge was to develop an overarching narrative that provides guidance for the concept development and execution of different event elements – from TV-format to stage acts. We involved the Magic 100 to create that narrative and lay the foundations for this year’s theme: Open Up!

The Netherlands is known for its innovation power in different areas. To unlock the creativity of different stakeholders Fronteer organised an extensive co-creation program. Through interviews with opinion leaders, expert co-creation workshops and street-interviews in different cities we collected input and ideas on how to make ESC 2020 more inclusive, more engaging and more purpose-driven. And possibly the main question: how to make Dutch citizens proud of ESC 2020?

In October 2019 the theme for ESC 2020 was announced during the popular Dutch TV show “De Wereld Draait Door”: Open Up. With this slogan, the organisers want to invite the audience to open up to music from different countries. But above all: open up to each other, regardless of background, gender or beliefs.

A key insight we got from the Magic 100 was the wish that this edition of the Eurovision Song Contest will be ‘real’. The Dutch are mostly proud of their mentality, which they describe as being open, inventive, diverse and authentic. We want to place the spotlight on that mentality, and offer the stage to Europe. Open Up represents our contemporary spirit to open up to new ideas from dissentient people and involve new creative talent.