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contest no. 65

Eurovision 2021: Rotterdam

The 65th Eurovision Song Contest was held on Saturday, 22 May 2021 at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands. 39 countries took part. Italy won with “Zitti e buoni” by Måneskin, on 524 points.

By ESC Predictions Updated 7 October 2026

How would you have voted? Rank all 39 songs from 2021

Final
Saturday, 22 May 2021
Semi-finals
Tuesday, 18 May 2021 and Thursday, 20 May 2021
Venue
Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Host broadcaster
AVROTROS · Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) · Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO)
Presenters
Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley, Jan Smit, Nikkie de Jager
Directors
Marnix Kaart, Marc Pos, Daniel Jelinek
For the EBU
Martin Österdahl
Slogan
Open Up
Entries
39 countries
Returning
Bulgaria, Ukraine
Absent
Armenia, Hungary, Montenegro, Belarus
Voting
Each country awards two sets of 12, 10, 8–1 points to ten songs.
Play: Måneskin — “Zitti e buoni”, the winning performance at Eurovision 2021
the winner, on the night Video: Eurovision Song Contest / YouTube

The story

Back under covid rules, and Måneskin win for Italy

A year late, the contest came to Rotterdam after all: the same arena, the same presenters, the same slogan. The songs were new, because the rules required it, but 26 countries sent the performer they had chosen for 2020.

How to hold it

The organisers drew up four scenarios, from a normal contest to one performed entirely by video link. By February 2021 a normal contest had been ruled out. What they settled on was a scaled-back show in the arena under a health and safety protocol, with further cuts held in reserve.

In April the Dutch government allowed an audience: 3,500 people at each show, all of whom had to test negative first.

Almost everything around the shows was scrapped. There was no opening ceremony, no club for the delegations, and the fan village existed only online.

Thirty-nine

Forty-one countries had been expected, the same list as the year before. Two dropped off in March.

Armenia withdrew because of the crisis at home after its war with Azerbaijan. Belarus was thrown out. The EBU ruled that its song broke the ban on political entries and asked for a different one. The replacement was rejected for the same reason, and on 26 March Belarus was disqualified.

The virus arrives anyway

Ukraine’s singer felt unwell before a rehearsal and had to isolate. A Dutch stand-in sang the part in Ukrainian, to general admiration, until the real singer’s test came back negative.

Iceland was less lucky. A member of the band Daði og Gagnamagnið tested positive, and the group could not perform. Their place in the semi-final and the final was taken by a recording of one of their rehearsals. They finished fourth.

The reigning champion missed his own homecoming. Duncan Laurence tested positive two days before the final and appeared only on tape.

Things that broke

A camera failed while the stage was being set for Ireland in the first semi-final, and a presenter had to improvise in the green room until it was fixed.

In a rehearsal watched by the juries, San Marino’s revolving platform did not stop when it should have. The singer, Senhit, had to jump off while it was still turning.

In the Netherlands some viewers’ votes in the final were never counted, because of a fault at a phone company. The Dutch result stood.

The result

Italy won. Måneskin’s “Zitti e buoni”, sung in Italian, was only fourth with the juries. The public put it first, and it finished on 524 points, 25 ahead of France’s Barbara Pravi. Switzerland, the juries’ favourite, was third.

None of the top three was sung in English.

At the bottom, four countries received no points at all from the public: Germany, Spain, the host Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom got nothing from the juries either. It was the first time under this voting system that a song had scored zero from both.

Australia failed to reach the final for the first time. That left Ukraine as the only country never to have been knocked out in a semi-final.

The accusation

During the final, a clip of the Italian band in the green room showed their singer, Damiano David, leaning over a table. Viewers on social media claimed that he was taking cocaine.

He denied it at the winners’ press conference: a bandmate had broken a glass, he said, and he was looking at the floor. He took a drugs test, which was negative. Two days later the EBU said it had checked all the footage as well, confirmed that no drug use had taken place, and regretted that the speculation had overshadowed the band’s win.

Sources: Wikipedia, “Eurovision Song Contest 2021”, and the EBU statements and press reports it cites.

The shows, night by night

What opened each show, and what filled the interval while the votes came in.

  1. Tuesday, 18 May 2021

    First semi-final

    16 songs, 10 went through to the final

    opened by
    in the interval
    • Davina Michelle and Thekla Reuten “The Power of Water”

    Every song and who went through ↓ Every vote, country by country →

  2. Thursday, 20 May 2021

    Second semi-final

    17 songs, 10 went through to the final

    opened by
    • Redo and Eefje de Visser “Forward Unlimited”
    in the interval
    • Ahmad Joudeh and Dez Maarsen a ballet dancer and a BMX rider in “Close Encounter of a Special Kind”

    Every song and who went through ↓ Every vote, country by country →

  3. Saturday, 22 May 2021

    Final

    26 songs

    opened by
    • The flag parade the 26 finalists, to music by Pieter Gabriel
    in the interval
    • Afrojack, Glennis Grace and Wulf “Hero”, “Ten Feet Tall” and “Titanium”, with an orchestra
    • “Rock the Roof” past winners singing on the rooftops of Rotterdam
    • Duncan Laurence “Arcade” and “Stars”
    • “The Human Countdown” a dance piece

    The result ↓ Every vote, country by country →

Every opening and interval act since 1956 →

The final

Place Country Artist Song Points Sang Semi-final
1 Italy Måneskin winner! “Zitti e buoni” Italian · Victoria De Angelis, Damiano David, Thomas Raggi, Ethan Torchio 524 24 Straight to the final
2 France Barbara Pravi “Voilà” French · Antoine "Igit" Barrau, Lili Poe, Barbara Pravi 499 20 Straight to the final
3 Switzerland Gjon's Tears “Tout l'univers” French · Wouter Hardy, Xavier Michel, Gjon Muharremaj, Nina Sampermans 432 11 SF2 · 1st 291 pts
4 Iceland Daði og Gagnamagnið “10 Years” English · Daði Freyr Pétursson 378 12 SF2 · 2nd 288 pts
5 Ukraine Go_A “Shum (Шум)” Ukrainian · Kateryna Pavlenko, Taras Shevchenko 364 19 SF1 · 2nd 267 pts
6 Finland Blind Channel “Dark Side” English · Joel Hokka, Aleksi Kaunisvesi, Olli Matela, Niko Moilanen, Joonas Porko 301 16 SF2 · 5th 234 pts
7 Malta Destiny “Je me casse” English · Pete Barringer, Malin Christin, Amanuel Dermont, Nicklas Eklund 255 6 SF1 · 1st 325 pts
8 Lithuania The Roop “Discoteque” English · Mantas Banišauskas, Robertas Baranauskas, Laisvūnas Černovas, Kalle Lindroth, Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Ilkka Wirtanen 220 18 SF1 · 4th 203 pts
9 Russia Manizha “Russian Woman” Russian, English · Ori Avni, Ori Kaplan, Manizha Sanghin 204 5 SF1 · 3rd 225 pts
10 Greece Stefania “Last Dance” English · Arcade, Dimitris Kontopoulos, Sharon Vaughn 170 10 SF2 · 6th 184 pts
11 Bulgaria Victoria “Growing Up Is Getting Old” English · Oliver Björkvall, Victoria Georgieva, Helena Larsson, Maya Nalani 170 17 SF2 · 3rd 250 pts
12 Portugal The Black Mamba “Love Is on My Side” English · Pedro "Tatanka" Caldeira 153 7 SF2 · 4th 239 pts
13 Moldova Natalia Gordienko “Sugar” English · Mikhail Gutseriev, Philipp Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos, Sharon Vaughn 115 14 SF2 · 7th 179 pts
14 Sweden Tusse “Voices” English · Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Anderz Wrethov 109 25 SF1 · 7th 142 pts
15 Serbia Hurricane “Loco loco” Serbian · Nemanja Antonić, Darko Dimitrov, Sanja Vučić 102 8 SF2 · 8th 124 pts
16 Cyprus Elena Tsagrinou “El Diablo” English · Laurell Barker, Cleiton "Oxa" Sia, Thomas Stengaard, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt 94 1 SF1 · 6th 170 pts
17 Israel Eden Alene “Set Me Free” English · Ron Carmi, Amit Mordechai, Ido Netzer, Noam Zlatin 93 3 SF1 · 5th 192 pts
18 Norway Tix “Fallen Angel” English · Andreas Haukeland, Mathias Haukeland, Emelie Hollow 75 22 SF1 · 10th 115 pts
19 Belgium Hooverphonic “The Wrong Place” English · Alex Callier, Charlotte Forêt 74 4 SF1 · 9th 117 pts
20 Azerbaijan Efendi “Mata Hari” English · Luuk van Beers, Tony Cornelissen, Josh Earl, Amy van der Wel 65 21 SF1 · 8th 138 pts
21 Albania Anxhela Peristeri “Karma” Albanian · Kledi Bahiti, Olti Curri 57 2 SF2 · 10th 112 pts
22 San Marino Senhit “Adrenalina” English · Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Tramar Dillard, Suzi Pancenkov, Malou Linn Eloise Ruotsalainen, Kenny Silverdique, Thomas Stengaard, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Chanel Tukia, Senhit Zadik Zadik 50 26 SF2 · 9th 118 pts
23 Netherlands Jeangu Macrooy “Birth of a New Age” English, Sranan Tongo · Jeangu Macrooy, Pieter Perquin 11 23 Straight to the final
24 Spain Blas Cantó “Voy a quedarme” Spanish · Blas Cantó, Dan Hammond, Dangelo Ortega, Leroy Sánchez 6 13 Straight to the final
25 Germany Jendrik “I Don't Feel Hate” English · Christoph Oswald, Jendrik Sigwart 3 15 Straight to the final
26 United Kingdom James Newman “Embers” English · Conor Blake, Samuel Brennan, Tom Hollings, James Newman, Danny Shah 0 9 Straight to the final

The semi-finals

Every song in each semi-final, in finishing order. 13 songs didn’t reach the final.

First semi-final Tuesday, 18 May 2021 · 16 songs, 10 went through

Place Country Artist Song Points Sang Then
1 Malta Destiny “Je me casse” English · Pete Barringer, Malin Christin, Amanuel Dermont, Nicklas Eklund 325 16 Through: 7th in the final
2 Ukraine Go_A “Shum (Шум)” Ukrainian · Kateryna Pavlenko, Taras Shevchenko 267 15 Through: 5th in the final
3 Russia Manizha “Russian Woman” Russian, English · Ori Avni, Ori Kaplan, Manizha Sanghin 225 3 Through: 9th in the final
4 Lithuania The Roop “Discoteque” English · Mantas Banišauskas, Robertas Baranauskas, Laisvūnas Černovas, Kalle Lindroth, Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Ilkka Wirtanen 203 1 Through: 8th in the final
5 Israel Eden Alene “Set Me Free” English · Ron Carmi, Amit Mordechai, Ido Netzer, Noam Zlatin 192 12 Through: 17th in the final
6 Cyprus Elena Tsagrinou “El Diablo” English · Laurell Barker, Cleiton "Oxa" Sia, Thomas Stengaard, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt 170 8 Through: 16th in the final
7 Sweden Tusse “Voices” English · Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Anderz Wrethov 142 4 Through: 14th in the final
8 Azerbaijan Efendi “Mata Hari” English · Luuk van Beers, Tony Cornelissen, Josh Earl, Amy van der Wel 138 14 Through: 20th in the final
9 Belgium Hooverphonic “The Wrong Place” English · Alex Callier, Charlotte Forêt 117 11 Through: 19th in the final
10 Norway Tix “Fallen Angel” English · Andreas Haukeland, Mathias Haukeland, Emelie Hollow 115 9 Through: 18th in the final
11 Croatia Albina “Tick-Tock” English, Croatian · Tihana Buklijaš Bakić, Max Cinnamon, Branimir Mihaljević 110 10 Out
12 Romania Roxen “Amnesia” English · Adelina Stîngă, Victor Bouroșu 85 13 Out
13 Slovenia Ana Soklič “Amen” English · Charlie Mason, Žiga Pirnat, Bojan Simončič, Ana Soklič 44 2 Out
14 Australia Montaigne “Technicolour” English · Jess Cerro, Dave Hammer 28 5 Out
15 North Macedonia Vasil “Here I Stand” English · Vasil Garvanliev, Davor Jordanovski, Borče Kuzmanovski 23 6 Out
16 Ireland Lesley Roy “Maps” English · Emelie Eriksson, Lukas Hällgren, Lesley Roy, Philip Strand 20 7 Out

Second semi-final Thursday, 20 May 2021 · 17 songs, 10 went through

Place Country Artist Song Points Sang Then
1 Switzerland Gjon's Tears “Tout l'univers” French · Wouter Hardy, Xavier Michel, Gjon Muharremaj, Nina Sampermans 291 16 Through: 3rd in the final
2 Iceland Daði og Gagnamagnið “10 Years” English · Daði Freyr Pétursson 288 8 Through: 4th in the final
3 Bulgaria Victoria “Growing Up Is Getting Old” English · Oliver Björkvall, Victoria Georgieva, Helena Larsson, Maya Nalani 250 13 Through: 11th in the final
4 Portugal The Black Mamba “Love Is on My Side” English · Pedro "Tatanka" Caldeira 239 12 Through: 12th in the final
5 Finland Blind Channel “Dark Side” English · Joel Hokka, Aleksi Kaunisvesi, Olli Matela, Niko Moilanen, Joonas Porko 234 14 Through: 6th in the final
6 Greece Stefania “Last Dance” English · Arcade, Dimitris Kontopoulos, Sharon Vaughn 184 4 Through: 10th in the final
7 Moldova Natalia Gordienko “Sugar” English · Mikhail Gutseriev, Philipp Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos, Sharon Vaughn 179 7 Through: 13th in the final
8 Serbia Hurricane “Loco loco” Serbian · Nemanja Antonić, Darko Dimitrov, Sanja Vučić 124 9 Through: 15th in the final
9 San Marino Senhit “Adrenalina” English · Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Tramar Dillard, Suzi Pancenkov, Malou Linn Eloise Ruotsalainen, Kenny Silverdique, Thomas Stengaard, Jimmy "Joker" Thörnfeldt, Chanel Tukia, Senhit Zadik Zadik 118 1 Through: 22nd in the final
10 Albania Anxhela Peristeri “Karma” Albanian · Kledi Bahiti, Olti Curri 112 11 Through: 21st in the final
11 Denmark Fyr og Flamme “Øve os på hinanden” Danish · Laurits Emanuel 89 17 Out
12 Austria Vincent Bueno “Amen” English · Tobias Carshey, Ashley Hicklin, Jonas Thander 66 5 Out
13 Estonia Uku Suviste “The Lucky One” English · Uku Suviste, Sharon Vaughn 58 2 Out
14 Poland Rafał “The Ride” English · Thomas Karlsson, Johan Mauritzson, Joakim Övrenius, Clara Rubensson 35 6 Out
15 Czech Republic Benny Cristo “Omaga” English · Ben da Silva Cristóvão, Filip Vlček 23 3 Out
16 Georgia Tornike Kipiani “You” English · Tornike Kipiani 16 10 Out
17 Latvia Samanta Tīna “The Moon Is Rising” English · Aminata Savadogo, Samanta Tīna, Oskars Uhaņs 14 15 Out

Who showed it, and who talked over it

The channels that carried the contest in 45 countries, with the commentator where our source names one.

  • Albania

    • RTSH, RTSH Muzikë, Radio Tirana Andri Xhahu

  • Australia

    • SBS Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey

  • Austria

    • ORF 1 Andi Knoll

  • Azerbaijan

    • İTV Murad Arif and Husniyya Maharramova

  • Belgium

    • één Peter Van de Veire
    • Ketnet Dutch audio description
    • Radio 2 (final) Anja Daems and Showbizz Bart
    • La Une, RTBF Auvio Jean-Louis Lahaye and Fanny Jandrain
    • VivaCité (semi-final 1 and final) Jean-Louis Lahaye and Fanny Jandrain

  • Bulgaria

    • BNT 1, BNT 4 Elena Rosberg and Petko Kralev

  • Croatia

    • HRT 1 Duško Ćurlić
    • HR 2 (final)

  • Cyprus

    • RIK 1, RIK HD, RIK Sat Louis Patsalides

  • Czech Republic

    • ČT2 (semi-finals) Jan Maxián and Albert Černý
    • ČT1 (final) Jan Maxián and Albert Černý

  • Denmark

    • DR1 Henrik Milling and Nicolai Molbech

  • Estonia

    • ETV Marko Reikop
    • ETV+ Aleksandr Hobotov and Julia Kalenda
    • ERR Sign language: Various interpreters

  • Finland

    • Yle TV1 Finnish: Mikko Silvennoinen, Swedish: Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos, Russian: Levan Tvaltvadze
    • Yle Radio Suomi Sanna Pirkkalainen and Toni Laaksonen
    • Yle X3M Eva Frantz and Johan Lindroos

  • France

    • Culturebox (semi-finals) Laurence Boccolini
    • France 2 (final) Stéphane Bern and Laurence Boccolini

  • Georgia

    • 1TV Nika Lobiladze

  • Germany

    • One Peter Urban
    • Das Erste, Deutsche Welle (final) Peter Urban

  • Greece

    • ERT1 Maria Kozakou and Giorgos Kapoutzidis
    • Deftero Programma, Voice of Greece Dimitris Meidanis
    • Deftero Programma, Voice of Greece (final) Giorgos Katsaros

  • Iceland

    • RÚV Gísli Marteinn Baldursson
    • RUV.is Alex Elliott
    • RÚV 2 (semi-finals) Alex Elliott
    • RÚV 2 (final) Sign language: Elsa G. Björnsdóttir
    • Rás 2 (semi-final 2 and final)

  • Ireland

    • RTÉ2 (semi-finals) Marty Whelan
    • RTÉ One (final) Marty Whelan
    • RTÉ Radio 1 (semi-final 1) Neil Doherty and Zbyszek Zalinski
    • RTÉ 2fm (final) Neil Doherty and Zbyszek Zalinski

  • Israel

    • Kan 11, Kan Educational, Kan Tarbut Asaf Liberman and Akiva Novick

  • Italy

    • Rai 4, Rai Radio 2 (semi-finals) Ema Stokholma and Saverio Raimondo
    • Rai 1 (final) Gabriele Corsi and Cristiano Malgioglio
    • Rai Radio 2 (final) Ema Stokholma and Gino Castaldo

  • Latvia

    • LTV1 (semi-finals) Toms Grēviņš
    • LTV1 (final) Toms Grēviņš and Marie N

  • Lithuania

    • LRT televizija, LRT Radijas Ramūnas Zilnys

  • Malta

    • TVM

  • Moldova

    • Moldova 1, Radio Moldova Doina Stimpovschi

  • Netherlands

    • NPO 1, BVN Cornald Maas and Sander Lantinga
    • NPO 1 Extra Sign language: Various interpreters
    • NPO Zappelin Extra Dutch audio description
    • NPO Radio 2 (final) Wouter van der Goes and Frank van 't Hof

  • North Macedonia

    • MRT 1, MRT 2 Eli Tanaskovska

  • Norway

    • NRK1 Marte Stokstad
    • NRK3 (final) Martin Lepperød and Adelina Ibishi
    • NRK P1 (final) Ole-Christian Øen

  • Poland

    • TVP1, TVP Polonia Marek Sierocki and Aleksander Sikora

  • Portugal

    • RTP1, RTP Internacional, RTP África José Carlos Malato and Nuno Galopim

  • Romania

    • TVR 1, TVRi Bogdan Stănescu

  • Russia

    • Channel One Yana Churikova and Yuri Aksyuta

  • San Marino

    • San Marino RTV, Radio San Marino Lia Fiorio and Gigi Restivo

  • Serbia

    • RTS 1, RTS Planeta, RTS Svet Duška Vučinić
    • Radio Belgrade 1 (final) Katarina Epštajn and Nikoleta Dojčinović

  • Slovenia

    • TV SLO 2 (semi-finals) Mojca Mavec
    • TV SLO 1 (final) Mojca Mavec
    • RTV 4D, Radio Val 202 Miha Šalehar, Neja Jerant and Uršula Zaletelj

  • Spain

    • La 2 (semi-finals) Tony Aguilar, Julia Varela and Víctor Escudero
    • La 1, TVE Internacional (final) Tony Aguilar, Julia Varela and Víctor Escudero
    • Radio Nacional, Radio Exterior, Radio 5 (final) Imanol Durán

  • Sweden

    • SVT1 Edward af Sillén and Christer Björkman
    • SR P4 Carolina Norén

  • Switzerland

    • SRF zwei (semi-finals) Sven Epiney
    • SRF 1 (final) Sven Epiney
    • RTS 2 (semi-finals) Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner
    • RTS 1 (final) Jean-Marc Richard, Nicolas Tanner and Joseph Gorgoni
    • RSI La 2 (semi-final 2) Clarissa Tami
    • RSI La 1 (final) Clarissa Tami and Sebalter

  • Ukraine

    • UA:First Timur Miroshnychenko
    • UA:Ukrainian Radio (final) Olena Zelinchenko
    • UA:Radio Promin (final) Anna Zakletska and Dmytro Zakharchenko
    • STB Serhiy Prytula

  • United Kingdom

    • BBC Four (semi-finals) Scott Mills, Sara Cox and Chelcee Grimes
    • BBC One (final) Graham Norton
    • BBC Radio 2 (final) Ken Bruce

Also shown in

  • Canada

    • Omni Television

  • Kazakhstan

    • Khabar TV Kaldybek Zhajsanbaj and Mahabbat Esen

  • Kosovo

    • RTK

  • Slovakia

    • Rádio FM (final) Daniel Baláž, Lucia Haverlík, Pavol Hubinák and Juraj Malíček

  • Suriname

    • ATV (final)

  • United States

    • Peacock
    • WJFD-FM (final) Ewan Spence and Ross Middleton

Results as published by the European Broadcasting Union. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.