"With the same 41 countries that would have sung in Rotterdam last May participating again in 2021, the Reference Group of the Eurovision Song Contest has agreed not to proceed with a new Allocation Draw in January. That means all the countries drawn to perform in Semi-Finals 1 and 2 this year will remain in the same show for Rotterdam 2021", the press release read.
Russia, which was supposed to be represented by the internationally-renowned group Little Big in the 2020 competition, will participate in the first semi-final, which is scheduled to take place on 18 May.
The 2020 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In its place, the European Broadcasting Corporation aired a two-hour event showcasing the songs that had been chosen to compete at the canceled competition.
The Netherlands won the right to host the next edition of the Eurovision Song Contest after Duncan Laurence won the 2019 competition with the song "Arcade". Russia's Sergey Lazarev finished in third place.
