A total of 26 contestants from the 2020 contest returned with new songs to represent their nation in 2021.
Returning participants include:
Montaigne (Australia)
Vincent Bueno (Austria)
Efendi (Azerbaijan)
Hooverphonic (Belgium)*
VICTORIA (Bulgaria)
Benny Cristo (Czech Republic)
Uku Suviste (Estonia)
Tornike Kipiani (Georgia)
Stefania (Greece)
Daði og Gagnamagnið (Iceland)
Lesley Roy (Ireland)
Eden Alene (Israel)
Samanta Tīna (Latvia)
The Roop (Lithuania)
Destiny (Malta)
Natalia Gordienko (Moldova)
Jeangu Macrooy (Netherlands)
Vasil (North Macedonia)
ROXEN (Romania)
Senhit (San Marino)
Hurricane (Serbia)
Ana Soklič (Slovenia)
Blas Cantó (Spain)
Gjon's Tears (Switzerland)
Go_A (Ukraine)
James Newman (United Kingdom)
*While Hooverphonic returned in 2021, the band’s line-up was not the same. The lead signer in 2020 would have been Luka Cruysberghs. But in 2021, one of the band’s original lead vocalists, Geike Arnaert, returned.
[Sources]
Participants of Rotterdam 2020, Eurovision.tv (archived).
Participants of Rotterdam 2021, Eurovision.tv.
Participants of Rotterdam 2020: Hooverphonic, Eurovision.tv (archived).
Participants of Rotterdam 2021: Hooverphonic, Eurovision.tv.
‘Belgium: Hooverphonic replace lead singer ahead of Eurovision 2021,’ Eurovisionworld.com.
Month of LGBTQIA+ Eurovision contestants: Lesley Roy (13/30)
You have so many great friends and you get along with almost everyone but you are living behind a mask of music and humour to hide your insecurities about being gay. I wish I could tell you that soon it will make sense, you will be able to tell everyone your story and truth, just hang on in there a few more years.
just learned that the person who sang the theme song for mtv's exiled is the same person who represented ireland at eurovision in 2021 need time to process this information
It was you and me against the world
And you promised me forever more
Was it something that I said?
Was it something that I did?
'Cause I gotta know what made me unbeautiful
Made me unbeautiful
I like think David and Rowan met briefly as kids. Just the once on some kind of bring your kid to work day. They only made eye contact. Brief enough they don't remember it when they meet again later but... Idk I just think its a nice thought.
In 2021, the performance for Ireland in the first Semi-Final was delayed substantially. This lead to audience members seeing more of presenter Chantal Janzen than even Chantal expected!
The postcard for Ireland played after a brief interaction with some of the perfomers, but when the cameras cut back to the stage, the ID for Ireland's song never appeared. Instead, the camera held on the dark stage for a moment before cutting to Chantal. Chantal spoke about the Eurovision app, and how nice it was to have people back in a stadium to watch the contest.
Eventually, Ireland went on to perform, and it was revealed that the delay was the result of a camera breaking.
[Sources]
'🇮🇪 Ireland: Camera breaking prior to performance was the cause of delay,' escxtra.com.
Participants of Rotterdam 2021: Lesley Roy, Eurovision.tv.
Eurovision Song Contest 2021 - First Semi-Final - Live Stream 00:37:00-00:39:07, YouTube.com.
It was you and me against the world
And you promised me forever more
Was it something that I said?
Was it something that I did?
'Cause I gotta know what made me unbeautiful