Duncan Laurence has been forced to pull out of a planned performance during Saturday's Eurovision final after testing positive for COVID-19.
The 27-year-old, who won the contest for the Netherlands in 2019 with 'Arcade', had already made an appearance during Tuesday's first semi-final and was in line to perform his winning track at the top of the grand final.
In a statement, the European Broadcasting Union said: "Duncan Laurence, winner of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest for the Netherlands and was scheduled to perform live during Saturday's Grand Final, has tested positive for COVID-19, his management and the Host Broadcaster have confirmed.
"Duncan has mild symptoms. Because of the 7 day minimum isolation period, Duncan will not be able to perform live in the Ahoy venue in Rotterdam, but will still feature in the show in a different form.
"Last Monday, Duncan tested negative in the Eurovision Test Pavilion, which granted him access to the venue for his performance in the first Semi-Final. On Wednesday, he showed mild symptoms and then unfortunately delivered a positive result in a rapid antigen test."
Sietse Bakker, executive producer of Eurovision, said: "We are of course disappointed, first of all for Duncan, who deserves a live performance on our very own Eurovision stage after his 2019 victory and the worldwide success of Arcade.
"We couldn't be more proud of his opening act for the first Semi-Final. Of course we wish Duncan a speedy recovery!"
A statement from Laurence's management added: "Duncan is very disappointed, he has been looking forward to this for two years. We are very happy that he will still be seen in the final on Saturday, May 22."
The news comes a day after Iceland's Dadi Freyr and Gagnamagnid were forced to pull out of the live shows after one of the group tested positive for the disease.
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— Duncan Laurence (@dunclaurence) May 20, 2021
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