Eurovision 2021: Malta and Romania acts forced to abandon Turquoise Carpet due to Covid-19 outbreak

Another two Eurovision 2021 acts have been forced to cancel appearances at tonight’s Turquoise Carpet due to an outbreak of coronavirus at their hotel.

The delegations of Malta and Romania will no longer be attending the opening ceremony.

Destiny Chukunyere, who is representing Malta at this year’s competition, was in tears over having to pull out of the event and shared their upset on social media.

Posting a selfie of her make-up running down her face, Destiny wrote: ‘This was my look for the Turquoise carpet and @eurovision opening this evening.

‘Unfortunately enough, due to Covid 19 restrictions and protocols I can’t participate as another case has been detected in our hotel 🥺.

‘I am safe but following protocols remains the priority.’

Destiny, 18, is set to represent Malta with her empowering song Je Me Casse, four years after competing on Britain’s Got Talent.

Roxen, who is flying the flag for Romania, has yet to comment.

The devastating blow comes just hours after Iceland’s delegation Daði Freyr revealed they will also miss out on the Turquoise Carpet after one of its members tested positive for coronavirus.

Even though it hasn’t been revealed whether it is a band member or someone else who is ill, they all now have to isolate to help stop the spread.

‘In accordance with our strict health and safety protocol this person has now gone into isolation and as a precautionary measure, the other members of their delegation will also now undergo a PCR test and self-isolate,’ a statement from Eurovision reads

‘Unfortunately, this means that the Icelandic delegation will now not attend the Turquoise Carpet event in person this afternoon (Sunday May 16).

‘We will have further updates in due course and send our best wishes to the whole delegation.’

The group was preparing to return to representing Iceland this year after being the hot favourite to win at Eurovision 2020 when his song Think About Things went viral.

All participating artists received a PCR test yesterday (Saturday 15 May) in preparation for their appearance on the carpet. All members of the Maltese and Romanian delegations will also now undergo a further PCR test.

As an extra safety measure, all delegations still attending the carpet will now arrive individually in private transport.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 is taking place this year in Rotterdam, with the full support and assistance of the Dutch authorities.

The contest is due to start on May 18, with the BBC taking on widespread coverage of the event.

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