The 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Israel: What a Great Party!

And the winner is: Duncan Laurence, with 'Arcade', for the Netherlands!

The dramatic love song gained more and more popularity as the competition proceeded, and eventually swept everyone away.

Watch Duncan's powerful performance at the Grand Final:

Grand Final Update:

There were lot's of great act in the Grand Final while the votes were being counted. My favorite was the switch song:

182 million people watched the Grand Final of the 2019 Tel Aviv Eurovision Song contest.
The voting was, as always, split between the professional juries in each participating country, and the televoters at home.

The final points are:

Netherlands (498 points)
Italy (472 points)
Russia (370 points)
Switzerland (364 points)
Sweden (334 points)
Norway (331 points)
North Macedonia (305 points)
Azerbaijan (302 points)
Australia (284 points)
Iceland (232 points)
Czech Republic (157 points)
Denmark (120 points)
Cyprus (109 points)
Malta (107 points)
Slovenia (105 points)
France (105 points)
Albania (90 points)
Serbia (89 points)
San Marino (77 points)
Estonia (76 points)
Greece (74 points)
Spain (54 points)
Israel (35 points)
Belarus (31 points)
Germany (24 points)
United Kingdom (11 points)

The mid-show performance, while the juries are out

While we waited for the votes and for Madonna (well, we still love her), we also got this beautiful re-make of Halleluja:

Second Semi-Final Update: Shalva Band Steals the Show

While the Second Semi Final had lot's of strong competitors with amazing acts, the one that stole everyone's heart, was, without a doubt, the incredibly beautiful performance by Shalva Band.

You have got to hear this:

The Qualifiers for the Second Semi-Finals are:

Switzerland.
Denmark
Sweden
Malta
Russia
Albania
Norway
The Netherlands
North Macedonia
Azerbaijan

The Eurovision contestants in the Green Room

At the green room, while the points are coming in

First Semi-Final Update:

Eurovision 2019 opening Act - Netta Barzilai, last year's winner, kicked things off

Your hosts for the contest are: (left to right) Assi Azar, Lucy Ayoub, Bar Refaeli and Erez Tal

The first Semi-Final of the 2019 started off in in an incredible show!

...and the first 10 countries that made it to the Final are:

Greece
Belarus
Serbia
Cyprus
Estonia
Czech Republic
Australia
Iceland
San Marino
Slovenia

An emerging favorite that's making everyone excited are the Zero Gravity Girls from Australia:

In case you missed it, here are the highlights from the first semi-final in Tel Aviv:

Give a big round of applause for Israel's contender: Kobi Marimi - Home

After the huge show last year, this time we went for a touching balade.

Kobi has a great voice and a great story - maybe he'll bring it home for us for a second time?

Here's the official video:

The Orange Carpet - Time to Meet The Delegations!

For the opening ceremony at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, the red carpet has turned orange in honor of the main sponsor of the 2019 Eurovision Song contest, MyHeritage.

In best Eurovision tradition, the contenders put on a great show:

At the Orange Carpet event - Team Iceland

Iceland - Hatrið mun sigra, Hatari

France - Roi, Bilal Hasani

The Hosts

Netta Barzilai, amazing as always

This year's Israeli contender, Kobi Marimi, in an inevitable selfie

Maddona in the Eurovision 2019 songcontest

April 2019 Update:

It's official! Madonna will sing two songs on the 2019 Eurovision.

Another super-woman will make an appearance as well: Gal Gadot is coming home for the event.

Netta Barzilai, Eurovision Song Contest Winner 2018

Israel is getting ready to host the Eurovision Song Contest for the third time, and wow is it not-boring already!

Last year Netta Barzilai won with the song "Toy", and we thought - the Eurovision is coming back to Jerusalem!
Well, almost.

Eurovision Logistics

Dare to Dream - Eurovision song contest 2019, Tel Aviv

It's been 20 years since we've done this, and after months of clashes revolving around politics, money, religion and ego, it was finally announced that the Holy City doesn't have a venue big enough to host the Euro Village, and therefore...

The honor is passed on to Tel Aviv, the decidedly un-holy city of beach, fun and hightech, and IMO, possibly the most appropriate city in the world to host this celebration.

Bonus: There will be public transportation on Shabbat (Saturday) in Tel Aviv, which was another no-go when they tried to have it in Jerusalem.

Useful 2019 Eurovision Links and Info

Here are the must-haves:

Official Eurovision website
How to buy tickets
Apply for accreditation
A very good source for up-to-date information on where to stay and where to party, is the TLV version of Timeout Magazine
If you read Hebrew there's interesting stuff at the Israeli Broadcasting Service official page for the 2019 song contest.

Where Will the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest Take Place?

The venue chosen is Pavilion 2 at the Tel Aviv Expo (Ganei Hataarucha), at the north edge of the city.

Where Will the Euro Village Be?

The Village will set up in Charles Clore Park, between Tel Aviv and Old Jaffa.

It's going to be huge, with two solid weeks of events to entertain 10,000 people or more.

This park is on the southern end of Tel Aviv, but just to give you an idea about the size of the city, you could walk the whole of it on foot, from north to south, in an hour and a half or so.

When is it Happening?

The semi-finals are set for May 14^th and May 16^th.

The Final will be on May 18^th.

The Tel-Aviv Pride week events will be set to coincide with the song contest.

How Many Times Did Israel Win The Eurovision?

Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta, Eurovision winners 1978

Israel won the Eurovision Song Contest four times:

1978 - Abanibi, 1979 - Hallelujah, 1998 - Diva, and 2018 - Toy

The first and second wins happened on consecutive years, and the Israeli broadcasting service declined to host the contest a second year in a row, which is why this is only the third time we're hosting.

And The Winners Are: (Click to see the videos and stories!)