Since Netta Barzilai won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2018, the contest will be set up in Israel this year. In fact, in 2019 the contest will take place in Israel for the third time, once after 1979 and 1999, following the country’s victory with Netta Barzilai’s song “Toy”. So, what do we already know about this year’s Eurovision in Tel Aviv?
When will it take place? Who will present the shows? And most importantly, who will take part? If you a fan of this contest, it is probably the right time now to make your own personal music website and keep all the other music fans updated about everything that is going on around this event. Most of the participants will be announced during the following few weeks. So, let’s get to the details.
The fact is that there are only around 100 days left before the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv is aired. This year’s Eurovision will feature 42 songs from 42 countries. As we already mentioned, the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 takes place in Tel Aviv, Israel, and the dates are the following:
- Semi-final 1: 14th of May 2019
- Semi-final 2: 16th of May 2019
- Grand Final: 18th of May 2019
The arena is also selected – The Expo Tel Aviv, and the stage design has also been revealed; another masterpiece by the one and only Florian Wieder. You can find multiple pictures of the leaked stage design. The theme is expected to be triangles & stars. Ticket sales will begin mid to late February of 2019. The first tickets for the Eurovision Contest will be on sale. They will be released in batches depending on the allocation seats in the arena. However, the ticket sale has already been delayed several times.
Nevertheless, let’s get to the songs and artists.
So far only four countries are ready both with songs and artists selected for the Eurovison:
- Albania: Jonida Maliqi – “Ktheju Tokes”
- Czech Republic: the artist Lake Malawi with “Friend of a Friend”
- France: Bilal Hassani – “Roi”
- Spain: Miki – “La Venda”
Of the 42 contestants, nine countries have already chosen their artists but not yet their songs to send for Tel Aviv:
- Armenia: Srbuk
- Austria: Paenda (The proposed song “Limits” has not been released yet)
- Belgium: Eliot Vassamillet
- Cyprus: Tamta (The proposed song “Replay” has not been released yet)
- Finland: Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman
- Malta: Michela Pace
- Netherlands: Duncan Laurence
- North Macedonia: Tamara Todevska
- San Marino: Serhat
The preparations are at full speed in all of the 42 countries participating in Tel Aviv 2019. The national selections have peaked in a few weeks, and so far eight countries have already started their selections, shows, as well as competitions:
- Latvia, Supernova: The 2 semi-finals have already finished. Final is expected to be on 16th of February
- Sweden, Melodifestivalen: The first show took place on 2nd of February. 5 more shows to go.
- Estonia, Eesti Laul: The 2 semi-finals have already finished. The final is on 16th of February
- Lithuani, Eurovizija: 4 shows out of 7 have been aired
- Hungary, A Dal: 3 shows out of 6 have already taken place
- Romania, Selectia Nationala: The first semi-final has already been aired
- Moldova, O melodie pentru Europa: 10 finalists have been selected for the final in March.
In addition to these countries, many other contestants have been revealed for their national selection. So far, we know that:
- 5 countries will select their entry the following week – including Australia, Italy, Montenegro, Poland and The United Kingdom
- By the end of February, 16 countries will select their entry for the contest
- 7 countries will select their entry in March.
The biggest Eurovision selection days will be the two Saturdays – 16th of February and 23rd of February, each with four countries selecting. Still there are a few countries who still haven’t announced their national selection process. Nevertheless, the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 will be a wonderful show that we must all watch!