December 09 ➡️ the latest #Eurovision headlines from Czech Republic, Russia, Israel and more…

POLAND – Gliwice has become the first city to put itself forward to host the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The Member of Parliament for Gliwice Jarosław Gonciarz, has written to president of TVP, Jacek Kurski proposing that his city play host to next years Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

“The city of Gliwice has a modern, recently built show and sports hall with a total capacity of 17,000 seats. Arena Gliwice is one of the most modern facilities in our country. Its location guarantees free access from anywhere in the country. On behalf of myself and residents, I am asking you to take Gliwice Arena into consideration as a place for organizing the next year’s Eurovision for Children.”

THE NETHERLANDS – Eurovision in Concert has confirmed that the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest winner Nicole as the Special Guest in the 11th edition of the Concert.

KAZAKHSTAN – The Khabar Agency have revealed that a total of 132,000 viewers tuned in to watch Kazakhstan make their Junior Eurovision debut, giving them a market share of between 8.3% and 10.3%.

UKRAINE – Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC have revealed that a total of 2.5 million people tuned in to watch Darina Krasnovestka give Ukraine another top 5 placing. This gave Ukraine a total market share of 2.23%, which is double what it was for the 2017 contest in Georgia.

WALES – The Welsh broadcaster S4C have revealed that a total of 20,342 people watched Wales take to the Junior Eurovision stage for the first time. It was the 9th most watched programme on S4C for that week, and the second most watched programme for that weekend, being beaten by the Rugby on the Sunday.

EBU – EBU Members have elected a new Executive Board to lead the EBU for the next two years, from January 2019. Nine public service media executives from across Europe will join President Tony Hall (BBC) and Vice-President Delphine Ernotte Cunci (France Télévisions) on the Board. The Executive Board were elected by Members at the EBU’s General Assembly in Geneva. The Board is responsible for ensuring the implementation of the EBU’s strategy and policies. The Board will serve for a 2-year period from January 2019 to December 2020.

President: Tony Hall, Director General, BBC (UK)
Vice-President: Delphine Ernotte Cunci, CEO, France Télévisions (France)
Cilla Benkö, Director General, SR (Sweden)
Petr Dvořák, Director General, CT (Czech Republic)
Ibrahim Eren, Chairman and Director General, TRT (Turkey)
Marcello Foa, President, Rai (Italy)
Giacomo Ghisani, Acting Director General, Legal Representative, RV (Vatican State)
Gilles Marchand, Director General, SRG SSR (Switzerland)
Sergei Pavlov, Director of International Relations, Member of the Board of Directors, Channel One (Russia)
Gonçalo Reis, President and CEO, RTP (Portugal)
Ulrich Wilhelm, Director General, ARD/BR (Germany)

RUSSIA – Philipp Kirkorov, at the request of journalists has estimated possible chances of popular Russian singer Olga Buzova at the Eurovision 2019. When asked by journalists whether the ‘pop king’ is ready to assist Olga in participation in the contest, Philipp replied: “Let’s first see if she gets chosen. I am used to act step by step. But why not?”

CZECH REPUBLIC – Kryštof Šámal, head of Press in the Czech Republic’s Eurovision delegation, has revealed that the participants for the 2019 edition of their Eurovision national final, ESCZ, will be unveiled on January 7th. The announcement will take place during a press conference for the show! Last year, Mikolas Josef won both the online vote and the international jury vote in a dominant victory!

BELGIUM – Three years on from his success at Eurovision 2015, Loïc is currently promoting his latest single, “On Fire”. During an interview with Belgian radio and TV presenter Peter Van de Veire, he was asked the most common question put to past Eurovision participants: Would you ever compete at the contest again? To the delight of his army of fans across Europe, he didn’t rule it out.

“Gosh? In a few years? Why not?” may not be the most enthusiastic response we’ve seen from a potential returning artist, but it’s far from a resounding no. Loïc certainly would not be the first returning fan favourite we’ve seen at Eurovision. Plus, having seen the positive impact of the contest on his career, there’s certainly an incentive there.

CYPRUS – Eurovision 2019 hint is the word “Replay”…suggesting an upbeat banger.

RUSSIA – Last night Russia held the annual Russian National Music Awards, now also dubbed the Victoria Awards, and the audience and nominations list was filled with Eurovision stars. The nominees included Sergey Lazerev, Philipp Kirkorov, Loboda, Elena Temnikova, Polina Gagarina and Ani Lorak. Among these esteemed Eurovision alums, only Philipp Kirkorov and Loboda secured awards.

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Eurovision 2019 🇮🇱 Tel Aviv prepares sprawling compound for a once-in-a-lifetime show

JPOST.COM REPORTS / ISRAEL – On any given week, the Expo Tel Aviv convention center could be hosting close to a dozen events. From conferences to concerts, exhibitions and trade fairs, the 45,000-sq.m. complex of indoor and outdoor spaces is almost always bustling with activity.

But for almost a month next spring, the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds’ convention center will be closed off as it prepares for an event the likes of which the country has never seen before: Eurovision 2019.

In less than six months, the Eurovision Song Contest will kick off in Tel Aviv, with a week of events, rehearsals, shows and activities. Participants from 42 countries, hundreds of journalists, thousands of tourists and enough sequins to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool are expected to converge on the city.

“On March 24 we’re handing over Pavilion 2 to the production,” said Iris Mazel, the vice president of sales and marketing at Expo Tel Aviv, during a tour of the site this week. “They have to set up the stage and the seats and everything. Then from the end of April we are giving them pavilions 1 and then 11, 12, 13 and 14.”

The Eurovision production team has yet to finalize the plans for all of the spaces and pavilions. Expo Tel Aviv is working closely with the KAN public broadcaster, representatives of the Tel Aviv Municipality and officials from the European Broadcasting Union as the show draws closer.

The 5,000-sq.m. Pavilion 1 is likely to hold the green room for the Eurovision contestants. Mazel said they will be building a tunnel between pavilions 1 and 2 – where the main show will take place – so participants can cross between the two without going outside. The other indoor spaces at the center will host the press, production teams and other necessities.

“It’ll be a very long period – it’s never been done before – where most of the convention center will be totally shut down for the event,” said Barak Kfir, a PR consultant for Expo Tel Aviv.

Mazel said they had to “move events that were supposed to be in the months of April and May – we moved them toward June or brought them earlier to March. Listen, we host the Eurovision once in 20 years, so we asked companies to cooperate with us.” Kfir added that hosting the Eurovision is “really a national effort,” and most companies understood the need to reschedule.

Of course, this isn’t Israel’s first time hosting the Eurovision; it was home to the 1979 and 1999 contests, which were both held in Jerusalem. But 2019 can’t begin to compare to those shows, which both had fewer than 25 countries participating and no semifinal rounds at all. Even officials at Expo Tel Aviv didn’t initially realize the scale of the production, which will spill out into six of the compound’s eight pavilions. They also plan to stage welcome cocktails on an open-air deck that can host more than a thousand people, and set up activities in outdoor spaces for excited fans who might not have tickets to all the shows.

While the entire Expo Tel Aviv will be dedicated to the Eurovision for close to a month, the big event, of course, will be taking place in Pavilion 2, which covers close to 6,500 sq.m. And the question of just how many seats will be available for the big shows is one that Expo Tel Aviv officials cannot yet answer.

“There will be a huge stage, and floor lighting, and cameras,” said Mazel. So while the convention center told KAN and the EBU that the space is able to hold close to 9,000 people, the final figure is likely to be closer to 7,000 seats.

Around 15,000 tickets were sold to the 2018 Eurovision in Lisbon, and the 2017 show in Kiev was hosted in an 11,000-seat arena.

But while the three live shows – two semi-finals and the grand finale – are the big attractions, there are actually nine shows held throughout the week. Before each live show there is both a dress rehearsal and a show for the jury, for which tickets are also generally sold.

While the show is still six months away, EBU officials have already visited Expo Tel Aviv several times: “They are very professional, very organized and they know exactly what they want,” said Mazel. And last week, she – together with a Tel Aviv Municipality delegation – paid a visit to Stockholm to get a better feel for the Eurovision.
“Sweden won six times… they have a lot of experience on how to manage it, what to do with it, what to expect, how to prepare for the journalists and how to prepare for the crowd,” said Mazel.

And while KAN and EBU will be organizing most of the production, Expo Tel Aviv will be working hand in hand in terms of maintenance, communication and coordination – to ensure a smooth and successful 2019 Eurovision.

“All the exposure you can bring to Israel,” said Mazel, “as far as I’m concerned, is incredible.”

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Albania 2019 🇦🇱 listen to Festivali i Këngës snippets and vote

Festivali i Këngës is a major Albanian song contest, organised by the Albanian national broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH). Various singing presentations have been used throughout its history, beginning with radio-only performances in the first few years, live interpretation, playback, remakes and even duets featuring other singers. The winners have traditionally been selected by a jury. However, other voting methods have also been applied, such as televoting or regional juries. At times, the head juror has carried twice the voting power of other jurors. Since 2003 it has been used to select Albania’s entry for the international Eurovision Song Contest.

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December 08 ➡️ the latest #Eurovision headlines

NORWAY – Kåre Magnus Bergh and Heidi Ruud Ellingsen will be hosting Norwegian MGP Final in Oslo Spektrum on March 2nd next year. Artists and songs which will be competing in MPG 2019 will be presented at a press conference on 25 January. Tickets for the show will go on sale tomorrow at 10am local time.

ARMENIA – Representative of Armenia at the Eurovision 2019 Srbuk has spoken to News.am Style: “In recent years, I have been thinking about the Eurovision participation and my desire has increased when I participated in the “Voice of Ukraine” project last year… The song I will compete with should first of all be a hit, memorable and comply with my characteristic features. The next steps would be overloaded work, endless vocal lessons, experiments, shootings…

ITALY – According to Chi magazine, 1987 Eurovision entrants Raf & Umberto Tozzi will be joining the line up of 2019 Sanremo Festival. Mia Martini’s sister, Loredana Bertè is also tipped for the line up. Claudio Bisio and Virginia Raffaele will join the main host, Claudio Baglioni who’s also thee artistic director of the festival.

AUSTRALIA – SBS has refused to bow to demands from protesters to boycott Eurovision in Israel next year and has threatened to sue them for appropriating the broadcaster’s branding.

ISRAEL – KAN has today been approved as a full member of the European Broadcasting Union by its General Assembly. KAN also known as IPBC has been a pending member of the European Broadcasting Union since it was formed in 2017. Lacking full membership of the EBU meant that the broadcaster had to receive dispensation from the EBU to participate in Eurovision events such as the Eurovision Song Contest which it won earlier this year in Lisbon, Portugal.

ITALY – Music videos for the finalists of Sanremo Giovani have been released. They can be seen here: http://www.rai.it/programmi/sanremo/ContentSet-8871345b-d910-4043-b2e3-5a3d98b0af24.html?fbclid=IwAR0Ubxz176zOF6ijURj3q8G8WUPxUuz7Qzn3o_swmtQUFM5dNgthstkUYKE

LITHUANIA – Monika Marija confirms her participation in the Eurovision selection. This year, she won the fifth Lithuanian Voice Series, was chosen as the “Schlager Queen of the Year”, has organized two successful tours in Lithuania and has just released the fourth song this year, which will be included in her album coming up in December – Monika Marija seems unstoppable. Now she has confirmed her Eurovision participation.

ESTONIA – Sahlene wanted to compete with the song co-written by Swedish songwriter Linnea Deb and produced by Estonian Oliver “Ollie” Mazurtšak. “Unfortunately, the Eesti Laul preselection jury didn’t want me to take part this time, but in the coming year I will definitely try my luck again, “said Sahlene.

CZECH REPUBLIC – It seems that there is full denial that rapper PTK will be representing the country in Eurovision 2019 and we have to wait for the developments.

THE NETHERLANDS – The winner of The Voice of Holland, Jim van der Zee, has been asked to write a song for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. He confirmed the rumours on Shownieuws when asked about the topic. He soon confirmed that AVROTROS had indeed asked him to compose a song for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. Jim van der Zee then indeed sent them a song, under the title “I Do Believe It’s Time”. Interestingly though, the Dutch broadcaster has not replied to Jim as of yet.

RUSSIA – According Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK), the artist announcement is not expected anytime soon. “Most likely it will be made in the late January or early February”.

UNITED KINGDOM – Despite numerous requests from fandom to participate in Tel Aviv, SuRie has confirmed that she will not be involved next year.

ISRAEL – Next Star’s fifth show ended and we have the following qualifications

Noar Cohen – 85%
Na’ama Gali Cohen – 75%
Limor Oved – 91%
Julia Garnits – 59% (qualified by the hosts)
Romi Azar – 55% (qualified by the hosts)

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Eurovision 2019 🇮🇱 Erez Tal and Bar Refaeli are reported to be the hosts

ISRAEL – According to YNET.com, Erez Tal and Bar Refaeli are the two names proposed to the EBU’s reference group for approval, to host the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest.

Erez Tal and Bar Refaeli are reporter to be the hosts of the main event while Green Room will be hosted by KAN personality Lucy Ayoub with potential co-hosting by Assi Azar, presenter of Hakochav HaBa.

Source told to YNET.com said: “It was very important for KAN CEO Eldad Koblenz to include someone from the broadcaster as the main host, but he understood that for the benefit of the quality of the show which aims to strengthen public relations of Israel and Europe, he has to sacrifice his idea”

Stay tuned for developments and confirmations

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France 2019 🇫🇷 Destination Eurovision line up revealed

FRANCE – French national broadcaster announced in a press conference the participants for 2019 Destination Eurovision. 18 acts will compete in the two semi finals, accompanied by the comments of the expert panel made of: Vitaa, André Manoukian and Christophe Wille. Garu will be hosting the three live shows. Snippets of the songs will be released on 20/12

THE PARTICIPANTS
Florina – “In The Shadows”
Aysat – “Comme Une Grande” (Like a Grown-up)
Ugo – “Ce Qui Me Blesse” (What Hurts Me)
Chimène Badi – “La Haut” (Up There)
Silvàn Areg – “Le Petit Nicolas”
Gabriella – “On Cherche Encore” (Never Get Enough)
Doutson – “Sois Un Bon Fils” (Be A Good Son)
Seemone – “Tous Les Deux” (The Both Of Us)
The Divaz – “La Voix d’Aretha” (Aretha’s Voice)
Emmanuel Moire – “La Promesse” (The Promise)
Tracy de Sà – “Por Aqui”
Battista Acquaviva – Passio
Lautner – “J’ai Pas Le Temps” (I Don’t Have The Time)
Philipelise – “Madame La Paix” (Madam Peace)
Bilal Hassani – “Roi” (King)
Mazy – “Oulala”
Noémie – “Ma Petite Famille” (My Little Family)
Naestro – “Le Brasier”

DETAILS ABOUT THE VOTING
Televoting will be used for all three of the shows. The vote will be a 50/50 split between jury and televoting. Four songs will go through each semi-final, giving eight songs for the final. The international jury will consist of 20 countries – five countries for semi-final 1, another five for semi-final 2 and ten more for the final.

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Montenegro 2019 🇲🇪 RTCG re examines the submission procedure due to their mistake

ESCKAZ.COM REPORTS / MONTENEGRO – RTCG committee will re-examine submitted entries

By examining the Public Call for the selection of the Montenegrin representative for the Eurovision 2019, the selection committee found a mistake in the administrative procedure of announcement of the contest in English language, after which the validity of the Public Call was revised.

Based on the results of the audit, RTCG informs the public and interested sognwriters that the last day for applying for the competition was November 28, 2018.

Taking into account these circumstances, the selection committee will again carry out the complete procedure for the received material, which has been submitted by 28 November 2018 and will inform the public about the final number of valid applications in the shortest possible time.

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December 06 ➡️ the latest #Eurovision headlines

KOSOVO – Kosovo’s dream of being allowed to still compete at the Eurovision Song Contest has been shattered once more. An Albanian newspaper reports that EBU have decided to delay RTK’s membership vote until June 2019.

UKRAINE – The two times runner up in the Ukrainian selection for Eurovision, Tayanna, is considering a return to the show for the third time. This time she will try to win it with a song in the Ukrainian language.

CYPRUS – She is well known for producing some of the memorable stagings in recent years. This year, she was in charge of this years ‘Fuego’ which got a lot of Eurovision fans dancing to her choreography. Recent reports are suggesting Sacha Jean-Baptiste will once again be in charge of Cyprus’s staging in Tel Aviv after the success of ‘Fuego’ this year.

RUSSIA – On December 1st, all eyes in Russia turned to Pesnya goda — the prestigious Song of the Year Festival. Russia’s most popular and prominent pop stars worked the red carpet and the stage. Philipp Kirkorov wins four awards at this prestigious Russian festival.

AUSTRIA – With a support message to all Romanian bidders for Eurovision, Conchita seems to be chosen for the TVR’s international jury in Selecţia Naţională. International jury will be used only in the final of Selecţia Naţională.

SPAIN – Two first finalists of the season became known. Jury has selected to the final Natalia. Professors of the Academy have selected to the final Famous.

MONTENEGRO – 27 songs ultimately submitted to RTCG but only 10 are eligible. Now the expert jury will select the five which will compete in Montevizija, the live show through which the 2019 Eurovision entry and artist will be decided.

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Albania 2019 🇦🇱 First night’s order of Festivali i Këngës

ALBANIA – Albania will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The Albanian broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) will organise the national final Festivali i Këngës 57 in order to select the Albanian entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The Albanian national final will take place over 3 evenings this month (December 20, 21, 22). The first evening will see all 22 artists perform their song with an orchestra. However, on the second, the orchestra will be long gone. Instead, the artists will perform their song again but with various elements which will give the audience an idea as to how their entry would be staged at Eurovision.

01. Bojken Lako
02. Alar Band
03. Lidia Lufi
04. Kujtim Prodani
05. Gjergj Leka
06. Dilan Reka
07. Mirud
08. Soni Malaj
09. Jonida Maliqi
10. Elton Deda
11. Elona Islamaj
12. Klodiana Vata
13. Klint Çollaku
14. Artemisa Mithi dhe Febi Shkurti
15. Kelly
16. Bruno Pollogati
17. Marko Strazimiri dhe Imbro
18. Lorela Sejdini
19. Eliza Hoxha
20. Eranda Libohova
21. Aurel Thëllimi
22. Orgesa Zaimi

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