1 year ago

Dates: Semi-final 1: 14 May 2019 - Semi-final 2: 16 May 2019 - Final: 18 May 2019
Host venue: Expo Tel Aviv, Israel - Presenters: Erez Tal, Bar Refaeli, Assi Azar, Lucy Ayoub
Directed by Amir Ukrainitz, Sivan Magazanik - Executive supervisor: Jon Ola Sand
Executive producer: Zivit Davidovich - Host broadcaster: Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan)

The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following the country's victory at the 2018 contest with the song "Toy" by Netta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan), the contest was held at Expo Tel Aviv, and consisted of two semi-finals on 14 and 16 May, and a final on 18 May 2019. The three live shows were presented by Israeli television presenters Erez Tal, Assi Azar and Lucy Ayoub, and Israeli model Bar Refaeli.

Forty-one countries participated in the contest, with Bulgaria and Ukraine not returning after their participation in the previous edition. Bulgaria cited financial difficulties as the reason for its absence, while Ukraine, which had originally planned to participate, ultimately withdrew as a result of a controversy surrounding its national selection.

The winner was the Netherlands with the song "Arcade", performed by Duncan Laurence and written by Laurence along with Joel Sjöö, Wouter Hardy and Will Knox. Italy, Russia, Switzerland and Sweden rounded out the top five; due to a voting error, Norway was originally placed fifth, but placed sixth after a correction. The Netherlands won the combined vote, but placed third in the jury vote after North Macedonia and Sweden, and second in the televote after Norway. Further down the table, North Macedonia and San Marino achieved their best results to date, finishing seventh and 19th respectively.

The EBU reported that the contest had an audience of 182 million viewers in 40 European markets, a decrease of 4 million viewers from the previous edition. However, an increase of two percent in the 15–24 year old age range was reported.

The lead-up to the contest was met with controversy on multiple fronts, primarily on issues surrounding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict – this eventually led to demonstrations by interval act performer Madonna and Icelandic entrants Hatari during the broadcast of the final.

The EBU initially announced on 7 November 2018 that 42 countries would participate in the contest, with Bulgaria opting not to participate for financial reasons. Ukraine announced its withdrawal from the contest on 27 February 2019, thereby reducing the number of participating countries to 41.

On 6 March 2019, the EBU confirmed that North Macedonia would take part for the first time under its new name, instead of the previous name of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia which had been used since the country's debut in 1998.

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 16 May 2019 at 22:00 IDT (21:00 CEST). Eighteen countries participated in the second semi-final. Switzerland was pre-drawn into this semi-final due to scheduling issues. The Netherlands won the most points, followed by North Macedonia, Sweden, Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Russia, Norway, Malta, Albania and Denmark. The countries that failed to reach the final were Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Croatia, Latvia, Armenia, Austria and Ireland.All the countries competing in this semi-final were eligible to vote, plus Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.

The second semi-final included Shalva Band performing "A Million Dreams" and mentalist Lior Suchard as interval acts. The British, German and Italian artists were then interviewed, and clips of their competing songs were played.

Participants and results of the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

R/O Country Artist Song Points Place

1 Armenia Srbuk "Walking Out" 49 16
2 Ireland Sarah McTernan "22" 16 18
3 Moldova Anna Odobescu "Stay" 85 12
4 Switzerland Luca Hänni "She Got Me" 232 4
5 Latvia Carousel "That Night" 50 15
6 Romania Ester Peony "On a Sunday" 71 13
7 Denmark Leonora "Love Is Forever" 94 10
8 Sweden John Lundvik "Too Late for Love" 238 3
9 Austria Paenda "Limits" 21 17
10 Croatia Roko "The Dream" 64 14
11 Malta Michela "Chameleon" 157 8
12 Lithuania Jurij Veklenko "Run with the Lions" 93 11
13 Russia Sergey Lazarev "Scream" 217 6
14 Albania Jonida Maliqi "Ktheju tokës" 96 9
15 Norway Keiino "Spirit in the Sky" 210 7
16 Netherlands Duncan Laurence "Arcade" 280 1
17 North Macedonia Tamara Todevska "Proud" 239 2
18 Azerbaijan Chingiz "Truth" 224 5