[LMBTO] And so Eurovision 2019 will be held in...

Now for those who have been to Israel might still not be sure as this is Jerusalem Beach in Tel Aviv - see what I did there?  Until today, the process of who would be the host city for Eurovision 2019 had got down to its final stages - the venues of Eilat, Haifa, Beersheba, Masada and Petah Tikva had all been mentioned before and fallen by the wayside, some within days of being put forward, some until only recently in the case of Eilat, when not having a fully capable international airport for the suspected influx of fans/delegations nor a realistic venue in place spelt the end of their hopes.  So we were down to two choices:


Both have access to the same international airport:
Both have plenty of hotels for delegations and fans to stay, together with acceptable buildings to stage the Contest.  Now we all know that what the Israeli Government wanted was this to happen:
That was what Netta said at the end of her winner's acceptance speech in Lisbon.  That could have been viewed, however, as a saying that many of the Jewish faith exclaim as an aspiration towards an ideal, the last words of the traditional Passover Seder, the ritual feast that marks the beginning of that holiday.  It was latched upon by everybody who heard it that Jerusalem WAS the place for Eurovision 2019 to be held - the main group of people doing so was the Israeli government, fresh from the political bonus of the USA moving their embassy to the capital.  It seemed at one stage that nothing would stop this from happening - the mayor of Tel Aviv immediately pulled his city out of the race, probably more in a move to get brownie points politically.  There was even a song in the French NF that seemed to predict a link between 2018 and 2019:



However, two things changed that - the EBU require a bidding process where at least two cities are involved and therefore there couldn't be an unopposed coronation of Jerusalem.  The second involved football:
In the warm-up to the World Cup in Russia, Argentina had agreed to a friendly match with Israel.  Two stadia are used for Israel's home games, the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa and the Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem - this match was scheduled to be played in Haifa.  At a relatively late stage, the Culture Ministry swapped the venue to Jerusalem, expecting this to be another major event in the capital to further cement the fact that all big contests happened there from now on.  Due to the inconvenience of the move and threats to the Argentinian players from elements within the country, the match got postponed - that shook the Israeli government and it became obvious that other venues within Israel for Eurovision would have to be acceptable to them.  In a 360 degree about turn, Tel Aviv were now up for the Contest being held there, flagging up their more tolerant approach to the Sabbat than the orthodox Jewish community in the capital, their success in hosting events such as Israel Calling already and the fact that there was a wider range of accommodation and things to do there.  The mayor even sent the EBU a letter explaining this:
In the end, all of those factors appear to have mattered most to the EBU, who provided the following announcement at midday CET, 13th September 2018:



We are therefore going to:
A panoramic view of the city from the Yitzhak Rabin Center, an educational centre dedicated to Israeli history and the assassination of that prime minister.  That is about 1km away from where the 2019 Contest will be held:

It seats 10000 people in its central space and is one of the most modern conference centres in Israel.  Looks quite futuristic, doesn't it?  It is half the size of the Altice Arena in Lisbon however, but from what I have heard personally a lot of fans who went to Lisbon have already said that they won't be going to Israel, wherever it was going to be.  Does that mean that OGAE packages will be available for all?  Will there be press delegation passes for all that want them?  There is plenty of accommodation to be had in Tel Aviv, more varied pricewise than Jerusalem, if truth be told, so perhaps we need to start looking at those hotels, hostels and Airbnb slots now - when for?


Of course that is when the televised shows are on - 13/15/17th will be the Jury shows and for those hardy press types, the week before needs to be accounted for as well!  So if you plan to be soaking up the rehearsals too, you will probably need to be in Israel by Saturday 4th May 2019 and probably leave on Sunday 19th.  Of course we have a guide who has already offered to show us around the city:



This decision will almost certainly get him another gig and the composers a lot of royalties due to the amount of times this will be played between today and May next year!  Nadav didn't exactly say where he would take us within the city but here is a video from travellingisrael.com for some pointers:



The Eurovision Village is to be located here at Charles Clore Park - a bit different to Lisbon's Eurovillage at Terreiro do Paço:
Whereas the Red Carpet event will be at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, with its eclectic design:
So there you have it - we now know where we are going and when.  The first Jury SF is 243 days away (starting the calculation on 13th September 2018), each day counting down towards the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.  Who will be the first nation to reveal an artist?  Who will have the first 'complete' entry?  Who will have the first NF?