[LMBTO] A Few Fireworks and Eurovision 2019 Shoots Off Into The Sky!

I suppose at least she didn't call the Contest itself 'Eurovish' this time, so be grateful for small mercies!  I still did this when I heard what she said (or rather didn't say):
Maybe the UK member of the EBU Reference Group for Eurovision could help her out?  Rachel Ashdown is one of the three new members who ensure the smooth running of the Contest and she has experience of being an executive producer of "All Together Now" and "Let It Shine", both hosted at MediaCityUK.  Might this give us another pointer as to where the UK NF will be held, as I flagged up previously?
She has been involved with the UK's selection process before and it sounds as though she may have already met in her new capacity once, as there was a Group meeting last week in Tel Aviv.  The website Eurovoix suggested that she is also the new Head of Delegation but that hasn't been confirmed by my source or the BBC at the moment.
That is the big news for the UK over the past week - there has been even bigger news on the ESC front in that we have had the official confirmation of how many nations will be in Tel Aviv, 42.  We had heard earlier in the week from Russia and San Marino that they would be there (the latter also confirming that 1 in 360 would NOT be used as a selection process for 2019) and this tweet from eurovision.tv shows that Moldova are on board too:

🎉 42 countries will #DareToDream in Tel Aviv for Eurovision Song Contest 2019! pic.twitter.com/JJpX8v7x86

— Eurovision (@Eurovision) November 7, 2018

So we will have 42 nations in Israel.  To be honest, it is all a bit like pulling teeth - little dribbles of information that will turn into a cascade at some point.  We knew that SENNEK, Saara Aalto, AISEL and Waylon were all going to Lisbon by this date in 2017 - maybe we were just being spoilt!  We do know who the stage designer is going to be in Israel though:
Florian Wieder has got the gig again - the stage designer in Düsseldorf, Baku, Vienna, Kyiv and Lisbon will be designing the stage for Tel Aviv.  Experience obviously told over locality, as there were Israeli designers in the running to be able to put their stamp on the Contest vision for Tel Aviv.  Florian must have put forward a tender that matched KAN's ideals of


more closely than any other.  The main difference he will find in Israel, compared to the other venues that he has dealt with, will be the 'novelty' of having different halls for the main show and the Green Room, something that harks back to the 'old days' of the Contest.  Rumours that the stage or overall design will be based on the Star Of David probably won't be confirmed until we see the first drafts of the stage in the New Year...
Of all his Contest stage designs, I have to admit that I liked Kyiv the most, for me the right mix of openness, clarity and interactivity with the crowd in the Arena...
Onto individual nation's plans now and we know where the first ever live SFs for Eesti Laul will be held - the birthplace of Laura (silhouetted above at the 2017 Final), Tartu in eastern Estonia.  Even though I wasn't the greatest fan of "Verona", I think it would be a nice touch for Laura to be either involved with one of the entries that starts off the Eesti Laul trail this year (24 out of the 216 entries submitted in total last week) or as an interval act, given that it is her 'home turf'.  Tickets are on sale for one of the slicker NFs of the season and whoever is Estonia's pick this year will have a big dress to fill, given that Elina Nechayeva finished 8th in Lisbon...
One of my tips for being seen on a Eurovision stage one day as the Maltese artist, Gail Attard made it through the X Factor Malta judge audition stage with an amazing rendition of "Jealous" by Labrinth.  Up next is the Bootcamp stage, where 102 artists get whittled down further - one of the best performances of the audition round for me?  This one:



Only 16 and yet has that vocal range?  Definitely a singer to watch out for as this show progresses.

One nation has already narrowed down their choices to six:
Germany are motoring along and have already decided upon the above six singers being entered into "Unser Lied für Israel", their NF for 2019.  From top left to bottom right we have:


They are in a songwriting camp at the moment with an impressive list of 24 songwriters from across the globe and amongst whom have a decent amount of Eurovision experience.  Names such as Tim Schou (A Friend In London) and Thomas Stengaard (co-wrote 'Only Teardrops') are on the list, together with co-writer of "You Let Me Walk Alone"Nina Müller.  It looks as though Germany are looking to at least solidify their fourth place in Lisbon, if not better it.  Looking at the live back material of the six, Lilly Among Clouds has the most distinctive vocal style:



Whether that would translate to a Eurovision platform is difficult to say but I get the feeling already that Germany's NF will a definite 'must watch' in 2019...

There are a couple of nations whose NF has the same title as last year's but there will be some differences.  First is Slovenia, where RTVSLO will only be having a Final now with up to ten participants initially and a professional jury deciding on a two act SuperFinal where the public decide on the winner.  Guess who won at EMA the last time this system was the way of choosing the Slovenian act for Eurovision?
ManuElla with "Blue and Red" - I've already used my 'Jean-Luc Picard facepalm' picture, I won't use it twice in the same article!  Long term readers will know my thoughts on that song - she could return in 2019 though as she is a Slovene and only citizens can compete, although they can use any language at EMA this season.
Next up is Romania - less acts (24 instead of 60), just SFs and the Final, along with an international jury to go alongside the televote this year.  There is one track already out there - Sergiu Bolota released "Un Nou Inceput" on 7th November and will be putting that forward for Selecția Națională 2019:



The other selection process that is sort of in full swing at the moment is in Spain, although all or most of the eliminated artists from OT 2018 will get the chance to sing at the 'Eurovision Gala' later in the series.  How many of those actually want to perform in Tel Aviv for their nation is not certain, although evicted singer Noelia from Gala 7 on 7th November reckons it is just her and Famous.  In her post-eviction interview, she said that nobody else showed any enthusiasm about representing their nation at the moment (although it has to be said that only Miriam was that keen at this stage in OT 2017).  Now it could be a bit of mischief making on her part, given that she had just been evicted from the main Academy process by one of the narrowest margins ever in the history of the show, but ironically Famous got to sing a track from this year's Eurovision and absolutely smashed it:



Not quite on the same level as Cesár Sampson's quality and tone in Lisbon but seeing that Famous will have had a matter of a few days to get it sorted, this performance was a damn fine job!  He has fans from the previous series, with Kuis Cepeda stating that he has co-written a song specifically for Famous to perform.  For me, this is turning into the 'Famous vs Natalia' show as far as the OT 2018 win is concerned but for a one off show, this guy could well do the business and be Spain's artist in Israel... 

To finish off my 'highlights of the last fortnight' article, I want to showcase another track that has been submitted to the UK selection process.  Kim Shepherd and Wes Wood make up the duo Mixtape and have performed an acoustic version of one of Jason and Clare Blyth's songs, "Good Girl":



Now I have always adored the vocal tones of this lady, whether it be singing "Tear Up The Dark" that was eventually given to Teodora Dinu to perform at Selecția Națională 2017, "In Heaven" which was cruelly ignored last year or this track.   Kim has a voice of gold that I could listen to all day and the UK artist selectors could do a lot worse than pick Mixtape to play one of the songs at the UK NF.  I hope that this entry makes it to the final six (or whatever number there is) and that Kim is in some way associated with it, although I suspect that it will be produced in a different way than this acoustic version...

Eurovision 2019 is all a bit slow still - when will the first artist for Tel Aviv be announced?  Will we have to wait for FiK?  Or will something appear out of the blue?  Not even a supercomputer can predict that but there is something 'set in stone'...