The Postcards. ISRAEL like you have never seen it before.

One of the most exciting component of every Eurovision are the postcards, those 40 seconds before each song where the artists are introduced, normally on the background of the host country’s landscape.  We sure love those postcards. They definitely help to set the tone and feel of not only the show but also of each performance.

As you may know, the concept for the postcards this year is Everybody Dance Now. All 41 participants have visited Israel in the past few months to learn how to dance and shoot their postcards all over the country.

There have been a lot of videos surfacing on social media in the past couple of months, showing bits and bites from this year’s postcards which are all filmed in Israel. 

But today, KAN really got our attention and excitement when they shared a big teaser on what we can expect, and as they said, we will get to see Israel like we have never seen it before.

2019 album is out and available here in the USA!

The 2019 Eurovision Song Contest is just a month away, YaY! And earlier than expected (nice surprise), the official music album was  released today.

You can download or stream the full album through any of your favourite music services, such as iTunes and Spotify. The album features all 41 songs of this year's competition taking place in Tel Aviv, Israel  (sorry, no Ukraine’s Maruv).

You can also pre-order the official CD, expected to be released on 26 April.

LOGO TV WILL NOT BROADCAST ESC THIS YEAR

Viacom’s Logo TV will not broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, according to a report from Deadline.

This news means that the contest has lost its home here in the US, having been broadcast by Logo TV for the past three years, since Stockholm 2016.

Our neighbors up north, Canada has secured the rights through OMNI Television, to screen the contest in Tel Aviv next month.

As mentioned, LOGO TV first aired the show in 2016 when Carson Kressley and Michelle Collins commentated the show. 52,000 viewers in the USA watched the show that year.

In 2017, Ru Paul Drag Race’s Ross Mathews and Michelle Visage took over that honor, and managed to attract 64,000 viewers. 74,000 viewers watched the live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 Grand Final from Lisbon, Portugal, with the contest having a share of 0.02%.

American fans here don’t seem to be too upset by the news. Since LOGO TV got the rights of airing the show, all YouTube videos of the live shows from 2016 are block, and are still currently geolocked,  Even more, fans who were not subscribed to LOGO TV, a paid cable channel, were struggling to watch the live stream. 

We have yet to receive any information whether or not any other network will take over from LOGO TV and screen the 2019 show from Tel Aviv. As you may know, Madonna is tipped to perform a couple of songs during the Grand Final, something that should attract many local American viewers.  

Fnac: 2019 double CD is out on April 26th

French music and entertainment store, Fnac, revealed today that the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest double CD would be available starting April 26th.  The EBU has yet to confirm this. 

We expect the digital version will also be released  around that time, and as in previous years, should be available for purchase in the US through music providers such as Apple Music, Spotify and Google Music Play.

According to Fnac, the price listed is 14.99€.  

Looking at the artwork that was released, it seems the double CD includes 42 songs, so we wonder whether Ukraine’s entry is included or not. Ukraine, as you know, withdrew its participation  in February just several days after Maruv won their national contest. 

Small town boy and polls favorite is keeping his expectations low

Duncan Laurence, as you may know, is currently the favorite to win this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv. At least according to the polls. Though still early in the game, this time a year ago the polls predicted israel to win the trophy.

Representing his homeland, The Netherlands, Duncan is  in Israel to shoot his postcard, the 40 seconds piece aired before each song.  

In an interview to Israeli host broadcaster, KAN, Duncan is talking about his entry and his rise to fame, from a small town boy who participated at the Dutch version of The Voice, to a big Arcade and this year’s favorite to win in Tel Aviv.  While being aware of and flattered by his chances to win, Duncan is trying to keep the expectations low, and for now talk about the powerful and global message of the song.  

Take a look at the interview to KAN (HE / ENG).  

​Meanwhile, Dutch broadcaster has already declared it is ready to host 2020! So will the polls get it right again, similar to 2018, when Netta and Toy were the favorites to win from the moment Toy was released (until Cyprus came out of nowhere in the final days before the Final), or will another favorite rise within the next couple of weeks? ​

Ticket sales resumes this evening

Last week we reported to you that broadcaster KAN, host of ESC2019, suddenly stopped the Eurovision ticket sales due to irregularities in the selling process. According to KAN, close to 300 tickets, that were part of the allocation to the general public, conducted by ticketing agency Le’an, were not released when the sale started, and were kept for people of interest including senior media and sports figures. According to local media, some of the Eurovision hosts for this year, got to purcase a couple of those tickets.

After further investigation, KAN instructed Le’an to re-release those tickets back to the general public. Those tickets will be available for purchase in April during the second official ticket sales.

This afternoon, Le’an will resume the sale of all remaining tickets for the semi finals, the dress rehearsals as well as tickets for the Grand Final’s Green Room (not part of the main arena).

We highly recommend to only purchase tickets on Le’an and not through third parties.