Over the last few weeks, we have seen news, comments and opinions flood in regarding the host city or in this case, the host nation of Eurovision 2019. As we know, Eurovision is (normally) hosted in the nation that had won the previous year, and since Israel won, the trend would follow so Israel would be hosting the competition next year.
Unlike in many of the previous years, the hosting situation hasn’t been as straight forward. Concerns were immediately raised in regards to hosting the contest, predominately due to security reasons. Ideas were thrown around that perhaps another nation would be hosting the contest, and this idea was perpetuated when the official Eurovision social media pages spread the message for fans not to book flights or accommodation, hinting that it was not going to be as clear as Jerusalem 2019.
Are you already looking forward to next year’s #Eurovision? Us too! But don’t go booking your flights just yet, for official updates on where and when it’ll take place, keep an eye out for announcements on our official channels.
📷: Thomas Hanses pic.twitter.com/O2sp3WOXvJ— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) May 22, 2018
That’s not to say it won’t be in Jerusalem. Common sense would say to hold off booking flights and accommodation until there is confirmation of the host city, but it’s easy to see how this simple post sent the Eurovision fandom into overdrive.
There have been numerous comments from different parties regarding the hosting of the contest, but it seems that the answer is slightly clearer now. The Israeli broadcaster KAN has now met with the European Broadcasting Union, and it has been confirmed that the host city and dates for the contest will be revealed by September.
During this meeting, a timetable of key milestones were agreed on, and it was confirmed that the planning had begun. It was also revealed that there will be a bid process for the cities interested in hosting the contest next year, meaning that Jerusalem may not be the default.
Other cities that have expressed interest include Eilat, Haifa and Petah Tikva as well as the most popular choice which is Tel Aviv. Despite their interest, only four cities will be invited to submit bids to host the contest which are Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Eilat and Haifa. As part of the bidding process, these cities will have to prove that they meet the criteria, some of which would include an appropriate arena to host, access to accommodation and ease of transport.
Stay tuned for more news regarding the host city!