page_title: Eurovision Song Contest 2019
section_title: Bidding phase
hierarchical_section_title: Eurovision Song Contest 2019 / Location / Bidding phase
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Positionskarte von Israel. De-facto-Situation. Quadratische Plattkarte, N-S-Streckung 115&#160;%. Geographische Begrenzung der Karte: English: Location map of Israel. De facto situation. Français&#160;: Carte physique vierge d'Israël, destinée à la géolocalisation. Equirectangular projection, N/S stretching 115&#160;%. Scales: Topography: 1:1,608,000 (precision: 402 m) Bathymetry: 1:3,724,000 (precision: 931 m) Geographic limits of the map: N: 33.5° N S: 29.3° N W: 33.7° E E: 36.3° E
context_page_description: The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following Netta's win at the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal, with the song "Toy". It was the third time Israel had hosted the contest, having previously done so in 1979 and 1999. However, this was the first time Israel hosted the contest outside of Jerusalem. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union and host broadcaster Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, the contest was held at Expo Tel Aviv, and consisted of two semi-finals on 14 and 16 May, and the final on 18 May 2019. The three live shows were hosted by Erez Tal, Bar Refaeli, Assi Azar and Lucy Ayoub.
  Forty-one countries took part in the contest; Bulgaria and Ukraine were absent. Bulgaria did not enter because members of its delegation had been moved to other projects. Ukraine had originally planned to participate in the contest but withdrew because of the controversy surrounding their national final.
  The winner was the Netherlands with the song "Arcade", performed by Duncan Laurence who also wrote it with Joel Sjöö, Wouter Hardy and Will Knox.
context_section_description: After Israel's victory in Lisbon, Portugal, in the 2018 contest, Netta Barzilai and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the 2019 contest would be held in Jerusalem, but this was yet to be confirmed by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/KAN) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Israeli finance minister Moshe Kahlon also said in an interview the event would be held solely in Jerusalem and estimated its cost at 120 million Israeli shekels (approximately €29 million). The mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, mentioned Jerusalem Arena and Teddy Stadium as possible venues to host the event. The municipality of Jerusalem had confirmed that because it lacked the seating capacity,  the contest would not be held at the International Convention Centre, which had hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 and 1999.
  On 18 June 2018, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israel had committed to remaining in compliance with EBU rules regarding the constitution of member broadcasters, so as not to affect its hosting of Eurovision. The IPBC's establishment included a condition that news programming would be delegated later to a second public broadcasting entity. This violates EBU rules requiring member broadcasters to have their own internal news departments.
  The following day, Israel was officially confirmed as the host country, and on 24 June 2018, KAN formally opened the bidding process for cities interested in hosting the 2019 contest. Israeli minister Michael Oren, said that Jerusalem did not have the resources to host the contest on 28 July 2018, restating that Tel Aviv was the more likely host.
  Soon afterwards, reports surfaced of the government not providing the €12 million downpayment requested by KAN to cover hosting expenses and security. Following a tense back-and-forth between KAN and the government, a compromise between the two parties was reached on 29 July 2018 that would see KAN paying the €12 million to the EBU and the Finance Ministry covering expenses should complications arise. The Mayor of Tel Aviv announced the city would be willing to pay for the Convention Center itself, should it be chosen as the host city.
  In the week of 27 August 2018, executive supervisor/scrutineer Jon Ola Sand led a handful of EBU delegates around Israel to look at potential venues in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and to hear the bid from Eilat. On 30 August 2018, Sand said in an interview with KAN that Eilat was no longer in the running to host, leaving it between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. He added there was no serious discussion among members of the EBU about boycotting the event.
  On 13 September 2018, the EBU announced Tel Aviv as the host city, with Expo Tel Aviv as the chosen venue for the 2019 contest.
  Key:
   Host venue
   Shortlisted venues
caption: Locations of the candidate cities: the chosen host city is marked in blue. The shortlisted cities are marked in green, while the eliminated cities are marked in red.
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