GEORGIA 🇬🇪
Tinatin Berdzenishvili who is the Deputy General Director of the First Channel of GPB, and jury member of Georgian Idol, has confirmed that the nations song for Eurovision 2019 will be in Georgian. She told viewers on Georgian Idol last night that: “Eurovision is trying to make as many songs as possible in their native language. That is why I can tell you that Georgia will present a contest for the current year with Georgian song”.
CROATIA 🇭🇷
Croatian entry “The Dream” and its performance by Roko Blažević will remain unchanged for Eurovision 2019 said the composer Jacques Houdek. There will be efforts to enhance that performance through the stage possibilities. Jacques Houdek, composer of the song and 2017 entrant for Croatia was not sure the song will win DORA 2019 final.
ISRAEL 🇮🇱
Preselection committee has met today in Israel to listen to the proposals submitted for Kobi Marimi. About 200 songs were submitted, including songs by Keren Peles and Shiri Maimon.
POLAND 🇵🇱
TVP Info reports that Tulia are most likely going to represent Poland in Israel with the song “Pali Się”. According to the report discussions are ongoing between Universal Music, Tulia and TVP regarding the song they will perform at Eurovision. Furthermore, discussions are underway regarding whether the song will be performed entirely in English or if the song will be in both English and Polish.
SWEDEN 🇸🇪
A total of 2,900,000 viewers watched the third semi-final of Melodifestivalen live on SVT 1. Compared to last year’s third semi-final, this year saw an increase of 70,000 viewers. However, the show has lost 24,000 viewers since last week.
AUSTRIA 🇦🇹
ORF radio host and responsible for the internal selections in Austria, Eberhard Forcher said that thee country seeks for something special, but at the same time radio friendly. About Paenda he said that ““Paenda is an artist who knows exactly what she wants. And this led to some conflicts with us who know more about Eurovision. But conflicts are there to be solved.” But it was not the only choice considered for Eurovision 2019 as Paenda was out of the picture with the song originally submitted for Eurovision 2019. Yes, Hyäne Fischer was considered as an option, Forcher admits. “The album is amazing, with wonderful sounds and extremely long instrumental parts, which aren’t suitable for Eurovision. But there is this one song that doesn’t fit in this context. Some people will shake their heads when they hear the song for the first time.”
ISRAEL 🇮🇱
On average 907,000 viewers were watching as Israel selected their singer for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The competition was the most watched program broadcast by Keshet 12 since the broadcaster was created in November 2017. The viewing figures for the program show a large increase in Eurovision interest since Netta won the contest in 2018. At the peak of the show following the first performance of Kobi Merimi over 1 million viewers were watching the show, with 36.4% market share. The show as a whole averaged a market share of 30.8%. The next most watched broadcast last night on Israeli television had a share of 18.1% of the viewing audience. (www.eurovoix.com)
EUROVISION 2019 🇮🇱
Tel Aviv – Jaffa Municipality has issued a call for volunteers for the city’s Eurovision 2019 operations. The minimum conditions required of the volunteers are: to be 17 and over; To speak English and other languages; To commit to two volunteer shifts of 5 hours each; And most important – to be Israeli patriots and Tel Avivians and to have a passion to help tourists, give recommendations to restaurants and bars and get to know the best corners of the city for selfies. Registration will be closed on March 10, 2019 at 8:00 am.
Registration form: https://goo.gl/forms/R4Xphy146FUuYVTD3
One can also apply by email: wolf_e@mail.tel-aviv.gov.il
After Tel Aviv Municipality, broadcaster KAN has also launched a call for volunteers to work on Eurovision 2019 events in production areas. To apply one needs to be Israeli citizen over 18 years old; combine ability to work in a team together with the ability to be independent, assertive and problem-solving, organizational ability and good interpersonal communication, full control of English or one of the languages of the participating countries, willingness and availability for volunteering throughout the Eurovision period.
Registration is done at http://bit.do/esc2019volunteers
GREECE 🇬🇷
Katerine Duska to perform song “Better Love” at the Eurovision Song Contest. Singer announced upcoming released in the social network post adding a line from the song – “Better love, better love, all that we’re after, way to love, who you love”. Recall, that contest entry was written by Duska herself with musician Leon of Athens.
PORTUGAL 🇵🇹
The first semifinal of the Festival da Canção was watched by 623 thousand spectators, on average, registering a drop of 147 thousand spectators compared to last year.
