Eurovision Song Contest 2019
| Eurovision Song Contest 2019 | |
|---|---|
| Dare to Dream | |
| Dates and venue | |
| Semi-final 1 |
|
| Semi-final 2 |
|
| Final |
|
| Venue | Pavilion 2 Expo Tel Aviv Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Organisation | |
| Organiser | European Broadcasting Union (EBU) |
| Executive supervisor | Jon Ola Sand |
| Production | |
| Host broadcaster | Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan) |
| Directors |
|
| Executive producer | Zivit Davidovich |
| Presenters | |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 41 |
| Number of finalists | 26 |
| Non-returning countries | Bulgaria Ukraine |
Participation map
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Each country awards two sets of 12, 10, 8–1 points to ten songs. |
| Winning song | Netherlands "Arcade" |
The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It consisted of two semi-finals on 14 and 16 May and a final on 18 May 2019, held at Expo Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv, Israel, and presented by Erez Tal, Assi Azar, Lucy Ayoub, and Bar Refaeli. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan), which staged the event after winning the 2018 contest for Israel with the song "Toy" by Netta.
Broadcasters from forty-one countries participated in the contest, with Bulgaria and Ukraine not returning after their participation in the previous edition. Bulgarian National Television (BNT) cited financial difficulties as the reason for its absence, while the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC), which had originally planned to participate, ultimately withdrew as a result of a controversy surrounding its national selection.
The winner was the Netherlands with the song "Arcade", performed by Duncan Laurence and written by Laurence along with Joel Sjöö, Wouter Hardy and Will Knox. Italy, Russia, Switzerland, and Sweden rounded out the top five; due to a voting error, Norway was originally placed fifth, but placed sixth after a correction. The Netherlands won the combined vote, but placed third in the jury vote after North Macedonia and Sweden, and second in the televote after Norway. Further down the table, North Macedonia and San Marino achieved their best results to date, finishing seventh and 19th respectively.
The EBU reported that the contest had an audience of 182 million viewers in 40 European markets, a decrease of four million viewers from the previous edition. However, an increase of two percent in the 15–24 year old age range was reported. The lead-up to the contest was met with controversy on multiple fronts, primarily on issues surrounding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, eventually leading to demonstrations by interval act performer Madonna and Icelandic entrants Hatari during the broadcast of the final.