The Mayor of Tel Aviv has confirmed that his city will not bid to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. With that announcement, it is now all but confirmed that Jerusalem will indeed host the contest next year.
Tel Aviv ruled out
Many fans were hoping the contest would travel to Tel Aviv for the edition of 2019. The city hosts one of the biggest Eurovision pre-parties. A huge crowd usually attends the event. The arena which would have been suitable to host the event was the Menora Mivtachim Arena. The multi-purpose arena could potentially have hosted up to 11,000 people.
Ron Huldai, the Mayor of Tel Aviv, was however quick to rule out his city as possibility. That leaves hardly any doubt of where the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 will be taking place. Jerusalem will very likely be the city that will host the event.
Jerusalem for a third hosting?
After Netta had won the contest on Saturday, she already mentioned Jerusalem in her winner’s speech. She then said the city would be welcoming the contest there next year.
Soon after her victory, Israel’s Prime Minister said the same on Sunday. During a speech after Netta’s victory, he said the city of Jerusalem had received many gifts in recent times. He then added that another gift was coming soon:
The gift was that Eurovision will be coming to Jerusalem next year, and we are proud to be hosting it.
Two venues are possible options for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019. The Pais Jerusalem Arena is the indoor venue of the two. It can host over 15,000 people. The venue is relatively new, being opened in September 2014. The other option is the Teddy Stadium. Currently, the stadium has no roof, making it unsuitable as a Eurovision venue. However, organisers say a roof can be constructed for the stadium, which has a capacity of nearly 32,000.
Are you sad that Tel Aviv won’t be hosting the Eurovision Song Contest? Let us know!
