Saturday Summary – This week’s Eurovision news headlines

Welcome to the latest edition of our news round-up series which takes a look back at the Eurovision news headlines from the past seven days. Here you’ll find all the important news! Whether you need to catch-up or to remind yourself what has happened in the Eurovision world, this is the article for you. Want to read more? You can access the full articles by clicking on them! Hosting crisis at the final hour Earlier this week, Israel's hosting plans for Eurovision 2019 were put in jeopardy when a financial dispute between the Israeli government and its public broadcaster was made public. IPBC had not paid the fee of 12 million euros, which would secure hosting duties. IPBC had hoped that the government would contribute towards the cost, although this was rejected. Read the full story in the articles below. http://escxtra.com/2018/08/13/backup-plans-and-shutdown-threats-israel-deposit-crisis-esclates-24-hours-before-the-deadline/ http://escxtra.com/2018/08/14/deposit-crisis-officially-solved-israel-will-host-eurovision-2019/ Ireland's RTÉ hold Eurovision Forum for the second year For the second consecutive year, Irish broadcaster RTÉ has held a Eurovision forum to reflect on this year's participation and begin preparations for next year's contest. Those in attendance included head of delegation, Michael Kealy, this year's Irish representative Ryan O’Shaughnessy and fellow Eurovision blogger William Lee Adams. Find out what was discussed in the forum in our article below. http://escxtra.com/2018/08/17/rte-holds-eurovision-forum-and-confirms-participation-in-2019/ Michael Schulte becomes a father A big congratulations to this year's German representative, Michael Schulte, who became a father this week! The 'You Never Walk Alone' artist announced that him and his wife were expecting a boy earlier in the year. http://escxtra.com/2018/08/18/michael-schulte-becomes-a-father/ Benjamin Ingrosso & Felix Sandman receive Rockbjörnen awards Benjamin Ingrosso and Melodifestivalen runner-up Felix Sandman have both received Rockbjörnen awards. This year's Swedish representative took home the prize for Best Male Live Artist while Sandman received the award for Breakthrough of the Year. http://escxtra.com/2018/08/15/benjamin-ingrosso-felix-sandman-win-at-rockbjornen-2018/ All eyes on Minsk Preparations are underway for this year's upcoming Junior Eurovision Song Contest. A record number of 20 countries will participate in the 16th edition of the event, which takes place in Minsk, Belarus on 25th November. It was announced earlier in the year that Wales would participate for the first time. Last month, the EBU surprised fans once more when Kazakhstan was added to the list of participating countries. Confirmations and selection dates have been rolling in this week, with more countries releasing details of their selection methods. http://escxtra.com/2018/08/17/wales-s4c-confirms-october-9th-for-chwilio-am-seren/ http://escxtra.com/2018/08/18/israel-begins-its-search-for-their-junior-eurovision-2018-participant/ http://escxtra.com/2018/08/11/junior-eurovision-maltas-national-final-running-order-revealed/ Make sure you take a look at our homepage, with so many stories from the Eurovision world to feast your eyes on! The Eurovision universe never stops churning out news stories to keep us enticed, even during the off-season! Let us know your thoughts on the past week @ESCXTRA.