Eurovision 2019: Tel Aviv’s former City Hall potential venue for Semi-final Allocation Draw

by Sanjay (Sergio) Jiandani 1,319 views

The 2019 Eurovision host city, Tel Aviv, is planning to hold the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest Host Insignia Handover Ceremony and Semi-final Allocation Draw at Tel Aviv’s former City Hall aka Beit Ha’ir, one of the city’s most iconic landmarks.

The Tel Aviv Museum of History (former Tel Aviv City Hall)

KAN, the Israeli national broadcaster, and the City of Tel Aviv have joined forces in order to organize a spectacular Eurovision Song Contest come May. Both the ESC 2019 host broadcaster and and host city are working round the clock in order to welcome the Eurovision bandwagon to Israel next spring.

Earlier this month, Israeli broadcaster KAN unveiled  the potential venue for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest Semi-final Allocation Draw and the official Host Insignia Handover Ceremony.

The City of Tel Aviv is planning to hold the 2019 ESC Host Insignia Handover Ceremony and Semi-final Allocation Draw at the former Tel Aviv City Hall. The event is likely to be held by the end of January, the exact date is yet to be confirmed.

Old Tel Aviv City Hall ( Tel Aviv Museum of History)

The former Tel Aviv City Hall is located in the heart of Tel Aviv, namely at Bialik Street. The dwelling is now houses the Beit Ha’ir- The Aviv Museum of History, showcasing both Tel Aviv’s and Israel’s culture and heritage.

Beit Ha’ir sits in the historical Town Hall of Tel Aviv and forms part of the Bialik Complex center of Hebrew and Israeli culture that comprises a pivotal chapter in the history and cultural life of the city. The Bialik Square and its surrounding buildings, including Beit Ha’ir, have been declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO and are included in the area of Tel-Aviv  that has been designated as the White City, thanks to its unique variant of modern international architecture.

Host Insignia Handover Ceremony

The 2018 Eurovision host city, Lisbon, is expected to officially hand the baton to the 2019 Eurovision host city, Tel Aviv, next January in a special ceremony scheduled to be held at Tel Aviv’s former City Hall.

A special delegation from the 2018 Eurovision host city Lisbon will travel to Tel Aviv for the occasion. Mr. Fernando Medina (the Mayor of Lisbon) will officially hand the special Eurovison Insignia Key to Mr. Ron Huldai (the Mayor of Tel Aviv), thus marking the official handover from last year’s host city to the next.

Semi-final Allocation Draw

Following the Official Host Insignia Handover Ceremony, KAN will hold the 2019 Eurovision Semi-final Allocation Draw in order to distribute and divide the semi-finalist countries in one of the two semi-finals. Another draw will be held in order to determine in which of the two semi-finals the BIG 5 countries (France, UK, Italy, Spain and Germany)  and host nation Israel are to vote in.

A grand ceremony will be organized for the occasion where Tel Aviv will officially take over from Lisbon as the Eurovision host city. The ceremony will be carried out in the presence of Mr. Jon Ola Sand (EBU’s executive supervisor for the Eurovision Song Contest).

The 2019 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 14, 16 and 18 May at the Tel Aviv Convention Centre in Tel Aviv, Israel.