April is right around the corner — and that means your favourite Eurovision stars are about to hit the campaign trail. All you diehard Eurovision fans already know this year’s Eurovision pre-parties include events in Riga, Moscow, Amsterdam and London. And today Israel has finally and officially confirmed details of Israel Calling 2017. It’s not just a concert. It’s an Israeli cultural and musical extravaganza spread out over four days and in three different cities. This is how you turn up the heat!
Following the great success of “Israel Calling 2016”, a majority of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest participants will fly to Israel to take part in the promo event,which runs from April 3 until April 6 and includes a special live concert on April 5.
Artists and journalists from around the world have been invited to see Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Herzliya. The highlight will, of course, but the unique promo event in which the artists will perform their entries for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. We attended in 2016 and we cannot wait to greet Israeli Eurovision fans — and the artists — for a second year in a row.
The Israel tour
Initiated and produced by Tali Eshkoli, the event is truly a national effort. It is staged in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage, The Jewish National Fund, Herzliya Municipality, the “StandWithUs” organization and of course the Tel Aviv Municipality.
The artists will stay in Israel for four days and will travel throughout Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Herzliya. They will hold a press conference with the local and foreign media, and plant trees in the “Eurovision Song Contest Forest” at the “President’s Forest” as part of the 115th anniversary of the Jewish National Fund.
Last year we helped the stars — including Sergey Lazarev and Sanja Vucic — plant their trees, and organisers said they hoped we would one day return to see the tress growing strong. Well now’s our chance!
The “Theater Club” will play host to the concert. It’s a lovely venue spread over two levels. Eurovision preview slayage!
Tali Eshkoli is a familiar face to many of us involved in Eurovision.
She previously produced Israel’s biggest Eurovision national selection, Kdam Eurovision 2013, as well as a series of documentary films and televised articles about the contest and the artists who represented Israel. You might also recognize her as the Israeli spokesperson at Melodifestivalen this year. She’s got wild hair and a beautiful personality — we’re big fans!
Eshkoli is also behind the collaboration between the Israel Broadcasting Authority and Keshet Media Group, which resulted in the popular TV show “The Next Star” — the Israeli national selection for Eurovision 2015, 2016 and 2017. Eshkoli also produces the beloved Israel Party which takes place every year in the Eurovision Song Contest host city.
“We are delighted that this huge amount of Eurovision artists confirmed their arrival to the event and we are excited to know that they are waiting for their upcoming visit to Israel,” she said in a statement sent to wiwibloggs. “All of them are waiting for exposing themselves and their songs to the Israeli audience, local and international media. It’s a wonderful opportunity for the artists and journalists to come to Israel, enjoy their stay and show the world its beautiful features, its landscapes, sites and people.”
The artists will be accompanied by senior journalists from their home countries, including crews from various broadcasting authorities, a TV crew from the EBU and leading bloggers covering the Eurovision Song Contest.
The actual concert will take place on Wednesday, April 5. A live show will take place in the beautiful Theatre Club (Ha’teatron), where Israel’s Imri Ziv and more than 20 other artists will perform their entries live on stage. The full list of participants will be published in the coming days, although some artists have already revealed they’re coming, such as Sweden’s Robin Bengtsson and others. A detailed program and ticket information for the show will be provided later as well. You can follow the event’s official social media channels on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The latest in Israel’s cheap pinkwashing. Absolutely disgusting.
It’s a great platform for showcasing Israel, so we all give credit where credit is due to Tali Eshkoli for mobilizing as many governmental and non-governmental agencies in order to assure that the event gets the best possible funding and spotlight on an annual basis. At the same time, I hope Tali Eshkoli realizes that the best way for Israel to make strides at the contest in the long run will not come from ‘Rising Star’ which is simply a vehicle to make an elite few richer, while cultivating a culture of mediocrity on the expense of professional songwriting skills… Read more »
Looked like an amazing event last year. Nice to see it happen again this year!
And the concert in Madrid? You forgot to mention it.
Yess, Israel calling is the best event ..i hope the press conference will be funny as it was last year 🙂
@M_K
I’m an Israeli and as I know my country I’m sure that we’ll have Yulia come too:)
That’s great. Is Russia going to take part?