Time to fly the red, white and blue! Netflix USA and Eurovision have announced that all three of the shows from the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv will be available to view on the popular streaming service from 22nd July. And as an added bonus, the 2020 contest will also be available once the show has taken place.
Fans in the USA react to the news that all 3 shows from the 2019 #Eurovision Song Contest are available to binge watch on @Netflix in the ?? from Monday 22nd July!?
?https://t.co/pK9tpGuVJ4 pic.twitter.com/zJzaQrmo1b
— Eurovision (@Eurovision) July 19, 2019
Good news for #Eurovision fans living in the United States: Netflix has licensed the 2019 and 2020 seasons of the Eurovision Song Contest! The 2019 season will be available on July 22! pic.twitter.com/hiHrdh46Ae
— See What's Next (@seewhatsnext) July 19, 2019
Taking the contest across the pond…
There are several theories as to why the contest is going onto Netflix in the United States, the most prominent being the much-anticipated Will Ferrell movie Eurovision, which is coming to the streaming service in the near future. It’s no secret that the Hollywood icon has been at the contest for several years doing research and his company’s production trucks were spotted at the Tel Aviv EXPO. There are also rumours that Rachel McAdams has been in talks to appear in the film.
With the moving coming soon, they need to build hype and give Americans a bit of context so there’s plenty of viewers clamouring to get a peek. Without this build-up, there may not be so much interest in the film.
There’s also the fact that Swedish Eurovision maestro Christer Bjorkman announced in Tel Aviv that his latest project is the American Song Contest. The details are vague, but a show with competing states is in the works, aiming for 2021.
Christer wouldn’t discuss which networks they were in talks with, but could it be Netflix? With the service again needing to boost interest in the original to then understand the new, could they be introducing America to it this way?
Eurovision Executive Supervisor Jon Ola Sand lends weight to this theory. In a statement, he noted that “This is perfect timing with plans to launch a US version of the Contest in 2021.”
Fan Reaction
Reaction online is varied, with most being delighted with the move. The possibility to have the semis and the final available on demand, in a country where Eurovision’s YouTube videos are geo-blocked, is a huge plus. However, many are commenting they’d rather have the next edition streamed live. Also, there are questions about Madonna’s performance in the show. Will it display the Palestinian flag on the stream? Are Madonna’s vocals going to be the ‘re-worked’ edition on “Like A Prayer”?
There’s also plenty of Europeans who are upset to not have the show going to their respective Netflix services. Of course the shows are available on YouTube outside of the US. Even so, a Netflix presence could bring non-fans to the contest.
There are also plenty of fans wishing a back-catalogue of the shows could go on the service, as there are a limited number of shows available on YouTube. For instance, you can find 2017 Semi 1 there, but not Semi 2. There’s also no pre-2016 finals there in complete form — i.e. not a playlist.
Eurovision on Netflix: https://t.co/Y855srtaNs pic.twitter.com/zulErlHwpk
— Sasha ?? (@eurotrashsash) July 19, 2019
Oh thank god @Netflix picked up @Eurovision so there’s finally a way to watch it in America. pic.twitter.com/575hHD4737
— Matt Herdman (@MattHerdman) July 19, 2019
Netflix picking up Eurovision in America….I take back everything bad I said. Destroy our entertainment industry, kings!!!
— It means "Blessed" in Fae (@RyneIsMean) July 19, 2019
We’re super excited to see Eurovision fever spread across the globe. Will you be watching (and watching…and watching…) the contest on Netflix? Are you excited for Will Ferrell’s movie? Let us know in the comments below, and don’t forget to find us on Twitter HERE, and delve into hours of Eurovision goodness on our YouTube channel HERE.
It’s a step forward, but the US audience has a long way to grow before we’re taken very seriously. Will Ferrell is definitely past his prime, but he’s still got a sizable fan base, so I’d guess his movie will bring a few thousand more Americans into the fold. It’s actually kind of perfect for him – his whole schtick is goofy but sincere, sort of like Eurovision itself.
I believe Will Ferrell’s Eurovision movie is a big reason why Eurovision is streaming on Netflix here in the US. If you want an American audience to get on board with a eurovision movie, it might make sense to actually show them the contest so that they will know what the movie is homaging/parodying. One time in my Doctor Who audio group, we listened to an audio called Bang-Bang-A-Boom! (yes, it’s a variation of Boom-Bang-a-Bang) which parodied Eurovision as the intergalatic song contest. I actually created a Eurovision Starter Playlist for my friends to listen/watch so that they could have… Read more »
Don’t forget the Monty Python sketch poking fun at Eurovision, where policemen from different countries compete in a Eurovision-style contest, which is eventually won by Monaco (a couple of years before Monaco actually ended up winning Eurovision), with a song called “Bing Tiddle Tiddle Bong”. The sketch appears towards the end of Series 2, Episode 9 of Monty Python’s Flying Circus (titled “How to Recognise Different Parts of the Body”). The sketch even comes complete with Eric Idle dressed as a lady announcing the scores in English, French, and some strange Caribbean accent.
I can’t find it either! What happened??? So mad!
It doesn’t work for me either! So mad!
hey um I can’t find eurovision on Netflix can someone help me?
I couldn’t find it either, but managed to do so when I typed in “Eurovisios.”
It’s just been uploaded. Search “euro” or “Eurovision” in the search bar; the title graphic is pink and reads “Eurovision Song Contest Tel Aviv 2019”. It hasn’t been added to New Releases at this time, but may be later.
I cut and pasted that full title and still no results…
Start out searching “euro”, and you may have to scroll down a few rows of title cards. The one for Eurovision has a pink background and you should be able to pick out the Heart from the Eurovision logo.
It’s also its first day on the service, so parts may still be updating.
Eurovision on Netflix for us US viewers is good, still trying to do the American song contest is bad. I seriously don’t see a US based contest in the vein of Eurovision doing well, unless it was EXTREMELY scaled back.
I like the idea of it on paper, but they’d probably have to stretch it out into a month-long event (with maybe one or two semifinals per week, since I’m expecting about five total with ten or so songs in each semifinal, if all 50 states and DC take part; I’m not sure American viewers could tolerate 16-18 songs back-to-back in one night). Since it’s a Swedish producer developing the format, I would not be surprised to see some elements from Melodifestivalen make its way into the ASC (like the “Second Chance” duels between the semifinal rounds and the Final).… Read more »
Horray!…. this helps with getting my friends hooked on Eurovision here in the US.
Having said that… I’m still going to be getting the BBC feed via proxy server to watch live. This is a step in the right direction though.
I tried and it said I couldn’t watch it due to my location. But thank you so much for trying!
This is the big thing about being a fan and living in the US: you can’t watch any of the live shows on normal TV, but thanks to f***ing copyright, you can’t watch it live on YouTube either. (I was able to watch this year’s through SVT’s website, which the US thankfully doesn’t block!) So I’m very happy to hear this news. It may not be a live show, but maybe it will help the show get more fans here in the states! 😀
I’d like to see it come to Irish Netflix so I could binge it everyday also would be great if all past contests were put on too I’d love to see 2013 and 2015 again
No, being in America, I won’t watch it ‘after’ the event because I’ll find a way to watch it live via the internet. It would be like watching the Super Bowl after the game is already over and the winner announced. If Netflix found a way to broadcast it live then yes, I would watch it there.
No, not looking forward to anything having to do with Will Fail mainly because I’ve never found him funny and don’t understand what he has or does that warrant any attention on media.
oh great, can Jon ola sand, bjorkman and all the other members on mafia focus on the us version? we will miss their….ways but they better focus on something else
This is excellent news! I have really missed getting to see the live performances after the show.
Btw does anyone have an idea why the Junior Eurovision is also geoblocked on Youtube in the USA? No American company has ever had an interest in broadcasting that.
Hello dear Eurovision fans. Today i saw a tweet that i couldn’t understand the fun about it. Can any British fan explain it? The tweet is:
naps after Sixth Form used to hit soooo different… wake up at like 8/9 sweating like a mf
I know that nap is a little sleep and sixth form is a kind of school. But what does hit so different mean? And why is sweating?
“Dare to stream” is a genious wordplay! 😀 I mean, I really love wordplays and this is an absolute masterpiece, wiwibloggs <3 <3
Also, I am happy for all US-ESC-fans <3
Americans can’t see ESC on youtube because of record labels. Only record labels complained. The fact that this happened in the same year when Logo started to broadcast ESC, is just a coincidence. Blame the record labels, and only them alone.
Why people can’t understand that broadcaster has nothing to do with geo-blocking?
EBU statement from the 14th about why the youtube stream is geo-blocked. “Asked about why content on the official Eurovision Song Contest is still geo-blocked in the USA and many other countries, Mr. Sand explained: “The reason why we can’t show it in the USA is that YouTube doesn’t have a collecting society in the USA, so for copyright purposes, we cannot show content in the USA. YouTube needs to arrange a deal with a collecting society so that artists get paid.”
I wish the BBC Iplayer would put up the previous editions of the contest….even if it’s just during the week of Eurovision itself.
Great shout. Totally agree with you. I have a few years recorded on the HD box but I’m running out of hard drive. It’s great to look back at old shows. If they were on you tube it would be great. I mean the whole shows not just the songs. You can buy the shows on ebay but the price is pretty expensive.
I think the American fans would prefer a non- geo blocked YouTube livestream. This is a good alternative, but far from ideal. It would also be nice if they uploaded more past Eurovision live shows, as well as the second semi- final of 2017 as it’s weirdly missing.
Sure, it’s great, but it’s not like a live broadcast. A couple of months after the fact is not so exciting.
Why would americans want to sit and watch it live while it would be broadcast in a weird hour, due to the time zones, they can’t vote, and it’s not like they live for this contest anyway.
First of all its not at that weird of an hour, its on in the middle of the day. Secondly, its better to watch live because its more exciting when you don’t know the result. Also, there aren’t many of us, but there are Eurovision fans in the U.S who love the contest and don’t care that we can’t vote in it
Because there aren’t many of you, nobody gives a flying f!ck about your excitement. I guess there are certain reasons for the youtube geoblocking, and they won’t get rid of it just so few ESC fans from the US will get their entertainment. Get a VPN if you want to avoid things like that.
I was in an auditorium in the Washington DC area watching it live this year, and it was a lot of fun. Plenty of people there viewing it and cheering on their favorite singers/songs. There was even a trivia contest. Truly an afternoon well spent!
Kevin, How cool. Wish I could have been there with you. None of my friends care enough about music contests so I usually watch it by myself.
Ah, yes. I know that feeling. I would talk about the contest to co-workers, but they didn’t really know enough to relate. Being around people who had more knowledge about it was very nice!
Ana, you don’t have to be rude about it.
My comment was in no way disrespectful to anyone so I don’t know why you felt the need to catch an attitude and curse at me. Get help honey, you need it
Jai, exactly. It airs here on the west coast (PT) at noon. In the rockies (MT) at 1 pm. In the midwest (CT) at 2 pm. On the east coast (ET) 3 pm. However, as for voting, sometimes I wish we could. We would be excellent judges since we don’t share any borders with the competing countries so there would be none of that block voting many of your countries deal with. We would judge solely on the artist, the song, the performance, and set. Our biggest problem would be with the language since we’re pretty much an english speaking… Read more »
I would love to know which country the US would have chosen as first. We’d be a great impartial judge. As far as language goes, I don’t speak Spanish, but “La Venda” was my favorite song this year and still my most played song two months after the contest!
I agree with all of your points! Watching the contest on a Saturday afternoon in the US worked out perfectly.
Handkerchiefs for “I’m sorry, zero points”
I’m so happy! Ever since 2016, we cannot watch any of the live shows on Youtube. And that just sucks. I hope they also upload 2018, 2017 and 2016 editions.
Excellent news for our friends across the water! I remember the uproar when it went to Logo so least it’s now affordable to watch for them.
I would LOVE the UK netflix to stream past editions and the UK editions. Sir Terry, Graham, and all the semi finals commentary is worth a watch again
Maybe, but wouldn’t it be more likely they would show up on the BBC Player?
They remove them after a month. Unsure if they’ll appear on the new britbox. Nor do they currently show past shows on iplayer
Having Logo pick up the Final wasn’t a huge issue for me as our satellite provider at the time already had the channel, but it was only available in standard definition, strangely enough, until about a year ago. But yeah, it was a very niche channel that not all providers offered, and even then wasn’t getting a lot of viewers because even though it started off as a network catering to LGBT+ viewers, by the time Eurovision came over to Logo, it was mostly showing old sitcom reruns and RuPaul’s Drag Race (pretty much its last remaining original program) was… Read more »