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Hungary - 2nd rehearsal

Eran on Thu, 05/09/2019 - 11:46

Joci Papai takes the stage again. The performance is strong as always and Joci channels the emotional song very well. They they still have the fathers' floating heads, and there's a yellow tree starting off at the floor and then moves to the background. This one ooses class. The stage is covered in gold, which looks great with Joci's black outfit. In the last run of rehearsal, we had the rain of firework at the end of the performance.

Poland - 2nd rehearsal

Eran on Thu, 05/09/2019 - 09:20

Polish rehearsal had to be stopped after a few seconds. It seemed the camera work was all over the place. It's also the 2nd rehearsal I noticed they are using the wrong flag, specifically the flag of the country that is to perform afterward. The 2nd attempt was better. There are a lot of zoom in shots on the band members and the camera also cuts to the audience in the part of clapping. I love the song! but will admit it lacks an extra oomph to stand out.

Finland - Second rehearsal

Eran on Thu, 05/09/2019 - 08:53

Sebastian Rejman and Darude take the stage. I've heard word Sebastian is not feeling well, and that might explain the weak vocals. He's walking on the catwalk, which I either missed in the first rehearsal or they've simply changed the staging in that way. Everything else looks the same. The dancer does a good job, but overall and ironically the whole act seemed low on energy.

Montenegro - Second rehearsal

Eran on Thu, 05/09/2019 - 08:30

Montenegro 2nd rehearsal didn't have many changes. The guys sounded well and the staging remained the same. They got rid of the loud shout in the middle of the song, which is good, but they still need to find a better way to end the performance; they just dance with each other and it looked very weird, almost like a school play. At the last note, they're holding one of the girls, as if she's about to fall. Rizo was moved to the front at the last shot.

ESCKAZ.com team day out in Jerusalem

Day trip to Jerusalem

ESCKAZ.com day out in Jerusalem

As we had a day off this year the team from ESCKAZ.com and some close friends decided to take a trip to Jerusalem to see the sights and take in the atmosphere - and also of course take the obligatory photo of the venue from 1999

ESCKAZ.com day out in Jerusalem

The day started by gathering at the Unicersity train station and taking a quick ride to the airport to change to the new shuttle train that connects Jerusalem and Tel Aviv - literally the whole journey took less than one hour and we were in the Old Town for Jerusalem

The first stop, right next to the train station was the venue from 1999, International Convention Center, obligatory pictures done, it was boarding the new light rail train to pass up to the Old Town…

Starting at one of the gates for the old city walls, our group meandered up through the old town to start the first stop of the tour, The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. While there were obviously queues to get into the Tomb area we decided to join the queue as we had several Orthodox Christians and Catholic Christians in our group. The experience was spiritual and we were so glad to go and finally do this - after many many years of wanting to go to Jerusalem

ESCKAZ.com day out in Jerusalem

Next stop for the Russian side of the team was a stop at the Russian Orthodox Church, Alexander Nevsky Church - they all got services said for friends and family back home and were super excited about that…

Via Dolorosa was up next, time to walk the street which Christ walked when he was carrying his Cross - we also found the place that he rested and stopped for a few moments there.

Temple Mount was closed for the day - it was a Muslim holy day - so we skipped that and passed straight to the Western Wall. Skull caps on we approached the wall and had a few moments there in contemplation - then it was food time!! And back to Tel Aviv in time for the Independence Day celebrations in Rabin Square

ESCKAZ.com day out in Jerusalem

Some photos are here if you would like to take some time to share our day with us..

Cyprus - Second rehearsal

Eran on Thu, 05/09/2019 - 08:23

A powerful opener for the first semi. We can finally hear Tamta, not just see her. Live goes smoothly, even though there seem to be some sound problem and vocals tend to sound shouty. I’m afraid after seeing all the first rehearsals, this is not a contender for victory… We get to see the camera work which is quite effective and moves quickly from one frame to the other. It seems more energetic

Independence Day Concert

Andy on Thu, 05/09/2019 - 08:04

In the evening almost whole TeamKAZ went to the Independence Day concert on Rabin Square. The first part of the concert was labelled Hallelujah Eurovision and was obviously devoted to the contest. From the contest artists, though there appeared Hovi Star, some other acts, as well as Tel Aviv Youth members, have performed vocal and dance covers.

In the second part of the concert performed Transistor Band performing hits of the legendary and my favourite Israeli singer Arik Einstein. We with Ruslan danced the whole evening and the square sang together with the singers.

Also, we were able to enjoy an amazing firework display.

Yom HaZikaron and Independence day in Israel

Eran on Wed, 05/08/2019 - 07:08

Yom HaZikaron is the Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism. It's an official memorial day that was enacted into law in 1963. It's the day when Israelis stops and honor the fallen soldiers of the country. Since Jewish tradition sees the day starting from sunset to sunset, the events of this day will started on Tuesday evening.
A few things that you should know (and probably already noticed) as tourists:
* There are two sirens heard; the first at the preceding evening at 20:00, that will last for 1 minute. The 2nd on Yom HaZikaron day at 11:00, and this one is 2 minutes long.
* In the preceding evening all stores and restaurant are closed. Grocery stores and supermarkets will be open on Yom HaZikaron itself. Restaurants will still be closed.
* There will be no rehearsals for Eurovision on Yom HaZikaron. That is why rehearsals started a day earlier this year.
* In addition, radio will play only sad songs from Tuesday evening to Wednesday evening. TV will air special programming at the same time.

And then things take a drastic turn. On Wednesday evening Yom HaZikaron ends and the Independence Day begins. It "is the national day of Israel, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948" (from Wikipedia). It's a day of ceremonies, celebrations and parties, and you'll notice Israelis tend to party hard. This will take place from Wednesday evening to Thursday evening.
A few things that you should know as tourists:
* Grocery stores and supermarkets will be closed early on Wednesday. Restaurants are supposed to remain open and will probably be packed.
* There will be road blocks on Wednesday evening. It's not only for security reasons; Throughout the evening and the night there will be shows going on, known in Israel as "Bamot Bidur" (Entertainment stages). There will probably hundreds of them throughout the country. These shows are free and open to all. If you'll go to one of them you'll see insane amount of people attending, including families. The performers are usually Israeli biggest music stars. Check out who's performing in your area.
* Rehearsals for Eurovision will go on regularly on Thursday.
* most grocery stores and supermarkets will be closed on Thursday, but you might find a handful of AMPM stores open.

Have a safe day
Israeli flag

Picture by Ishai Parasol