Contestants from 41 countries stroll down orange carpet, as Eurovision kicks off

Eurovision participants from 41 countries strutted down the orange carpet in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening, on their way to the opening ceremony kicking off the international song contest.

Instead of the traditional red carpet, the confab’s sponsor, MyHeritage, rolled out an orange rug at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square to match its logo. (Tel Aviv styles itself the “Big Orange,” as a city that never sleeps, in a fruity echo of New York’s “Big Apple” nickname.)

The competition itself will begin with semi-final rounds on Tuesday and Thursday, followed by the finals on Saturday evening.

Israeli contestant Kobi Marimi will be attempting to follow in Netta Barzilai’s shoes by bringing Jerusalem a second title in as many years. He faces an uphill battle, with oddsmakers currently predicting he will come in 25th place.

Netherlands’ Duncan Lawrence has been given the best odds, with a 21 percent chance of winning, followed by Sweden’s John Lundvik (15%), France’s Bilal Hassani (12%), Russia’s Sergey Lazarev (9%) and the Azerbaijan’s Chingiz (7%).  The remaining contenders all have a projected chance of 5% or less to win.

Israel is hosting this year’s contest, due to Barzilai’s victory at the 2018 Eurovision in Portugal.

While there had been concerns that Eurovision would be marred by rocket fire from Gaza — which targeted Israeli towns as far as Rehovot, 20 kilometers (some 12.5 miles) north of Tel Aviv last week — a reported ceasefire that was struck last Sunday evening appeared to be holding, as the long-awaited international event kicked off.

Moreover, no contestants pulled out of the competition, despite intense pressure from activists belonging to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions  (BDS) movement.

But whether it was the recent rocket fire, boycott calls, or simply prohibitive ticket and travel costs for some European fans, the Tel Aviv Hotel Association said the contest has attracted far fewer foreign visitors than expected.

The association’s director, Oded Grofman, estimated that hotels would see around 5,000 visitors, well below Eurovision’s forecast of 15,000. Portuguese tourism authorities claimed that last year’s songfest in Lisbon drew 90,000 people.

Nonetheless, the participants were all smiles Sunday night on the orange carpet, as the cameras flashed and the microphones prepared to be flipped on.

???? This is the land of honey, honey!

Let Lucy and Elia take you in a musical journey throughout the most important parts of Israel. We promise you won't regret it! ???????????? pic.twitter.com/djQlNXPoDe

— KAN Eurovision Israel (@kaneurovision) May 10, 2019

Agencies contributed to this report.