The Netherlands Takes Home 2019 Eurovision Crown

The Netherlands’ Duncan Lawrence won the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, beating out 25 other performers in Saturday night’s grand finale in Tel Aviv. After fan votes were tallied, Lawrence finished with 492 points, enough to bring home his country’s first crown since 1975. Italy’s act came in second (465 points), ahead of Russia’s entry, which rounded out the top three (369 points). Israel’s competitor, Kobi Marimi, came in 23^rd place overall. Forty-one nations participated in the annual song extravaganza, whose estimated Saturday television audience of 200 million people was treated to a guest appearance by pop superstar Madonna. As per usual, the Material Girl ruffled some feathers, politicizing her performance by having side-by-side dancers, one sporting a costume bearing an Israeli flag and the other a get-up depicting the Palestinian flag, embrace. Eurovision took place in Israel this year by virtue of Israeli Netta Barzilai’s victory in the 2018 event, which was held in Portugal.