Arutz Sheva spoke with bloggers from around the world who are currently in Israel to cover the Eurovision Song Contest. They expressed positive feelings about being in Israel, noting how they “love” the country and describing their experience so far as “amazing.”

Tatiana Vinichenko of Czech TV: “It’s my first day in Israel and everything is amazing. The weather is amazing, what I’ve seen so far, the rehearsals - wow, just mind-blowing...I like the sound and stage even much better than last year.”

Alkis Vlassakakis of The Eurovision Podcast, Austria said “We arrived on Thursday and it’s been great so far. Having Eurovision in Tel Aviv, in a warm country - I don’t think we’ll get a more southern place than Tel Aviv...”

Marco Schreuder of DerStandard, Austria: “I really enjoy it here a lot. Yesterday I was on the beach reading a book. Can it get better?

Elisabeth Cornali, a Eurovision blogger with Eurovision-france.fr said, “I love Israel, I love Tel Aviv, I’ve been to Jaffa, it’s wonderful, and the weather is so fantastic.”

Mieszko Czerniawski of euroeizja.org, Poland: “The atmosphere is so cool. I have a lot of plans for sightseeing in places like Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Haifa.”

Giuseppe Terraciano, a Eurovision blogger with “Blastingnews,” said that “The organization is very good and ‘planned’.”

Bloggers also said that they didn’t fear coming to Israel and felt “safe.”

“I feel welcome, and communicating this [feeling of] welcome is my duty and my pleasure,” Vlassakakis said.

They also opined that Eurovision was important for Israel from a PR perspective.

“I think it’s an important issue because a lot of people don’t that much [about Israel], they hear about Middle Eastern conflict and they have an opinion, but no idea about the real situation,” Schreuder said. “I think it’s funny when someone says you should boycott Eurovision because of the situation, but in Gaza something like this would not be possible.”

“I see Israel as a part of the world community which supports minorities, human rights, and that’s an important message. And Israel could do a bit better PR, I think, and Eurovision is a chance.”

Events for Eurovision continue throughout the week, until May 18.