Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest explained

Israel
Contest:ESC
Broadcaster:Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan; 2018–)
Apps:46 (39 finals)
Highest:1st:,,,
Host:,,
Current:2024

Israel has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 46 times since making its debut in . The current Israeli participant broadcaster in the contest is the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan). Israel has won the contest four times, and has hosted the contest in Jerusalem in and, and in Tel Aviv in .

Israel's first appearance in the contest in 1973 was successful, with "Hebrew: [[Ey Sham]]|i=no" performed by Ilanit finishing fourth. Israel then achieved victories in and, with "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, and "Hallelujah" by Milk and Honey. In, the Israeli broadcaster declined to host the contest for a second successive year for financial reasons, and as the date for the contest in the Hague conflicted with Yom HaZikaron – Israeli Memorial Day – Israel did not participate. This is the only instance of a winning country not competing the following year. The country's best results in the 1980s were second-place finishes for "Hebrew: [[Hora (song)|Hora]]|i=no" by Avi Toledano in and "Hebrew: [[Hi (Ofra Haza song)|Hi]]|i=no" by Ofra Haza in . Former winner Izhar Cohen returned to place fifth with "Spanish; Castilian: [[Olé, Olé (song)|Olé, Olé]]|i=no" in, before "Hebrew: [[Kan (song)|Kan]]|i=no" by Duo Datz finished third in . Israel achieved its third victory in, with "Diva" by Dana International. "Happy Birthday" by Eden then finished fifth in . To date, Israel has the record for most participations and most wins in the contest without ever coming last, but it has placed second to last in the final three times, in,, and, and got nul points from the juries in 2019.

Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Israel has failed to reach the final six times. In, "Hebrew: [[HaSheket SheNish'ar]]|i=no" by Shiri Maimon gave the country its tenth top five result, finishing fourth. Having failed to qualify for the final for four consecutive years (2011–14), Israel reached the final in with "Golden Boy" by Nadav Guedj ultimately finishing ninth, and the country has participated in the final every year since, with the exception of . Israel won the contest for a fourth time in, with "Toy" by Netta.

History

The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. It had participated in the contest, representing Israel, since the in 1973. In 2017, the IBA was succeeded as national broadcaster by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan), which has been in charge of participating in the contest for Israel since the following year.

To date, there have been four Israeli victories in the contest. Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta won in Paris in with "A-Ba-Ni-Bi". On home ground in Jerusalem, Israel won again, this time with "Hallelujah" performed by Milk and Honey. Unusually, Israel did not defend the title in [1] (see below). The third victory came almost 20 years later in Birmingham in, when Dana International took top honours with the song "Diva". It took a 20-year wait for Israel to record its fourth victory at the in Lisbon, with the song "Toy" by Netta, earning Israel its highest-ever score of 529 points.

Israel's earliest selections were picked by the IBA. The first singer to represent the country was Ilanit, who finished 4th in . In 1972, while Ilanit was in Germany recording as part of the duo Ilan and Ilanit with her partner Shlomo Tzach, the duo received an offer to represent in . Since Israel was eligible to participate, they approached the IBA with a proposal that Ilanit would represent Israel. However, the registration period was over by then and Ilanit was told she could represent Israel in 1973.[2] [3] After she was sent again four years later, it was decided that henceforth the winner of the Hebrew Song Festival would represent Israel. The 1978 and 1979 Israeli Eurovision winners were selected by this method. From 1981, the selection process took place via the Kdam Eurovision with the exception of 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002–2004, 2006–2007, and 2010, when the IBA selected its representatives internally.

After winning the contest in 1978 and 1979, the IBA was financially and logistically unable to organise the event for a second consecutive year. The Netherlands agreed to host the 1980 contest in Israel's place. The date chosen for that year's contest coincided with Yom HaZikaron, Israeli Memorial Day, so Israel could not compete. This made Israel the only country to date unable to defend its title. The 1980 winning song "Pizmon Chozer" by The Brothers & the Sisters never had an opportunity to compete. In 1984, Israel again refrained from participating due to the same date conflict.

Israel's entries have had a mixed reception. Avi Toledano and Ofra Haza scored well with big revivalist numbers, but the all-singing, all-dancing style became less popular later in the decade and Israel's entry, "Yavo Yom" by Moti Giladi and Sarai Tzuriel, came in 19th.

In, Israel finished 8th with "Shir Habatlanim" by the satiric duo Lazy Bums. Then-Israeli Minister of Culture, Yitzhak Navon, said he would resign if the song went on to represent Israel at the contest; this ultimately did not occur.

In, Rita's "Hebrew: Shara Barkhovot|i=no" was not well received, but in, Orna and Moshe Datz finished third, Israel's best result since 1983. Israel also had a 5th-place finish by Eden when it hosted the . Ping-Pong's disco effort in failed, though the group was noted for their optimistic lyrics and message of reconciliation and peace. They waved Syrian flags at the end of their performance, angering some Israelis.

In, David D'Or came 11th in the semi-final with "Hebrew: Leha'amin|i=no", leaving Israel out of the final for the first time since 1997. Shiri Maimon with "Hebrew: HaSheket SheNish'ar|i=no" in brought Israel back to the top five, and ensured Israel a place in the final, where it was represented by singer Eddie Butler, who had finished 5th as part of Eden in 1999; however, his performance of the song "Together We Are One" finished 23rd, with only four points.

IBA's Eurovision committee chose Teapacks to represent Israel in the contest. Their humorous entry "Push the Button" finished in 24th place out of a semi-final field of 28 and failed to reach the final. Israel thus had to compete in the semi-final in, from which it passed on to the final, with Boaz and "The Fire in Your Eyes" finishing ninth there. In, an Arab citizen of Israel represented the country for the first time, as Mira Awad performed "There Must Be Another Way" alongside Jewish-Israeli singer Noa in Moscow. Israel was represented in 2010 by Harel Skaat, who came 14th in the final with "Milim".

Israel's participations from 2011 to 2014 were less successful, as former Eurovision winner Dana International in Düsseldorf, the band Izabo in Baku, Moran Mazor in Malmö and Mei Finegold in Copenhagen, all failed to qualify for the final. In 2015, Nadav Guedj brought Israel back to the final with "Golden Boy", the first Israeli entry without a Hebrew lyric. Prior to their fourth win, it also managed to qualify in 2016 with Hovi Star and "Made of Stars" (which finished 14th) and in 2017 with Imri Ziv and "I Feel Alive" (which finished 23rd, Israel's lowest placing in a Eurovision final since 2006). In 2019, as host country with Kobi Marimi and his song "Home", Israel was pre-qualified for the final, however, it eventually finished in 23rd place, making it the fourth time since 2015 that the host country ranked in the bottom five.

In 2020, Eden Alene was selected to represent the country with "Feker Libi". Following the cancellation of the 2020 edition, she was retained as the Israeli representative for, this time with "Set Me Free", which went on to finish in 17th place in the final. The song notably includes a B6 whistle note, the highest note in the history of the contest. Michael Ben David represented Israel in 2022 with "I.M", but failed to qualify for the final, marking the first time that Israel missed out on a final since 2014.[4] Noa Kirel with "Unicorn" finished in third place in 2023, the country's best result since its 2018 win. In 2024, Eden Golan finished in fifth place with "Hurricane", which scored more points overall than "Unicorn".

Participation overview

+ Table key
1First place
2Second place
3Third place
Last place-->
XEntry selected but did not compete
Upcoming event
YearArtistSongLanguageFinalPointsSemiPoints
Ilanit"Hebrew: [[Ey Sham]]|i=unset" Hebrew4 97rowspan="18" colspan="2"
Poogy"Hebrew: [[Natati La Khayay|Natati La Khaiai]]|i=unset" Hebrew7 11
Shlomo Artzi"Hebrew: [[At Va'Ani|At Ve'Ani]]|i=unset" Hebrew1140
Chocolate, Menta, Mastik"Hebrew: [[Emor Shalom]]|i=unset" Hebrew677
Ilanit"Hebrew: [[Ahava Hi Shir Lishnayim]]|i=unset" Hebrew11 49
Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta"Hebrew: [[A-Ba-Ni-Bi]]|i=unset" Hebrew1 157
Milk and Honey"Hallelujah" Hebrew1125
Hebrew: [[Hakol Over Habibi|Habibi]]|i=unset"Hebrew: [[Halayla]]|i=unset" Hebrew7 56
Avi Toledano"Hebrew: [[Hora (song)|Hora]]|i=unset" Hebrew2100
Ofra Haza"Hebrew: [[Hi (Ofra Haza song)|Hi]]|i=unset" Hebrew2 136
Izhar Cohen"Spanish; Castilian: [[Olé, Olé (song)|Olé, Olé]]|i=unset" Hebrew5 93
Moti Giladi and Sarai Tzuriel"Hebrew: [[Yavo Yom]]|i=unset" Hebrew19 7
Datner and Kushnir"Hebrew: [[Shir Habatlanim]]|i=unset" Hebrew8 73
Yardena Arazi"Hebrew: [[Ben Adam]]|i=unset" Hebrew7 85
Gili and Galit"Hebrew: [[Derekh Hamelekh]]|i=unset" Hebrew12 50
Rita"Hebrew: [[Shara Barkhovot]]|i=unset" Hebrew18 16
Duo Datz"Hebrew: [[Kan (song)|Kan]]|i=unset" Hebrew3 139
Dafna"Hebrew: [[Ze Rak Sport]]|i=unset" Hebrew6 85
Hebrew: [[Lehakat Shiru]]|i=unset"Hebrew: [[Shiru (song)|Shiru]]|i=unset" Hebrew, English24 4colspan="2"
Liora"Hebrew: [[Amen (Liora song)|Amen]]|i=unset" Hebrew8 81colspan="2"
Galit Bell"Hebrew: [[Shalom Olam]]|i=unset" Hebrew28 12
Dana International"Diva" Hebrew1172rowspan="6" colspan="2"
Eden"Happy Birthday"Hebrew, English5 93
PingPong"Hebrew: [[Sameach]]|i=unset" Hebrew22 7
Tal Sondak"Hebrew: [[Ein Davar]]|i=unset" Hebrew1625
Sarit Hadad"Light a Candle"Hebrew, English1237
Lior Narkis"Words for Love"Hebrew19 17
David D'Or"Hebrew: [[Leha'amin]]|i=unset" Hebrew, English1157
Shiri Maimon"Hebrew: [[HaSheket SheNish'ar]]|i=unset" English, Hebrew4154 7158
Eddie Butler"Together We Are One" English, Hebrew234colspan="2"
Teapacks"Push the Button" English, French, Hebrew2417
Boaz"The Fire in Your Eyes" Hebrew91245104
Noa and Mira Awad"There Must Be Another Way" English, Hebrew, Arabic1653775
Harel Skaat"Hebrew: [[Milim]]|i=unset" Hebrew1471871
Dana International"Ding Dong"Hebrew, English1538
Izabo"Time" English, Hebrew1333
Moran Mazor"Hebrew: [[Rak Bishvilo]]|i=unset" Hebrew1440
Mei Finegold"Same Heart" English, Hebrew1419
Nadav Guedj"Golden Boy"English9973151
Hovi Star"Made of Stars"English141357147
"I Feel Alive"English23393207
Netta"Toy"English15291283
Kobi Marimi"Home"English2335colspan=2
Eden Alene"Amharic: [[Feker Libi]]|i=unset" English, Amhariccolspan="4" X
Eden Alene"Set Me Free"English, Hebrew17935192
Michael Ben David"I.M"English1361
Noa Kirel"Unicorn"English, Hebrew33623127
Eden Golan"Hurricane"English, Hebrew53751194

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest

Hosting

YearLocationVenuePresentersPhoto
JerusalemInternational Convention CenterYardena Arazi and Daniel Pe'er
Dafna Dekel, Sigal Shachmon and Yigal Ravid
Tel AvivExpo Tel AvivErez Tal, Bar Refaeli, Assi Azar and Lucy Ayoub

Awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

YearCategorySongComposer(s)
PerformerFinalPointsHost city
Press Award"Milim" Tomer Hadadi (m) and Noam Horev (l)Harel Skaat1471 Oslo
Artistic Award
Composer Award

Winner by OGAE members

Related involvement

Conductors

YearConductorMusical DirectorNotes
Nurit Hirsh[5]
Yoni Rechter
Eldad Shrim
Matti Caspi
Eldad Shrim
Nurit HirshIzhak Graziani
Kobi Oshrat
Eldad Shrim[6]
Nansi Silviu Brandes
Kobi Oshrat
Yoram Zadok
Kobi Oshrat
Eldad Shrim
Shaike Paikov
Rami Levin
Kobi Oshrat
Amir Frohlich
Gadi Goldman

Heads of delegation

YearHead of delegation
Izchak Sonnenschein
Yoav Ginai
Tal Barnea
Tali Katz
Yuval Fischer

Commentators and spokespersons

Until 2018, Israel only had a television commentator once, in 1979. In most cases, the IBA opted instead to simply broadcast the transmission without commentary and with Hebrew subtitles. Beginning in 2013 and lasting until 2017, it also aired the contest with Arabic subtitles on Channel 33. In both 1984 and 1997, which Israel also had to miss due to the holiday, the IBA aired the show on delay, and there was no radio broadcast. It also typically provided radio commentary beginning in the early 1980s, unless the country was not participating that year (with the exception of 2000). The IBA did not provide commentary until 2013, when it resumed radio broadcasting. In 2018, the IBA's successor, Kan, employed television commentators for the contest, which was a first for the country since 1979. The Israeli transmission was also shown internationally via the Israeli Network between 2003 and 2004.[7]

YearTelevision commentatorRadio commentatorSpokesperson
rowspan="3" rowspan="3"
rowspan="7"
rowspan="6"
Yitzhak Shim'oni
rowspan="4"
Dan Kaner
Yitzhak Shim'oni
rowspan="33" Daniel Pe'er Yitzhak Shim'oni
Yitzhak Shim'oni
Daniel Pe'er
Danny Roup Daniel Pe'er
rowspan="2" rowspan="2"
Daniel Pe'er
Daniel Pe'er
rowspan="9"
Noa Barak-Weshler
Kobi Menora ; Ofer Nachshon ;
Amit Kotler, Yuval Caspin ;
Ron Levinthal, Kobi Oshrat, Yhaloma Bat Porat [8]
Kobi Menora, Yuval Caspin [9]
Kobi Menora ; Yuval Caspin ; Tal Argaman [10]
Kobi Menora, Or Vaxman, Nansi Brandes)[11] [12]
Kobi Menora, Dori Ben Ze'ev, Alon Amir [13]
Asaf Liberman, Shir Reuven
Itai Herman, Goel Pinto
Erez Tal, Idit Hershkowitz
Sharon Taicher, Eran Zarachowicz
Geula Even-Sa'ar, Asaf Liberman
Asaf Liberman, Akiva NovickLucy Ayoub
Daniel Styopin
Asaf Liberman, Akiva Novick ; Kobi Menora, Sharon Kantor Ilanit
Asaf Liberman, Akiva Novick ; Yoav Tzafir

Costume designers

YearCostume designers
Rozi Ben-Yosef [14]
Gideon Oberson

Photo gallery

Chocolate, Menta, Mastik in The Hague File:David D'or - Leha'amin.JPGDavid D'Or in Istanbul File:Teapacks Eurovision 2007.jpgTeapacks in Helsinki File:ESC 2008 - Israel - Boaz Mauda, 1st semifinal.jpgBoaz in Belgrade File:Harel Skaat - Milim (2nd Semi-final).jpgHarel Skaat in Oslo File:Dana Israel 2011.pngDana International in Düsseldorf File:ESC2013 - Israel 02 (crop).jpgMoran Mazor in Malmö File:ESC2014 - Israel 01.jpgMei Finegold in Copenhagen File:20150520 ESC 2015 Nadav Guedj 3542.jpgNadav Guedj in Vienna File:ESC2016 - Israel 01.jpgHovi Star in Stockholm File:Eurovision Song Contest 2017, Semi Final 2 Rehearsals. Photo 272.jpgImri in Kyiv File:ESC2018 - Israel 08.jpgNetta in Lisbon File:ESC2019-Israel.jpgKobi Marimi in Tel Aviv File:ESC 2021 Rotterdam 1st Semi Jury Show Israel.jpgEden Alene in Rotterdam File:Eurovision 2022 - Semi-final 2 - Israel - Michael Ben David.jpgMichael Ben David in Turin File:Eurovision 2023 - Jury Semi-final 1 - Israel - Noa Kirel (02).jpgNoa Kirel in Liverpool File:Eden Golan Eurovision Song Contest 2024 Final dress rehearsal 04.jpgEden Golan in Malmö

Arab reaction

In 1978, during the performance of the Israeli entry, the Jordanian broadcaster JRTV suspended the broadcast, and instead showed pictures of flowers. When it became apparent during the later stages of the voting sequence that Israel was going to win the contest, JRTV abruptly ended the transmission.[15] Afterwards, the Jordanian news media refused to acknowledge the fact that Israel had won, and announced that the winner was Belgium (which had actually come in second).[16] By coincidence, Israel did not broadcast the victory as well, as the IBA was unable to buy enough broadcasting time. The victory was broadcast the following day. At the time, Israeli television was in its infancy and broadcasting in black-and-white. Most Israelis therefore watched international events in colour, with the signal relayed via neighbouring Jordan. As Jordan did not broadcast the Israeli entry and the IBA did not broadcast the results portion of the event, the win only became known via radio broadcasts.

Because of Israel's participation in the contest, many Arab states that are eligible to participate do not do so.,, and are cases in point.[17] Tunisia intended to participate in 1977, but decided not to do so in the end; Lebanon also intended to participate in but later withdrew (incurring a fine by the EBU) because Lebanese law does not allow the promotion of Israeli content, and consequently Lebanese television was not allowed to transmit the Israeli entry – which would have been a violation of the EBU's rules.[18]

See also

References

Notes and References

  1. https://eurovision.tv/event/the-hague-1980 1980 Eurovision
  2. https://www.makorrishon.co.il/nrg/online/47/ART2/361/724.html ימים טובים, ימים רעים: אילנית פותחת פה על המדינה ועל נינט
  3. https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/83503 ללכת שבי אחריה
  4. News: 2022-02-05 . Israel has decided: Michael Ben David to Eurovision 2022 . en-gb . Eurovisionworld . 2022-04-03.
  5. Book: Roxburgh . Gordon . Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest . 2014 . . Prestatyn . 978-1-84583-093-9 . 142–168 . Two: The 1970s.
  6. Book: Roxburgh . Gordon . Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest . 2016 . . Prestatyn . 978-1-84583-118-9 . Three: The 1980s.
  7. Web site: EBU.CH :: 2004_05_11_ESC. https://web.archive.org/web/20050408074145/http://www.ebu.ch/en/union/news/2004/tcm_6-12072.php. 8 April 2005. 23 June 2020. EBU.
  8. Web site: 88FMאירווזיון 2013 ב. . 11 May 2013. Israel Broadcasting Authority. 13 May 2013. he. 88FM in Eurovision 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131213010256/http://www.iba.org.il/88fm/88fm.aspx?entity=929010&type=1&page=61. 13 December 2013.
  9. Web site: http://www.iba.org.il/88fm/88fm.aspx?entity=1005366&type=1&page=61. he:המופע של פרנק נֵף לקראת אירוויזיון 2014. 17 April 2014. Israel Broadcasting Authority. 24 April 2014. he. The performance of the Frank Neff preparation for Eurovision 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140424094105/http://www.iba.org.il/88fm/88fm.aspx?entity=1005366&type=1&page=61. 24 April 2014.
  10. Web site: http://www.iba.org.il/spokesman/spokesman.aspx?page=323&entity=1093225. he:אירוויזיון 2015 מוינה בערוץ הראשון. 12 May 2015. Israel Broadcasting Authority. 12 May 2015. he. Eurovision 2015 is classified into the first channel. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924050103/http://www.iba.org.il/spokesman/spokesman.aspx?page=323&entity=1093225. 24 September 2015.
  11. Web site: http://www.iba.org.il/spokesman/spokesman.aspx?entity=1157916&type=1. he:נבחרו חברי צוות השיפוט הישראלי לאירוויזיון. 3 May 2016. iba.org.il. Israel Broadcasting Authority. 5 May 2016. he.
  12. Web site: בהצלחה ל-Hovi Star הערב ב-Eurovision Song... - 88 FM - הדף הרשמי. https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/140338072650526/1212644195419903 . 2022-02-26 . limited. Facebook. Kol Yisrael. 12 May 2016. he. 12 May 2016.
  13. Web site: Laufer. Gil. Israel national broadcaster IBA is officially shut down. esctoday.com. ESCToday. 10 May 2017. 10 May 2017.
  14. Web site: The Quest for the "Unforgettable Dress" Revealed: The Dress Was Forgotten. he. 16 May 2019. Ynet. Daphna. Arad.
  15. Book: O'Connor, John Kennedy. 2005. The Eurovision Song Contest 50 Years The Official History. Carlton Books Limited. London. 1-84442-586-X.
  16. Web site: esctoday.com. 2005. Eurovision Song Contest 1978. 8 May 2007.
  17. Web site: says . Rauli Rantala . 2018-05-22 . Israeli Minister "to invite" Arabic nations, including Tunisia, to take part in Eurovision 2019 . 2022-05-29 . ESCXTRA.com . en-GB.
  18. News: BBC News. 18 March 2005. Lebanon withdraws from Eurovision. 15 July 2006.