Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest

Balance sheet

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Broadcasting company

First participation

1973

Number of participations

42 (as of 2019)

Highest ranking

1 ( 1978 , 1979 , 1998 , 2018 )

Highest Score

529 (2018)

Lowest Score

4 ( 1993 , 2006 )

Points average (since first post)

78.02 (as of 2019)

Average points per voting country in the 12-point system

2.50 (as of 2019)

This article looks at the history of Israel as a participant in the Eurovision Song Contest .

Regularity of participation and successes in competition

Netta, winner 2018

As the first non-European country, Israel made its debut in 1973 at the Eurovision Song Contest. The debut was quite successful: the country finished fourth out of 17 in the final. Also in 1974 the country reached 7th place and 1976 with 6th place two further placements in the front half of the table. In 1975 and 1977, however, an average place was achieved with 11th place. At the sixth participation in 1978 Israel then won for the first time. Yizhar Cohen & The Alpha-Beta won the competition and achieved a new high of 157 points. In 1979, when Israel first held the competition, Gali Atari & Milk and Honey took first place again, making Israel the second consecutive win. In 1980, when Israel was actually entitled to host it, the competition was to take place on Yom HaZikaron , the day of remembrance of the fallen Israeli soldiers and victims of terrorism. Because of this, the country withdrew from the competition for the first time in 1980. For this reason, Israel is still the only country that was unable to defend its victory the following year. In 1981, however, the country returned.

Hakol Over Habibi came back in 1981 with 7th place, another place in the top ten. In 1982 and 1983 Israel was again very successful and reached 2nd place in each case. In 1984 the country withdrew from the competition again. Another Israeli holiday was given as the reason. In 1985 the country returned to competition. Yizhar Cohen, who won Israel's first victory together with The Alpha-Beta in 1978, took Israel's fifth place in the top ten in 1985. In 1986 Israel achieved its worst result to date. Moti Giladi & Sarai Tzuriel achieved only the penultimate place and with 7 points Israel's lowest score in the competition until then. It was the first time in nine years that an Israeli contribution did not land in the left half of the table. In 1987 the duo Lazy Bums reached 8th place but again a place in the top ten. Another good result was achieved in 1988 with 7th place. In 1989, however, only an average place was achieved with 12th place. In 1990 Rita achieved a rather poor result with place 18 out of 22. In 1991 another success followed in the competition. The duo Datz reached 3rd place and thus another placement among the top ten. In 1992, a good result was achieved again with 6th place. In 1993 Israel's worst result in the competition followed. The group Lahakat Shiru only reached the penultimate place and got a new low score for Israel in the competition with only four points. To date, it is the lowest score Israel has ever achieved in the competition. Because of this poor placement, the country had to sit out in 1994. It was not until 1995 that the country was allowed to participate again.

In 1995 Israel returned to the competition and reached 8th place with Liora. In 1996 Israel took part in the internal preliminary decision of the EBU, but only reached the last place and was therefore not allowed to participate in 1996. The following year, 1997, the country voluntarily decided not to participate. In 1998 Israel returned to the competition and sent a transsexual person, Dana International, to the competition, which was controversial in Israel. After an exciting scoring, Israel won in the end. With 172 points, Dana International also achieved a new high for her country by then. In 1999 Israel hosted for the second time. The band Eden achieved another good result for the country with 5th place. From 2000 to 2004 Israel then had its worst phase in the competition. No contribution from the country was able to achieve a placement in the top ten. In 2000, the country was only third from bottom. In 2001 and 2003, Israel achieved poor places on average with 16th and 19th place. In 2002, with 12th place, only an average placement was achieved. In 2004, when the semifinals were introduced, a new low was reached: David D'Or narrowly missed the final with 11th place in the semifinals, which meant that Israel was eliminated in the semifinals for the first time. Not until 2005 did Israel improve again.

In 2005 referee Maimon finally achieved Israel's best result since Dana International's victory in 1998 with fourth place. In 2006, however, Israel was only penultimate in the final and, as in 1993, only achieved four points. In 2007, the country was eliminated in the semi-finals for the second time. In 2008, Boaz Mauda reached fifth place in the semifinals, making Israel the first time in two years to take part in the final. There he achieved the best result since 2005 with 9th place. The country also reached the finals in 2009 and 2010, but was only able to place in the midfield with 16th and 14th place. From 2011, Israel's previous low point in competition followed. In 2011, the country sent Dana International, which had already won in 1998, to compete again. However, she could not repeat her success of 1998. She was eliminated in the semifinals. The country also missed the final in 2012 and 2013. In 2014, the country was penultimate in the semi-finals and was eliminated for the fourth time in a row in the semi-finals. It was not until 2015 that the country was competitive again.

In 2015 Israel then sent Nadav Guedj to the competition, who reached 3rd place in the semifinals and thus Israel participated in the final for the first time since 2010. Here he achieved Israel’s best result in seven years with 9th place. Also in 2016, Hovi Star was able to qualify for the finals and took 14th place in the midfield. In 2017 Imri Ziv, like Nadav Guedj in 2015, reached 3rd place in the semi-finals. In the final, however, he was less successful and ended up only in the lower ranks with 23rd place. Israel was all the more successful in 2018. Netta Barzilai won the semi-finals and was also able to win the final, which is Israel's fourth victory in the competition. With 529 points she also got a new high score for the country in the competition. In 2019, Israel hosted the competition for the fourth time, but this time for the first time in Tel Aviv. There the singer Kobi Marimi could not build on the success of the previous year. In the end, he reached number 23

A total of 20 of the 42 entries ended up in the left half of the table. With four wins (1978, 1979, 1998, 2018), two second places (1982, 1983) and one third place (1991), Israel is one of the more successful participants in the competition. The country has never finished last and only missed the finals six times.

List of posts

Color legend: - 1st place. - 2nd place. - 3rd place. - Equal points with last place. - Eliminated in the semifinals / in the qualification / in the Eastern European preliminary decision. - no participation / not qualified. - Cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest.      

year	Interpreter	Title Music (M) and Text (T)	language	translation	final		Semi-final / qualification		National preliminary decision
					space	Points	space	Points
1973	Ilanite אילנית	'Ey sham (אי שם) M: Nurit Hirsh ; T: Ehud Manor	Hebrew	Somewhere	4/17	97	Direct participation		internal selection
1974	Poogy כוורת	Natati la Chaiai (נתתי לה חיי) M: Dani Sanderson; T: Dani Sanderson, Alon Oleartchick	Hebrew	I gave her my life	7/17	11			internal selection
1975	Shlomo Artzi שלמה ארצי	'At va-'ani (את ואני) M: Shlomo Artzi; T: Ehud Manor	Hebrew	You and me	11/19	40			internal selection
1976	Chocolate Menta Mastik שוקולד מנטה מסטיק	'Emor shalom (אמור שלום) M: Matti Caspi; T: Ehud Manor	Hebrew	Say hello'	6/18	77			internal selection
1977	Ilanite אילנית	'Ahava hi shir li-shnayim (אהבה היא שיר לשניים) M: Eldad Shrim; T: Edna Peleg	Hebrew	Love is a song for two	11/18	49			internal selection
1978	Yizhar Cohen & The Alpha Beta יזהר כהן והאלפא ביתא	A-ba-ni-bi (א-ב-ני-בי) M: Nurit Hirsh; T: Ehud Mano	Hebrew	Me (in B language , a child's secret language)	1  /20	157			Israel Song Festival 1978
1979	Gali Atari & Milk and Honey גלי עטרי וחלב ודבש	Hallelujah (הללויה) M: Kobi Oshrat; T: Shimrit Orr	Hebrew	Praise God	1  /19	125			Israel Song Festival 1979
1980	The Brothers & The Sisters האחים והאחיות	Pizmon Chozer (פזמון חוזר) M / T: Gideon Koren	Hebrew	Chorus	Participation withdrawn public holiday in Israel				Israel Song Festival 1980
1981	Hakol Over Habibi הכל עובר חביבי	Ha-layla (הלילה) M: Shuki Levi ; T: Shlomit Aharon, Yuval Dor	Hebrew	This evening	7/20	56	Direct participation		Kdam Eurovision 1981
1982	Avi Toledano אבי טולדנו	Hora (הורה) M: Avi Toledano; T: Yoram Tahar-Lev	Hebrew	Hora	2/18	100			Kdam Eurovision 1982
1983	Ofra Haza עפרה חזה	Chai (חי) M: Avi Toledano; T: Ehud Manor	Hebrew	Lively	2/20	136			Kdam Eurovision 1983
1984	Ilanite אילנית	Balalaika (בללייקה) M: Kobi Oshrat; T: Yoram Teharlev	Hebrew	-	Participation withdrawn public holiday in Israel				Kdam Eurovision 1984
1985	Yizhar Cohen יזהר כהן	Olé olé (עולה עולה) M: Kobi Oshrat; T: Hamutal Ben Ze'ev	Hebrew	-	5/19	93	Direct participation		Kdam Eurovision 1985
1986	Moti Giladi & Sarai Tzuriel מוטי גלעדי ושרי צוריאל	Yavo yom (יבוא יום) M: Yoram Zadok; T: Moti Galadi	Hebrew	A day will come	19/20	7th			Kdam Eurovision 1986
1987	Lazy bangs נתן דטנר ואבי קושניר	Shir ha-batlanim (שיר הבטלנים) M / T: Zohar Laskov	Hebrew	Loafers song	8/22	73			Kdam Eurovision 1987
1988	Jardena Arasi ירדנה ארזי	Ben 'adam (בן אדם) M: Boris Dimitshtein; T: Ehud Manor	Hebrew	A human	7/21	85			Kdam Eurovision 1988
1989	Gili & Galit גילי וגלית	Derekh ha-melekh (דרך המלך) M / T: Shaike Paikov	Hebrew	The royal road	12/22	50			Kdam Eurovision 1989
1990	Rita ריטה	Shara ba-rkhovot (שרה ברחובות) M: Rami Kleinstein; T: Tzruya Lahav	Hebrew	Singing in the streets	18/22	16			internal selection
1991	Duo Datz אורנה ומשה דץ	Kan (כאן) M / T: Uzi Chitman	Hebrew	Here	3/22	139			Kdam Eurovision 1991
1992	Dafna Dekel דפנה	Ze rak sport (זה רק ספורט) M: Kobi Oshrat; T: Ehud Manor	Hebrew	It's just sport	6/23	85			Kdam Eurovision 1992
1993	Lahakat Shiru להקת שירו	Shiru (שירו) M: Shaike Paikov; T: Yoram Taharlev, David Chris	Hebrew, English	Sings	24/25	4th			Kdam Eurovision 1993
1994	Not qualified
1995	Liora ליאורה	Amen (אמן) M: Moshe Datz; T: Hamutal Ben Ze'ev	Hebrew	That's how it should be	8/23	81	Qualified directly for the final		Kdam Eurovision 1995
1996	Galit Bell גלית בל	Shalom olam (שלום עולם) M / T: Eyal Madani, Doron Vitenberg	Hebrew	Hello World	Not qualified qualifying round		28/29	12	Kdam Eurovision 1996
1997	No participation
1998	Dana International דנה אינטרנשיונל	Diva (דיווה) M: Tzvika of spades; T: Yoav Ginai	Hebrew	-	1  / 25th	172	Qualified directly for the final		internal selection
1999	Eden עדן	Yom huledet (Happy Birthday) (יום הולדת(Happy Birthday)) M / T: Moshe Datz, Gabriel Batler, Yaacov Lymay, Jacky Oved	Hebrew, English	Happy Birthday	5/23	93			internal selection
2000	Ping pong פינגפונג	Sa'me'akh (Be Happy) (שמייח(Be Happy) M: Roi Arad, Guy Asif; T: Roi Arad, Guy Asif, Ronen Ben Tal	Hebrew a.	Happy	22/24	7th			internal selection
2001	Valley Sondak טל סונדק	'En davar (אין דבר) M: Yair Klinger; T: Shimrit Orr	Hebrew	Never mind	16/23	25th			Kdam Eurovision 2001
2002	Sarit Hadad שרית חדד	Nadlik beyachad ner (Light a Candle) (נדליק ביחד נר(Light a Candle) M: Tzvika of Spades; T: Yoav Ginai	Hebrew, English	Light a candle (together we light a candle)	12/24	37			internal selection
2003	Lior Narkis ליאור נרקיס	Milim La'ahava (Words for Love) (מילים לאהבה(Words for Love) M: Yoni Ro'en; T: Yossi Gispan	Hebrew, English b.	Words of love	19/26	17th			internal selection
2004	David D'Or דוד ד'אור	Leha'amin (To Believe) (להאמין(To Believe)) M / T: David D'Or	Hebrew, English	To believe (to believe)	Eliminated		11/22	57	internal selection
2005	Referee Maimon שירי מימון	Hasheket shenish'ar (The Silence That Remains) (השקט שנשאר(The Silence That Remains) M: Pini Aronbayev; T: Eyal Shachar, Pini Aronbayev	Hebrew, English	The silence that remains	4/24	154	7/25	158	Kdam Eurovision 2005
2006	Eddie Butler אדי בטלר	Ze Hazman (Together We Are One) (זה הזמן(Together We Are One) M: Eddie Butler; T: Osnat Tsabag, Orly Burg	Hebrew, English	Together we are one (this is the time)	23/24	4th	Qualified directly for the final		Kdam Eurovision 2006
2007	Tea packs טיפקס	Push the Button (Kaftor Adom) (Push the Button (כפתור אדום)) M / T: Kobi Oz	Hebrew, English, French	Push the button	Eliminated		24/28	17th	internal selection
2008	Boaz Mauda בועז	The Fire in Your Eyes (Ke'ilu Kan) (The Fire in Your Eyes (כאילו כאן)) M: Dana International ; T: Dana International , Shai Kerem	Hebrew, English	The fire in your eyes	9/25	124	5/19	104	Kdam Eurovision 2008
2009	Noa & Mira Awad אחינועם ניני ומירה עוואד	There Must Be Another Way (Einach) (There Must Be Another Way (עינייך)) M / T: Noa, Mira Awad, Gil Dor	Hebrew, English, Arabic	There must be another way (your eyes)	16/25	53	7/18	75	Kdam Eurovision 2009
2010	Harel Skaat הראל סקעת	Milim (מילים) M: Tomer Hadadi; T: Noam Horev	Hebrew	Words	14/25	71	8/17	71	Kdam Eurovision 2010
2011	Dana International דנה אינטרנשיונל	Ding Dong (דינג דונג) M / T: Dana International	Hebrew, English	-	Eliminated		15/19	38	Kdam Eurovision 2011
2012	Izabo איזבו	Time M: Ran Shem-Tov; T: Shiri Hader	English, Hebrew	time	Eliminated		13/18	33	internal selection
2013	Moran Mazor מורן מזור	Rak bishvilo (רק בשבילו) M: Chen Harari; T: Gal Sarig	Hebrew	Just for him	Eliminated		14/17	40	Kdam Eurovision 2013
2014	My fine gold מיי פיינגולד	Same Heart M / T: Rami Talmid	English, Hebrew	Same heart	Eliminated		14/15	19th	Kdam Eurovision 2014
2015	Nadav Guedj נדב גדג	Golden Boy M / T: Doron Medal	English	Golden boy	9/27	97	3/17	151	HaKokhav HaBa 2015
2016	Hovi Star חובי סטאר	Made of Stars M / T: Doron Medal	English	Made from stars	14/26	135	7/18	147	HaKokhav HaBa 2016
2017	Imri Ziv אימרי זיו	I Feel Alive M / T: Dolev Ram, Penn Hazut	English	I feel alive	23/26	39	3/18	207	HaKokhav HaBa 2017
2018	Netta Barzilai נטע ברזילי	Toy M / T: Doron Medalie , Stav Beger	English, Hebrew	toy	1  / 26th	529	1/19	283	HaKokhav HaBa 2018
2019	Kobi Marimi קובי מרימי	Home M / T: Ohad Shragai, Inbar Vaizman	English	At home	23/26	35	Qualified directly for the final		HaKokhav HaBa L'Eurovizion 2019
2020	Eden Alene עדן אלנה	Feker Libi M / T: Doron Medalie , Idan Raichel	English, Hebrew, Amharic , Arabic , Constructed Language	Loved	Cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic by the EBU				HaKokhav HaBa L'Eurovizion 2020
2021	Eden Alene עדן אלנה

^a. in a few words in English

^b.in a few words in Greek , French and Spanish

National preliminary decisions

In the first few years the broadcaster chose the participants internally, after which the Hebrew Song and Choir Festival took place in 1978 and 1979 as a preliminary decision. In the following years Kdam established itself as Israel's preliminary decision. Until 1996, the preliminary decision was only waived in 1990. From 1998 to 2004, Israel selected the majority of its contributions internally, only in 2001 Kdam took place again. From 2005 to 2014 Kdam established itself again as a preliminary decision. During this time, the preliminary decision was only waived in 2007 and 2012 and elected internally. In 2013, for the 40th anniversary, the Kdam preliminary decision was expanded to include several preliminary rounds and a second chance round, similar to the Swedish Melodifestivalen .

From 2015 to 2020, the winner of the casting show HaKokhav HaBa was selected as the ESC representative, but the title was often selected internally. Only in 2016 was the song also selected in the program, but revised after the selection. In 2020 an external preliminary decision for the song by Eden Alene was held. In 2021, Eden Alene should again find her song for Rotterdam in a specially designed preliminary decision.

languages

Israel has remained very faithful to its official language, Hebrew, for a long time. Up to and including 1998, all contributions were sung in this language. This also applies to the years in which there was no language regulation (i.e. from 1973 to 1976). From 1999 the contributions were often mixed with English , the mixture of Hebrew chorus and English verse was particularly common. In 2009, There must be another way was presented in Hebrew and English as well as in the second official language, Arabic .

In 2015, the Israeli contribution was sung entirely in English for the first time. In the years that followed, English was also sung more often (2016, 2017, 2019). In 2018, however, Toy was mostly written in English, but also contained a few words and lines from the Hebrew language. This was the first time since 2014 that the language appeared in the competition. In 2020 Israel wanted to send a five-language contribution that would have been sung in English, Hebrew, Arabic, a constructed language and in Amharic . The latter would have been listed in the competition for the first time, but the competition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic .

Competitions held

year	city	venue	Moderation
1979	Jerusalem	International Convention Center	Daniel Pe'er & Yardena Arazi
1999			Yigal Ravid , Dafna Dekel & Sigal Shachmon
2019	Tel Aviv	Tel Aviv Convention Center	Erez Tal , Bar Refaeli , Assi Azar & Lucy Ayoub

Scoring

The following countries received the most points from or awarded the most points to Israel (as of 2019):

Most of the points awarded in the final space country Points 1  Sweden 171 2  France 159 3  United Kingdom 155 4th  Russia 134 5  Spain 125

Most in the final received points space country Points 1  France 205 2  Finland 160 3  Switzerland 145 4th  Germany 141 5  Netherlands 138

Most of the points awarded space country Points 1  Sweden 208 2  Romania 182 3  Russia 170 4th  France 159 5  United Kingdom 155

Most total obtained points space country Points 1  France 252 2  Finland 209 3  Switzerland 192 4th  Germany 190 5  Netherlands 185

Award of the highest rating

Since 1975, Israel has awarded the highest number of points in the final in 23 different countries, four of them to the United Kingdom. In the semifinals, Israel awarded the maximum number of points to 13 different countries, including three each to Australia and Russia.

Highest rating (final) year country Place (final) 1975  Netherlands 1 1976  United Kingdom 1 1977  Ireland 3 1978  Netherlands 13 1979  Denmark 6th 1980 No participation 1981  United Kingdom 1 1982  Germany 1 1983  Luxembourg 1 1984 No participation 1985  Norway 1 1986  Switzerland 2 1987  Sweden 12 1988  Yugoslavia 6th 1989  Yugoslavia 1 1990  Yugoslavia 7th 1991  France 2 1992  France 8th 1993  United Kingdom 2 1994 Not qualified 1995  Spain 2 1996 Not qualified 1997 No participation 1998  United Kingdom 2 1999  Germany 3 2000  Denmark 1 2001  Spain 6th 2002  Latvia 1 2003  Spain 8th 2004  Ukraine 1 2005  Romania 3 2006  Russia 2 2007  Belarus 6th 2008  Russia 1 2009  Norway 1 2010  Armenia 7th 2011  Sweden 3 2012  Sweden 1 2013  Azerbaijan 2 2014  Austria 1 2015  Italy 3 2016  Ukraine (J) 1  France (T) 6th 2017  Portugal (J&T) 1 2018  Austria (J) 3  Czech Republic (T) 6th 2019  Netherlands (J) 1  Italy (T) 2 2020 Competition canceled

Highest rating (semi-finals) year country Place (semifinals) 2004  Greece 3 2005  Romania 1 2006  Russia 3 2007  Belarus 4th 2008  Russia 3 2009  Iceland 1 2010  Armenia 6th 2011  Sweden 1 2012  Russia 1 2013  Azerbaijan 1 2014  Romania 2 2015  Sweden 1 2016  Australia (J&T) 1 2017  Hungary (J) 2  Bulgaria (T) 1 2018  Austria (J) 4th  Czech Republic (T) 3 2019  Greece (J) 5  Australia (T) 1 2020 Competition canceled

various

• In 2010, Harel Skaat with his title Milim was the first participant in a Eurovision Song Contest , which managed to win all three categories of the Marcel Bezençon Prize .
• During the awarding of points in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest on May 13, 2017 in Kiev , Israel's points spokesman announced that the country would no longer be able to participate in the competition because the previously responsible broadcaster Israel Broadcasting Agency (IBA) would be closed. In the following year, the successor broadcaster Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) became a member of the EBU and Israel continued to participate.

Impressions

• 

  David D'or 2004

• 

  Teapacks 2007

• 

  Boaz 2008

• 

  Harel Skaat 2010

• 

  Dana International 2011

• 

  Moran Mazor 2013

• 

  Mei Finegold 2014

• 

  Nadav Guedj 2015

• 

  Hovi Star 2016

• 

  Imri 2017

• 

  Netta 2018

• 

  Kobi Marimi 2019

Individual evidence

1. ↑ esctoday.com Israel: IPBC applies for European Broadcasting Union membership