Mikaela Garber
Managing Editor
The wildly popular, annual Eurovision song contest, which gathers countries from all over Europe to compete, occurred this year in the UK. The contest operates as follows: each country selects its singer and song before going to Eurovision, which has two semi-finals and one grand finale which is voted on by the public vote. Since Israel’s first entry into the contest in 1973, they have won four times, with the most recent being in 2018. In the past, Israel’s singer was chosen on a reality TV show. However, this year, Israel had a selection committee choose instead.
Noa Kirel, age 22, was Israel’s chosen contestant for this year’s Eurovision. Known for her hit singles such as “Million Dollar,” Kirel is one of Israel’s most popular singers of today. While she felt honored that the committee picked her, she had some concerns about accepting. For one, Noa Kirel was afraid of losing due to politics. In addition, she wanted the opportunity to have creative license over the song and performance. After much hesitation and deliberation, Kirel agreed to be Israel’s representative.
Kirel’s song of choice is entitled “Unicorn.” The song, which is mostly in English with a few Hebrew lines, has a dance break in the middle. In her words, “We are faced with so many challenges and for that we need a special power. The power of a unicorn… Maybe if we stop hating each other and believe in fairytales a little more, we will have a phenomenal phenomenal phenomenal world.” According to a public poll, 38% of people gave the song a 10/10.
Ultimately, Sweden won the contest on May 14, and Israel got awarded third place. Kirel scored 362 points overall, with combined votes from the juries and the televote. Although Noa had every reason to be disappointed, she instead expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to represent Israel on this huge stage.