KAN, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, announced late last week that the country’s song to be performed at the Eurovision Song Contest by Yuval Raphael, who won the Next Star for the Eurovision Competition and will be Israel’s representative, has been selected.
Like last year’s “Hurricane,” which was performed by Eden Golan and which came in fifth place overall, the new song was composed by Keren Peles. It will be revealed in a special broadcast on KAN 11 on March 9 and will be available on all the station’s platforms.
It was chosen unanimously by the judging panel and includes some verses from the Song of Songs, considered by many to be one of the most beautiful parts of the Bible.
The selection team was headed by Barak Itzkovitz, director of KAN’s music stations; it included senior music editors from the broadcaster, senior figures in the Israeli music and television industry, and a public representative.
According to the competition regulations, the song will be submitted for final approval by the European Broadcasting Union.
Generally, the EBU approves the songs submitted to it, but last year it deemed the first song Israel submitted, “October Rain,” which made clear references to the massacre at the Supernova music festival in which over 360 people were killed, to be too political. The song was revised and renamed “Hurricane.”
October 7 survivor
Raphael herself was a survivor of the massacre. She took shelter in a bomb shelter that was attacked by terrorists, and hid under dead bodies for hours until she was rescued.
This year, Eurovision will be held in Basel in May.
Even before the announcement about Peles, early Eurovision betting tables show that Israel is currently in the lead.
The website Euromix reported last week that, following the selection of Raphael as Israel’s representative, Israel has topped the list of all 37 competing countries taking part in the contest this year. Belgium and Sweden occupy the second and third slots, respectively.