Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Eurovision Song Contest 2021
Country	Israel
National selection
Selection process	Artist: Internal selection Song:HaShir Shelanu L'Eurovizion
Selection date(s)	Artist: 22 March 2020 Song: 25 January 2021
Selected artist(s)	Eden Alene
Selected song	"Set Me Free"
Selected songwriter(s)	Noam Zaltin Ido Netzer Amit Mordechai Ron Carmi
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Qualified (5th, 192 points)
Final result	17th, 93 points
Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2020 • 2021 • 2022►

Israel participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, having internally selected Eden Alene as their representative. She was due to compete in the 2020 contest with " Feker Libi " before the event's cancellation. Her entry for 2021, "Set Me Free", was chosen during the national selection competition HaShir Shelanu L'Eurovizion ("Our Song for Eurovision") organised by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan).

Background

Main article: Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2021 contest, Israel had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-two times since its first entry in 1973. ^[1] Israel has won the contest on four occasions: in 1978 with the song " A-Ba-Ni-Bi " performed by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, in 1979 with the song " Hallelujah " performed by Milk and Honey, in 1998 with the song " Diva " performed by Dana International and in 2018 with the song "Toy" performed by Netta Barzilai.

Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Israel has failed to reach the final six times. In 2005, 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 for the first time in five years, with Nadav Guedj finishing ninth in 2015, and the country has participated in the final every year since. Israel's fourth victory came when Netta won the 2018 contest in Lisbon, with the song "Toy". The following year, when the contest was held in Tel Aviv, Kobi Marimi represented the country on home soil with the song "Home", finishing twenty-third with 35 points in the final.

Before Eurovision

Artist selection

On 22 March 2020, Kan confirmed that Eden Alene would be kept as the Israeli representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, ^[2] and in December 2020, it was revealed that the song that Alene would represent Israel with in Rotterdam for 2021 would be selected through a national final called HaShir Shelanu L'Eurovizion ("Our Song for Eurovision"). ^[3]

HaShir Shelanu L'Eurovizion

On 16 September 2020, Kan opened a public song submission window for interested songwriters to apply, with a deadline set for 15 October 2020. ^[4] 220 submissions were received, which were subsequently evaluated by a professional committee consisting of Ofri Gopher (Director of Kan Music Stations), Roi Dalmadigo (Editor of Kan Gimel), Tal Argaman (DJ and music editor at Kan 88), Alona Kedem (Editor of Kan 88 and Kan Gimel), Tali Katz (Head of Delegation for Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest) and Michael Weisberg (CEO of Aroma Music) that selected nine songs for the competition. ^{[5] [6]}

After previous reports that the national final would consist of three live shows of four songs each, ^[7] it was revealed the winning song would be selected over two rounds of online voting through Kan's official website. In the first round, demo versions of the nine competing songs were released on 2 December 2020 and the public was able to vote until 13 December. ^[8] The two songs with the most votes advanced to the second round, and the professional committee selected an additional song from the remaining seven to advance. ^[9] In the second round, the three songs, finalised and re-recorded by Alene, were to be released on 18 January 2021, however the songs were officially released on 5 January after an early publication by the newspaper Israel Hayom . ^{[10] [11]} The public was able to vote for their favourite song between 19 and 25 January, and the winning song was revealed during a special televised broadcast on 25 January from the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv, hosted by Lucy Ayoub. ^{[12] [13]}

First round – 2–13 December 2020 ^[9]

Song	Songwriter(s)	Percentage	Place	Result
"Can't Stop a Hurricane"	Yahel Doron, Naama Gali, Ella Doron [14]	8.9%	6	Eliminated
"Coming Out"	Oren Emanuel, Talia Londoner, Ori Avni [15]	7.3%	8	Eliminated
"Flying"	Mati Gilad, Dor Turgeman, Iftach Even [16]	8.7%	7	Eliminated
"La La Love"	Yosef Bach, Gal Malka, Gil Vain	—	—	Advanced
"Rise Up Today"	Ariel Tuchman, Ariel Segal [17]	7.2%	9	Eliminated
"Set Me Free"	Noam Zaltin, Ido Netzer, Amit Mordechai, Ron Carmi	—	—	Advanced
"Shoulders"	Zohar Barzilai, Adi Rotem	12.1%	4	Eliminated
"Spilling Magic"	Itay Shimoni, Nadav Aharoni [18]	10.4%	5	Eliminated
"Ue La La"	Niv Cohen, Meital Cohen, Noy Eisen, Aline Cohen	—	—	Advanced

Second round – 19–25 January 2021 ^[13]

Song	Percentage	Place
"La La Love"	17.2%	2
"Set Me Free"	71.3%	1
"Ue La La"	11.5%	3

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. For the 2021 contest, the semi-final allocation draw held for 2020 which was held on 28 January 2020, was used. Israel was placed into the first semi-final, which was held on 18 May 2021, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. ^[19]

Semi-final

Eden Alene performing during the 1st Semi-final Jury Show

Once all the competing songs for the 2021 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Israel was set to perform in position 12, following the entry from Belgium and preceding the entry from Romania. ^[20]

On May 18, the day the semi-final was held, Israel qualified for the Grand Final. During her performance, Alene hit the highest note ever sung in the Eurovision Song Contest, reaching B6 whistle note.

Final

Israel performed 3rd in the grand final on 22 May 2021, following Albania and preceding Belgium. The song has received 93 points at the close of voting, finishing 17th overall.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1–8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with a diversity in gender and age represented. The judges assess each entry based on the performances during the second Dress Rehearsal of each show, which takes place the night before each live show, against a set of criteria including: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. ^[21] Jury members may only take part in panel once every three years, and are obliged to confirm that they are not connected to any of the participating acts in a way that would impact their ability to vote impartially. Jury members should also vote independently, with no discussion of their vote permitted with other jury members. ^[22] The exact composition of the professional jury, and the results of each country's jury and televoting were released after the grand final; the individual results from each jury member were also released in an anonymised form. ^{[23] [24]}

Points awarded to Israel

Points awarded to Israel (Semi-final 1) [25] Score Televote Jury 12 points   Azerbaijan   Italy   North Macedonia 10 points   Cyprus   Romania   Russia   Sweden 8 points   Australia   Netherlands   Norway 7 points   Ukraine   Croatia   Lithuania 6 points   Netherlands   Sweden   Ukraine 5 points   Germany   Ireland   Malta   Norway 4 points   Australia   Belgium   Croatia   Russia   Belgium 3 points   Italy   Germany 2 points   Lithuania   Slovenia 1 point   North Macedonia   Azerbaijan   Cyprus

Points awarded to Israel (Final) [26] Score Televote Jury 12 points   Azerbaijan 10 points 8 points   North Macedonia   Norway 7 points   Ukraine 6 points   Poland   United Kingdom 5 points   France   Croatia   France   Russia 4 points   Italy   Netherlands   Sweden 3 points   Bulgaria   Spain 2 points   Cyprus   Serbia 1 point   Romania   Denmark   Lithuania   Slovenia

Points awarded by Israel

Points awarded by Israel (Semi-final 1) [25] Score Televote Jury 12 points   Russia   Lithuania 10 points   Malta   Cyprus 8 points   Ukraine   Malta 7 points   Azerbaijan   Belgium 6 points   Cyprus   Russia 5 points   Lithuania   Sweden 4 points   Norway   Ukraine 3 points   Croatia   Slovenia 2 points   Sweden   Norway 1 point   Belgium   Croatia

Points awarded by Israel (Final) [26] Score Televote Jury 12 points   Ukraine    Switzerland 10 points   Russia   Lithuania 8 points   France   France 7 points   Italy   Russia 6 points    Switzerland   Belgium 5 points   Malta   Malta 4 points   Finland   Ukraine 3 points   Lithuania   Cyprus 2 points   Azerbaijan   Azerbaijan 1 point   Iceland   Bulgaria

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Israeli jury: ^{[23] [24]}

• Noy Alooshe
• Roni Duani (Roni Superstar)
• Avia Farchi
• Yossi Hersonski  [ he ]
• Ohad Hitman  [ he ]

Detailed voting results from Israel (Semi-final 1) ^[25]

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		Juror A	Juror B	Juror C	Juror D	Juror E	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Lithuania	2	4	1	1	1	1	12	6	5
02	Slovenia	14	6	10	11	8	8	3	15
03	Russia	3	5	6	4	3	5	6	1	12
04	Sweden	6	7	7	8	7	6	5	9	2
05	Australia	7	13	12	15	9	13		12
06	North Macedonia	15	14	15	10	12	15		14
07	Ireland	12	10	14	6	11	11		13
08	Cyprus	1	1	3	3	4	2	10	5	6
09	Norway	13	15	8	9	6	9	2	7	4
10	Croatia	9	11	13	13	5	10	1	8	3
11	Belgium	5	3	5	5	2	4	7	10	1
12	Israel
13	Romania	11	8	11	12	10	12		11
14	Azerbaijan	10	9	9	14	15	14		4	7
15	Ukraine	8	12	4	7	13	7	4	3	8
16	Malta	4	2	2	2	14	3	8	2	10

Detailed voting results from Israel (Final) ^[26]

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		Juror A	Juror B	Juror C	Juror D	Juror E	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Cyprus	8	6	11	8	9	8	3	12
02	Albania	13	24	23	21	17	21		23
03	Israel
04	Belgium	7	4	12	6	2	5	6	20
05	Russia	5	8	6	3	4	4	7	2	10
06	Malta	9	3	4	5	11	6	5	6	5
07	Portugal	22	9	20	12	16	16		19
08	Serbia	19	20	22	19	20	22		18
09	United Kingdom	25	25	25	25	25	25		25
10	Greece	20	10	17	23	18	17		15
11	Switzerland	1	1	1	4	1	1	12	5	6
12	Iceland	10	12	7	13	12	11		10	1
13	Spain	23	19	21	24	21	23		24
14	Moldova	11	21	18	9	10	14		21
15	Germany	24	22	24	22	23	24		14
16	Finland	12	11	10	14	8	12		7	4
17	Bulgaria	15	5	16	20	6	10	1	17
18	Lithuania	6	2	3	1	3	2	10	8	3
19	Ukraine	2	14	5	10	13	7	4	1	12
20	France	3	7	2	2	5	3	8	3	8
21	Azerbaijan	4	16	14	7	15	9	2	9	2
22	Norway	21	17	15	15	14	19		11
23	Netherlands	18	13	13	17	22	18		22
24	Italy	17	18	8	11	19	15		4	7
25	Sweden	14	23	9	16	7	13		13
26	San Marino	16	15	19	18	24	20		16

References

1. "Israel Country Profile". EBU . Retrieved 17 February 2015.
2. "Eurovision 2021: Eden Alene will sing for Israel". Wiwibloggs. 22 March 2020.
3. "Israel: Eden Alene's Eurovision 2021 song will be chosen on January 25". Wiwibloggs. 3 December 2020.
4. Lee Adams, William (7 October 2020). "Israel extends Eurovision 2021 submission deadline after Eden Alene reportedly receives just 70 songs". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
5. Granger, Anthony (16 October 2020). "Israel: Around 220 Songs Submitted For Eurovision 2021". Eurovoix. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
6. Granger, Anthony (19 October 2020). "Israel: Selection Committee Meets To Select Eden Alene's Selection Songs". Eurovoix. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
7. Agam, Lauren (19 July 2020). "A song for Eden: Reports say Israel will adopt a 16-song selection process for Eurovision 2021...with multiple rounds". wiwibloggs. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
8. Gallagher, Robyn (2 December 2020). "Israel: KAN reveals the nine shortlisted songs for Eden Alene, as online vote opens". Wiwibloggs . Retrieved 29 December 2020.
9. "כאן אירוויזיון". Facebook . KAN. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
10. "האזינו: כל שירי הקדם אירוויזיון בביצוע המלא". ישראל היום (in Hebrew). Retrieved 5 January 2021.
11. "כאן". Facebook . Retrieved 5 January 2021.
12. Granger, Anthony (4 January 2020). "Israel: Final Versions Of The Three HaShir HaBa L'Eurovizion To Be Revealed on January 18". Eurovoix. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
13. "כאן אירוויזיון". Facebook . Kan. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
14. "ACUM - Artists and Works Search". Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers in Israel . Retrieved 18 April 2023.
15. "ACUM - Artists and Works Search". Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers in Israel . Retrieved 18 April 2023.
16. "ACUM - Artists and Works Search". Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers in Israel . Retrieved 18 April 2023.
17. "ACUM - Artists and Works Search". Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers in Israel . Retrieved 18 April 2023.
18. "ACUM - Artists and Works Search". Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers in Israel . Retrieved 18 April 2023.
19. Groot, Evert (17 November 2020). "2020 Semi-Final line-up to stay for 2021". eurovision.tv. Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
20. "Semi-Final running orders revealed". Eurovision.tv. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
21. "Voting–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. 16 May 2019. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
22. "Fairness–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. 21 February 2018. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
23. "Juries in the First Semi-Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
24. "Juries in the Grand Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
25. "Results of the First Semi-Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
26. "Results of the Grand Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.

External links

• National final broadcast on YouTube