Israel’s Yuval Raphael’s places second in Eurovision final, but for Israelis, she is number one

Yuval Raphael, Israel’s contestant, finished in second place at the 69th Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland on Thursday night.

It was a triumph for Israel, in a year when there were countless calls to have Israel banned, as Israel won the audience vote, with 297 points. The winner was JJ of Austria with the ethereal ballad, “Wasted Love.”

Even among the Eurovision audience, the boos of those who felt Israel should not take part in any competition were drowned out by the cheers and the applause.

Israel did better than expected in the votes of the national juries. Azerbaijan  gave Israel douze points, the highest mark that can be given in Eurovision, and many others of the national juries gave Israel substantial marks. Surprisingly, Ireland, where anti-Israel sentiment runs high, gave Israel seven points. In the audience vote, Israel came in TK, with 297 points.

Raphael was incandescent and performed masterfully as she sang “New Day Will Rise,” a song by Keren Peles that references the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel. Raphael made her love for life clear through her accomplished vocal stylings and the heartfelt gleam in her eyes as she maneuvered with poise through the elaborate set, which looked like a cross between a silver staircase and a birdcage, dressed in black pantsuit with wide, wing-like sleeves by Victor Bellais.  

19 months ago Yuval was calling from Nova

Asaf Lieberman and Akiva Novick, the hosts of Kan 11’s broadcast, noted that it was just 19 months ago that Raphael called her father, frantic, from a bomb shelter near the Nova music festival after it had been attacked by terrorists, telling him, her voice shaking, that she was surrounded by bodies. “Play dead, Yuvali, play dead,” he advised her.

She managed to survive, hiding for eight hours, as about 40 people around her were killed. In the Eurovision final, as she sang, “New day will rise/Life will go on/Everyone cries/Don’t cry alone/ Darkness will fade/All the pain will go by/But we will stay/Even if you say goodbye,” it was clear that these words meant more to Raphael than mere lyrics, and that through her journey from the horrors of October 7 to the stage in Basel was one of redemption.

Peles, who joined Lieberman and Novick in the commentary at the final, was so moved seeing Raphael’s performance that she broke down in tears. The song is mostly in English, with some lines in French, a language in which Raphael is fluent since she spent years in Switzerland as a child, and Hebrew. The Hebrew lines, from the Biblical poem, Song of Songs, also reference the healing power of love: “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.”

The Eurovision Song Contest, which was conceived after World War II as a peaceful contest among nations, is technically a competition for public broadcasters rather than between countries, and several public broadcasters this year, among them Spain and Ireland, called for Israel to be banned or asked for a discussion over whether Israel should be allowed to take part.  More than 70 former participants called for Israel to be banned, so given this climate, so it’s actually surprising that Israel did as well as it did with juries.

Eden Golan, Israel’s contestant from last year, announced the points from Israel’s jury. Israel’s “douze points” went to Greece.

Israel has won at Eurovision, which is known for its over-the-top glitzy costumes and elaborate production numbers four times, in 1978, 1979, 1998, and 2018, and has had many finishes in the top five, most recently with Noa Kirel’s “Unicorn” in 2023.

Sweden’s upbeat, catchy, “Bada Bara Bastu,” a cheeky tune extolling the pleasures of the Finnish-style sauna, was the favorite going into the final. 

This year’s Eurovision songs were a wild mix of the outrageous and the sincere. On the outrageous side was Estonia’s Tommy Cash performing, “Espresso Macchiato,” a silly song about Italian stereotypes, which drew calls in Italy to have it banned. Novick and Lieberman quipped about this flap in the first semifinal, saying, “They asked to have someone banned – and it wasn’t us.”

Another over-the-top tune was  Finland’s entry, “Ich Komme,”  a sexually charged tune filled with doubles entendres, performed by Erika Vikman, a blonde wearing a black-leather bodysuit and wriggling atop a giant microphone.

Iceland’s rousing song, “Róa,” by VÆB’s drew accusations of plagiarism from Israeli composer Offir Cohen, who noted, as did many others, that the song bears a strong resemblance to his tune “Hatunat HaShana,” (Wedding of the Year) which was a hit by Eyal Golan and Itay Levy  about seven years ago.

On the more earnest side were such songs as French singer/actress Louane’s “Maman,” about her late mother, which ends with the voice of her young daughter.

But in the end, Raphael made the Israeli public proud and the most important thing is that she and the rest of the delegation stayed safe, despite the death threats. On Sunday, when she walked the turquoise carpet, Eurovision’s version of the red carpet, there were anti-Israel protests and one man made a throat-slitting gesture at her. Kan made a complaint to the local police and asked that he be identified and banned from attending further events.

Just before taking the stage on Saturday night, Raphael released a clip thanking her security detail. The threats were not trivial. Last year, Golan received so many threats that the Shin Bet head, Ronen Bar, went to Malmo, Sweden, where the contest was held, to personally supervise her security arrangements in the city known for antisemitic incidents.

N12 reported that during the Raphael’s performance, a Dutch couple tried to storm the stage, with the woman spraying a security guard with red paint. They were arrested and removed from the hall. As a result, the Israeli delegation temporarily left the Green Room, where the delegations were watching the competition, under heavy security.

It was an exciting night, as we got to witness a star – Raphael – being born, and even the Houthis, the Yemen-based terror group, seem to have been transfixed, as they missed an opportunity to disrupt the event with one of their frequent ballistic missiles fired on Israel. They may not have voted for “New Day Will Rise,” but they let the show go on for Israeli viewers uninterrupted, and waited till it was over to fire on the coastal region of Israel. 

“People of Israel, I love you more than anything in the world,” Raphael said in an interview following the competition on Kan 11. “Am Yisrael Chai!”

JPost