More details regarding Israel’s 2019 Eurovision Song Contest entry have been revealed.
The songwriter of “Home”, Ohad Shragai, spoke on Keshet 12’s morning talk show earlier today to discuss the song he penned for Eurovision. One point he made is that the song was specifically written with Kobi Marimi, Israel’s entrant, in mind, and that he was impressed with his personality. Adding to his, Yoav Tzafir, a member of the selection committee, noted that “Home” will beย “a ballad that begins from an intimate and moving place and will grow later”.
Yoav also revealed that he believes that Israel can reach top ten this year.
How Israel Selected Their Participant
In the first round of the final this evening the finalists will be split in to two duels. From each duel one singer will be selected to go through to the second round, and one singer saved by the public to compete in the second round.
Kobi Marimi was selected as the Israeli participant following two rounds of performances. The results of the first round were:
- Ketreyah (69%)ย vย Shefita (63%) (public vote qualifier)
- Maya Buskila (55%) vย Kobi Marimi (79%)
In the second round of the competition, all three singers will return to the stage again. During each performance the public can vote at home, will the juries will score each of the artists. Last year alongside the judges there were four groups of juries who also voted. Each judge and group jury awarded 8, 10 and 12 points.
The results of the second round were (jury + public voting):
- Shefita โ 250 (90 + 160) 3rd
- Kobi Merimi โ 317 (102 + 215) 1st
- Ketreyah โ 243 (78 + 165) 2nd
Source: esckaz
Israel debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973, and were represented by Ilanit who finished in 4th place with the song โEy Shamโ. Their first victory came in 1978 with Izar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Israel won again the following year with Gali Atari & Milk and Honey. Israelโs third victory came in 1998 when Dana International performed โDivaโ in Birmingham, beating Malta to victory in a tense voting sequence. Israel struggled in the contest during the early-2010s, failing to qualify for the final from 2011-2014. However since the HaKokhav HaBa selection process was introduced in 2015 Israel has seen its fortunes turned around. In 2018 Netta won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song โToyโ, the song has gone on to be the most viewed Eurovision entry of all time on YouTube.