Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

returned at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1981 The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the with the song "What's Another Year" by Johnny Logan. Organised by the Europea ...

held in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, after withdrawing from the 1980 contest because of National Day of Remembrance. Their entry was

Hakol Over Habibi Hakol Over Habibi (Hebrew: הכל עובר חביבי, lit. "Everything goes by, my love"; also known in English as Habibi Group) was an Israeli musical band which represented their country in Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the song " Halayl ...

with the song "Halayla" after they won the Israeli national final, Kdam Eurovision 1981. At Eurovision, the song came seventh, having received 56 points.

Before Eurovision

Kdam Eurovision 1981

The

Israel Broadcasting Authority The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA; ) was Israel's public broadcaster from 1948 to 2017. History The Israel Broadcasting Authority was an outgrowth of the radio station ''Kol Yisrael'', which made its first broadcast as an independent st ...

(IBA) decided to replace the Israel Song Festival with a new competition designed to select a song for the contest. The final was held on 3 March 1981 in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, and was hosted by

Daniel Pe'er Daniel Pe'er (born Daniel Freudenreich, he, דניאל פאר; January 2, 1943 – September 28, 2017) was an Israeli television host and News presenter, newsreader. Early life Daniel Freudenreich was born in Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine, Brit ...

. The votes of nine regional juries across Israel decided the winner. Each place had a jury who awarded 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 point(s) for their top twelve songs. The winning entry was "Halayla", performed by

and composed by

Shuki Levy Shuki Levy ( he, שוקי לוי; born June 3, 1947) is an Israeli-American music composer and television producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as ''The Real Ghostbusters ...

, with lyrics written by Shlomit Aharon, Yuval Dor.

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Hakol Over Habibi, performing as Habibi, performed 5th in the running order, following

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

and preceding

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. Shlomit Aharon, the band's soloist, was in about 6–7 months pregnant at the contest. At the close of voting "Halayla" had received 56 points, placing Israel seventh of the 20 entries. The Israeli spokesperson revealing the result of the Israeli vote in the final was

Dan Kaner Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivo ...

Voting

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1981

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...