Israel participated in and won the
1978 Eurovision Song Contest, held on 22 April 1978 in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. It marked Israel's first win at the contest and the first win for a country outside of continental Europe. The winning song was "
A-Ba-Ni-Bi
"A-Ba-Ni-Bi" ( he, label=Hebrew script, א-ב-ני-בי; bet-language language game for the word ''aní'', meaning "I" in Hebrew) was the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978, performed for by Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta.
Descripti ...
," composed (and conducted) by
Nurit Hirsh
Nurit Hirsh ( he, נורית הירש, b. Tel Aviv, August 13, 1942) is an Israeli composer, arranger and conductor who has written over a thousand Hebrew songs. Three of her most famous and widely known songs are '' Ba-Shanah ha-Ba'ah'' (''Next ...
, written by
Ehud Manor
Ehud Manor (Hebrew: אהוד מנור; born Ehud Weiner; July 13, 1941 – April 12, 2005) was an Israeli lyricist, translator, poet and radio and TV personality. He is widely considered to have been Israel's most prolific lyricist of all time, h ...
, and performed by
Izhar Cohen
Izhar Cohen ( he, יזהר כהן; born March 13, 1951) is an Israeli singer who won the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest.
Biography
Izhar Cohen was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and raised in Givatayim, to a family of singers of Yemenite-Jewish desc ...
and the
Alphabeta
Alphabeta were a group of Israeli singers who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1978 with Izhar Cohen.
The singers were Reuven Erez, Lisa Gold-Rubin, Nehama Shutan, Esther Tzuberi, and Itzhak Okev. The winning song was ''A-Ba-Ni-Bi''. Israel ...
.
Before Eurovision
Israel Song Festival 1978
1978 marked the first year Israel held a proper national final to select their Eurovision entry. Every entry between
Israel's debut in
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
and
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
had been selected internally by the
Israeli Broadcasting Authority (IBA), but following public consternation regarding
Ilanit
Hanna Dresner-Tzakh ( he, חנה דרזנר; born 17 September 1947), better known by her stage name Ilanit (, ), is an Israeli singer. She was one of Israel's most popular singers from the late 1960s to the 1980s, both as a soloist and in the duo ...
being chosen to represent Israel a second time, it was decided to reformat the annual
Israel Song Festival
Israel Song Festival (in Hebrew: Festival HaZemer VeHaPizmon, he, פסטיבל הזמר והפזמון, lit. Israel Song and Chorus Festival) was an annual music competition organized by public broadcasters Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA). ...
to be a Eurovision selection show.
The Israeli national final was held on 11 February 1978 at the
Jerusalem Theatre
The Jerusalem Theatre ( he, תיאטרון ירושלים, The Jerusalem Centre for the Performing Arts) is a centre for the performing arts in Jerusalem. The theatre opened in 1971. The complex consists of the Sherover Theatre, which seats 95 ...
, hosted by
Rivka Michaeli
Rivka Michaeli ( he, רבקה מיכאלי; born 14 April 1938) is an Israeli actress, comedian, television hostess, and entertainer.
Early life
Michaeli was born in Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate of Palestine (now Israel). Her f ...
.
Izhak Graziani served as the musical director. Twelve songs were in the running to represent Israel, and the performers included
Gidi Gov
Gideon "Gidi" Gov ( he, גידי גוב; 4 August 1950) is an Israeli singer, TV host, entertainer, and actor. He was married to the late Anat Gov with whom he had three children.
Biography
Early life
Gov was born in Rehovot, Israel, to Da ...
(who had previously represented
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 ...
in
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
as a member of
Kaveret
Kaveret ( he, כוורת, lit. "beehive"), also known as Poogy ( he, פוגי, nickname of band drummer Meir Fenigstein chosen for their performances abroad), was an Israeli Rock music, rock band, which operated originally from 1973 to 1976. Repr ...
) and
Gali Atari
Gali Atari ( he, גלי עטרי; born December 29, 1953) is an Israeli singer and actress. Atari won the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 which was held in Jerusalem, as part of Milk and Honey.
Early life
Atari was born in Rehovot, Israel, to Je ...
(who would win the following year's selection, and indeed the actual contest, alongside
Milk and Honey). Regional juries determined the winner, and at the end of the voting two songs were tied for first: Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta's "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" and Chedva Amrani and Pilpel Lavan's "Belev echad." A re-count of the votes of the individual jury members broke the tie, and Cohen won the ticket to Paris.
At Eurovision
Hirsh and Manor had initially intended for "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" (with a chorus in the Bet language, the Hebrew equivalent of
Pig Latin
Pig Latin is a language game or argot in which words in English are altered, usually by adding a fabricated suffix or by moving the onset or initial consonant or consonant cluster of a word to the end of the word and adding a vocalic syllable ...
) to compete in the IBA Children's Song Festival, but the duo realized that the song had potential for Eurovision success, leading them to submit it to the IBA's Eurovision selection committee and eventually win the pre-selection. Hirsh conducted the orchestra (as she had also done for Israel's debut in 1973), making her one of only three female conductors in the contest's history (alongside Sweden's Monica Dominique in 1973 and Switzerland's
Anita Kerr
Anita Jean Kerr (née Grilli, October 13, 1927 – October 10, 2022) was an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Eur ...
in 1985), as well as choreographed the group's dance moves. The up-tempo disco number became the favorite to win during rehearsals in Paris, with Hirsh suddenly inundated by international contracts. The night of the contest, Israel performed eighteenth, 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 ...
(who had similarly gone for a disco group,
Baccara
Baccara was a female vocal duo formed in 1977 by Spanish artists Mayte Mateos (born 7 February 1951) and María Mendiola (4 April 1952 – 11 September 2021). The duo rapidly achieved international success with their debut single "Yes Sir, I Ca ...
) and preceding
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. Israel wound up becoming runaway winners, scoring eight points or higher from eleven of the nineteen countries that had the ability to vote for them and six sets of the maximum twelve points (awarded by runner-up Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Turkey). Only one country (Sweden) failed to award the Israeli entry any points at all. They finished thirty-two points clear of Belgium and ensured that the contest would be held in Israel for the first time the following year. It was succeeded both as winner and as the Israeli representative by
Milk and Honey with "
Hallelujah
''Hallelujah'' ( ; he, ''haləlū-Yāh'', meaning "praise Yah") is an interjection used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four tim ...
." Israel reciprocated the Netherlands' 12 points, awarding
Harmony
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...
and "
't Is OK" their sole twelve points. (Incidentally, Israel would not award the Dutch entry twelve points again for another forty-one years. The next time would be for
Duncan Laurence
Duncan de Moor (; born 11 April 1994), known professionally as Duncan Laurence, is a Dutch singer and songwriter. He represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with his song "Arcade" and went on to win the competition, giv ...
's "
Arcade
Arcade most often refers to:
* Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine
** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware
** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board
* Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games
* ...
," the
winning entry of the
2019 contest held in Israel. By an amazing coincidence, these points were presented by Izhar Cohen).
Controversy with North African and Arab broadcasters
The 1978 contest was transmitted by a number of broadcasters from countries that didn't acknowledge the State of Israel, including several Arab countries (such as Algeria, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates). Many chose to cut to a commercial during the Israeli performance, and when it became clear Israel was going to win, they ended their broadcasts early.
[O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ] Jordanian TV closed the show by broadcasting photos of flowers, and later announced that runner-up Belgium were the winners instead. The story goes that since the Israeli broadcaster didn't buy enough airtime and those watching through neighboring broadcasters like Jordan never saw the end of the voting, many Israelis had no idea they had won until the following morning.
Voting
After Eurovision
Izhar Cohen would go on to participate in the Israeli national final in
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
,
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
,
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
, and
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
. 1985 would prove successful, as he won the pre-selection and represented Israel with the song "
Olé, Olé" and finished in fifth place.
References
{{Eurovision Song Contest 1978
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978
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 ...