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 ...

participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...

with the song " Golden Boy", written by Doron Madali. The song was performed by

Nadav Guedj Nadav Guedj ( he, נדב גדג'; born 2 November 1998) is an Israeli singer and actor who represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. He is the winner of season two of ''HaKokhav HaBa'' (Israel's '' Rising Star''). Guedj was born in ...

. Israeli broadcaster

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) collaborated with the commercial broadcaster Keshet in order to select the Israeli entry for the 2015 contest in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria. The reality singing competition ''

HaKokhav HaBa ''HaKokhav HaBa'' ( he, הַכּוֹכָב הַבָּא, translated as "The Next Star"; formerly ''HaKokhav HaBa LaErovizion'', ''Rising Star to the Eurovision'') is an Israeli interactive reality singing competition, which was first broadcast ...

'' ("The Next Star"), which was organised by Keshet, was used to select the artist that would represent Israel. Nadav Guedj emerged as the winner of the competition in a final that took place in February 2015. The song " Golden Boy" was later internally selected as the song Guedj would perform at Eurovision and was presented to the public in March 2015. In the second of the Eurovision semi-finals, "Golden Boy" placed third out of the 17 participating countries, securing its place among the 27 other songs in the final. The last time Israel had featured in a final was in . In Israel's thirty-eighth Eurovision appearance on 23 May, "Golden Boy" finished in ninth place, receiving 97 points.

Background

Prior to the 2015 contest, Israel had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-seven times since its first entry in 1973. Israel has won the contest on three occasions: in

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 ...

with the song "

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 ...

" 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 ...

, in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

with the song "

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 ...

" performed by Milk and Honey, and in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

with the song "

Diva Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is clo ...

" performed by

Dana International Sharon Cohen ( he, שרון כהן; born 2 February 1969), professionally known as Dana International ( he, דנה אינטרנשיונל), is an Israeli pop singer. She has released eight albums and three additional compilation albums. She w ...

. Since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004, Israel has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final five times, including two top ten results in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

with

Shiri Maimon Shiri Maimon (or Maymon, he, שירי מימון ; born ) is an Israeli pop/ R&B singer, TV show host and actress, who rose to fame as the runner-up in the TV show ''Kokhav Nolad''. She represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, wh ...

and "HaSheket SheNish'ar" placing fourth and in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

with

Boaz Boaz (; Hebrew: בֹּעַז ''Bōʿaz''; ) is a biblical figure appearing in the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible and in the genealogies of Jesus in the New Testament and also the name of a pillar in the portico of the historic Temple in Jerusa ...

and "The Fire in Your Eyes" placing ninth. Between 2011 and 2014, Israel has failed to qualify to the final consecutively, which included their

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

entry "Same Heart" performed by

Mei Finegold Meital Slominsky ( he, מיי פיינגולד, born 16 December 1982), known by her stage name Mei Finegold, also credited as Mei Feingold, is an Israeli singer. Her third-place finish in ''Kokhav Nolad 7'', Israel's version of ''Pop Idol'', ...

. Israel's participation in the 2015 Contest was initially uncertain after the Israeli government voted to shut down state broadcaster IBA and establish a new broadcaster. On 15 September 2014, IBA confirmed that it had submitted a preliminary application to participate in the contest. On 13 November 2014, IBA fully confirmed that Israel would compete at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest. IBA opted to collaborate with commercial broadcaster Keshet and production company Tedy Productions in order to select the Israeli entry for the 2015 Contest. This is the second time IBA has collaborated with these entities; they previously worked together to select the 2008 Israeli entry.

Before Eurovision

Following IBA's preliminary application in September 2014, IBA consulted with the editors of radio 88FM in order to generate a shortlist of potential artists for the 2015 Contest.

Marina Maximilian Blumin Marina Maximilian Blumin ( he, מארינה מקסימיליאן בלומין; born 15 December 1987), known as Marina Maximilian, is an Israeli singer-songwriter and actress. She was the runner-up on the fifth season of the reality music compet ...

topped the list, followed by

Ester Rada Ester Rada ( he, אסתר רָדָא, born March 7, 1985) is an Israeli actress and singer. Biography Rada was born in Kiryat Arba, Israel, to a religious Ethiopian-Jewish family. Her parents, originally from a village near Gondar, were res ...

and

Asaf Avidan Asaf Avidan ( he, אסף אבידן; born March 23, 1980) is a singer-songwriter from Israel. From 2006 to 2011, he was part of the group Asaf Avidan & the Mojos, independently releasing three studio albums. '' The Reckoning'', their debut recor ...

. However, shortly after the publication of the list, Israeli media reported that Blumin had turned down an offer to represent Israel at the contest. In October 2014, media reports indicated that IBA would cooperate with commercial broadcaster Keshet in order to select the Israeli entry through the reality singing competition ''

'' ("The Next Star"). The collaboration with Keshet was later confirmed by IBA in November 2014.

''HaKokhav HaBa''

The Israeli artist for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was selected through second season of the reality singing competition ''HaKokhav HaBa'' ("The Next Star"), the original version of the international format '' Rising Star'' produced by Tedy Productions and

Keshet Media Group Keshet Media Group, also known as the Keshet company ( he, קשת lit. "Rainbow"), is a private Israeli mass media company, which is headquartered in Tel Aviv. Its media and online news outlet Mako is one of the major Israeli ones. The company ...

. The shows were hosted by

Assi Azar Assi Azar ( he, אסי עזר; born 10 June 1979) is an Israeli television host. Biography Assi Azar was born in Holon, Israel.Muki,

Keren Peles Keren Peles Toor ( he, קרן פלס טור; born March 11, 1979) is an Israeli singer-songwriter, poet and pianist. Music career Peles graduated from the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music. In 2005, she became famous for her songwriti ...

and

Harel Skaat Harel Skaat ( he, הראל סקעת, born 8 August 1981) sometimes known by the mononym Harel is an Israeli singer and songwriter. He represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song " Milim" ("מילים", "Words"). Skaat h ...

( 2010 Israeli Eurovision entrant). The competition consisted of eighteen shows, which commenced on 9 December 2014 and concluded on 17 February 2015. All shows in the competition were broadcast on Channel 2 as well as online via ''mako.co.il''.

Contestant progress

Following an audition phase, a judges selection round and duel phase, ten artists were shortlisted to compete and the four finalists were: Avia Shoshani, Iky Levy and the Rasta Hebrew Men,

and Sari Nachmias.

Final

The final took place on 17 February 2015 at the G.G. Studios in

Neve Ilan Neve Ilan ( he, נְוֵה אִילָן, lit. ''Oasis of Ilan'') is a moshav shitufi in central Israel. Located west of Jerusalem, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population of . Previously a kibbutz ...

. The winner was selected in two rounds. In the first round the four performers competed in duels and each performed a cover song. The two duel winners advanced to the second round based on a public vote as well as votes from each member of the judging panel who had the option of boosting the performer's score by 3%. The two duel winners were Iky Levy & The Rasta Hebrew Men and

. The judging panel alone selected a third performer from the two that did not win their duels to enter the second round. Due to a tie among the judging panel's choice, the tie was broken after Sari Nachmias was revealed to have received a higher seasonal average score. In the second round, the three performers that advanced from the first round performed another cover song and the winner, Nadav Guedj, was selected solely by a public vote. The public vote that took place in both rounds was conducted entirely through a mobile application.

Song selection

On 26 February 2015, it was announced that a special committee consisting of representatives from IBA, Keshet and Tedy Productions had selected the song " Golden Boy", written by Doron Medalie, for Nadav Guedj to perform at the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna. The Israeli newspaper ''

Israel Hayom ''Israel Hayom'' ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵל הַיּוֹם, lit=Israel Today) is an Israeli national Hebrew-language free daily newspaper. First published in 2007, ''Israel Hayom'' is Israel's most widely distributed newspaper. Owned by the fam ...

'' described the song an "uptempo Mediterranean" song that was entirely in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

—a first for an Israeli entry at the contest. The song and official video were presented on 12 March during a special presentation programme aired on IBA's Channel 1.

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 for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation. The

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

(EBU) split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 26 January 2015, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Israel was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 21 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2015 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 9, following the entry from the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and before the entry from

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. In Israel, the semi-finals and final were televised on Channel 1 with

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

subtitles Subtitles and captions are lines of dialogue or other text displayed at the bottom of the screen in films, television programs, video games or other visual media. They can be transcriptions of the screenplay, translations of it, or informati ...

and Channel 33 with

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

subtitles. All three shows were also broadcast via radio on 88 FM with commentary by Kobi Menora, who was joined by Yuval Caspin for the first semi-final and Tal Argaman for the second semi-final. The Israeli spokesperson, who announced the Israeli votes during the final, was Ofer Nachshon.

Semi-final

Nadav Guedj took part in technical rehearsals on 14 and 16 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 20 and 21 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries. The stage show featured Nadav Guedj dressed in a black and white suit with golden shoes, performing a choreographed routine together with his five supporting performers. Guedj was joined by two backing vocalists, Hananel Edri and

Imri Ziv Imri Ziv ( he, אימרי זיו; born 12 September 1991), also known as IMRI, is an Israeli singer and voice actor. After winning ''HaKokhav HaBa'', he represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kyiv with the song "I Feel Alive" pl ...

, and three backing dancers, Dor Raybi, Tomer Tenenboim and Adam Cohen. The performance began in muted dark blue lighting which transitioned to yellow and red flashing colours as the song progressed. The background LED screens displayed Asian inspired window panes that also changed colours throughout the performance. At the end of the show, Israel was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that the Israel placed third in the semi-final, receiving a total of 151 points.

Final

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winner's press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Israel was drawn to compete in the first half. Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Israel was subsequently placed to perform in position 3, after the entry from

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 ...

and before the entry from

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. Guedj once again took part in dress rehearsals on 22 and 23 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Guedj performed a repeat of his semi-final performance during the final on 23 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Israel placed ninth with 97 points.

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand final. Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Israel had placed seventh with the public televote and eighth with the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Israel scored 104 points, while with the jury vote, Israel scored 77 points. In the second semi-final, Israel placed second with the public televote with 157 points and fourth with the jury vote, scoring 114 points. Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Israel and awarded by Israel in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to Israel

Points awarded by Israel

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Israeli jury: * (Liora; jury chairperson)singer, represented Israel in the 1995 contest * music producer * Lauren De Pazsinger, songwriter * actor, singer * vocal coach

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2015

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

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 ...