Israel was represented in the Eurovision by

David D'Or David D'Or ( he, דוד ד'אור; born David Nehaisi on October 2, 1965) is an Israeli singer, composer, and songwriter. A countertenor with a vocal range of more than four octaves, he is a three-time winner of the Israeli "Singer of the Year" a ...

who sang the bilingual English / Hebrew song "Leha'amin" (

Hebrew script The Hebrew alphabet ( he, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewish ...

: להאמין; English translation: "To Believe"). The song was co-written by D'Or and

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 ...

Before Eurovision

Artist selection

On 13 November 2003, IBA announced that

was selected by a special committee as the Israeli representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. Among artists considered by the selection committee, Hamsa,

Ninet Tayeb Nati Ninet Tayeb ( he, נינט טייב; born October 21, 1983), commonly known as Ninet, is an Israeli musician, singer-songwriter, composer, DJ, model, actress, and a reality television program judge in '' Rising Star: Israel''. She is conside ...

Zehava Ben Zehava Ben (born Zehava Benisti; he, זהבה בן; November 8, 1968) is an Israeli singer. Ben is one of the most popular Israeli female vocalists in the Mizrahi music genre; the Middle Eastern-style of singing rising from Israel's Mizrahi Jewi ...

and

Ron Shoval Ron Shoval (Hebrew: רון שובל; born 4 September 1973) is an Israeli singer. Early life Shoval Ron Mobley was born, grew up, and was educated in Tel Aviv, Israel to a family of Yemenite-Jewish descent. He is the fifth of six brothers. From ...

were highly considered before D'Or was ultimately selected. Among the members of the committee were Avraham Natan,

Liel Kolet Liel Kolet ( he, ליאל קולט;) is an Israeli singer-songwriter and a peace advocate. Biography Liel Kolet is an international singer, songwriter and a peace advocate. Born on 11 July 1989 to Jewish Israeli parents on Kibbutz Kinneret, she ...

(singer),

Lior Narkis Lior Narkis ( he, ליאור נרקיס; born November 8, 1976 in Holon, Israel) is an Israeli singer. Biography Lior Narkis was born in Holon. His father, David Narkis, was of Iraqi-Jewish origin. His mother Hanna Narkis, was of Serbian-Jewis ...

( 2003 Israeli Eurovision entrant) 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 Jewi ...

(

Eurovision Song Contest 1979 The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Organised by the ...

winner).

Kdam Eurovision 2004

The song that David D'Or represented Israel with in Istanbul was selected through a national final called ''Kdam Eurovision 2004''. Four songs were selected for the competition and were presented during a presentation show on 5 February 2004, which took place at the Nokia Stadium in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

during a break in a televised

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

Euroleague basketball game and hosted by

Merav Miller Merav Miller (Hebrew: מירב מילר, born May 21, 1971) is an Israeli news presenter and broadcaster. Miller was born and raised in Kfar Saba, served in the Israeli Air Force, then worked as a flight attendant and studied communications at a ...

. The winning song "Leha'amin" was selected by a combination of the votes from an expert jury of IBA representatives (40%) and votes from the public (60%). The basketball game attracted 13.7% of Israeli TV viewers.

At Eurovision

For the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, a semi-final round was introduced in order to accommodate the influx of nations that wanted to compete in the contest. Because Israel placed 19th at the 2003 contest, country was forced to compete in the first Eurovision semi-final, held on 12 May 2004. David D'Or performed 5th, following

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 ...

and preceding the

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

his song in the semi-final receiving 57 points which was not enough to qualify for the final. Therefore, Israel had to compete in the semi-final again in ESC 2005. 19% of Israeli viewers watched on television. The song missed qualifying for the final by one position – thus requiring Israel to qualify from the semifinal at their next Contest appearance. During Eurovision rehearsal week, D'Or left Istanbul to be with his father, who had to have one of his legs amputated due to complications of

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

. His father has since died.

Voting

Points awarded to Israel

Points awarded by Israel

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2004

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004

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 ...