Eden Golan's dress rehersal
(Video: Raz Shechnik)
Eden Golan stepped on the Eurovision Song Contest’s stage on Wednesday for a dress rehearsal for the upcoming second semi-final which will be held on Thursday evening.
Golan gave a good and precise performance, and it was noticeable that she didn't exert all her energy to preserve her voice for the second rehearsal that was held on Wednesday. Applause was heard from the media teams present in the hall, and Israeli flags were waved in the stands.
In the second dress rehearsal hours later, performed in front of the judges and filmed in case something goes wrong on the night of the live performance, Golan was booed by members of the audience and some walked out of the auditorium.
The Kan public broadcaster issued a statement in response to the detractors. “Eden stood on the stage during the dress rehearsal with pride and gave an incredible performance. They did not silence her and they will not silence us. See you tomorrow,” it said.
Following the rehearsals, the Israeli representative slightly improved her position in the eyes of contest bookies for qualifying for the finals. Golan is currently in fourth place, with an 89% chance of advancing to the finals. "I was excited to see Israeli flags in the hall, I feel great and ready for the evening and for tomorrow's semi-final," Golan said after the rehearsal.
Later, Golan told Ynet, "I never thought I’d receive so much love from my country, which I’m so proud to represent. I'm excited, of course, but I'm also enjoying it. I'm calm. There's no part of the song that causes me any difficulties. It gradually rises from lows to highs, but I, we, feel very prepared.”
“I feel the entire country standing behind me. This is the moment I've been waiting for. And it's here. I’ll give it my all. I’ll continue to be the voice of those who aren’t here, who need to come back home,” she added.
The Israeli song's director, Yoav Tzafir, was asked about the chances of Golan performing with a symbol related to the ongoing situation in Israel, in response to Swedish singer Erik Saade, who performed his song on the Eurovision stage on Tuesday while holding a keffiyeh. "It's not right to do something in the semi-final. But in the finals? We'll see."
On Tuesday, the first Eurovision semi-final took place, and the countries that competed in it and advanced to the final competition were Serbia, Portugal, Slovenia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Finland, Cyprus, Croatia, Ireland, and Luxembourg. Additionally, the UK and Germany also performed in the first semi-final, which belong to Europe’s "Big Five" and automatically qualify for the finals.