Eden Golan will represent Israel at Eurovision in May in Malmö, Sweden, after winning the reality show "The Next Star for Eurovision" on Tuesday night.
"This year, more than ever, I am excited to represent my country in Europe," Golan said after winning. "I promise to do my best and bring Eurovision to Israel."
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Golan returned to Israel two years ago after spending the last 13 years in Moscow, during which she participated in the children's reality show, "The Voice" in Russia. The conductor beat the three finalists: Or Cohen, 20, from Rosh Ha'ayin who finished in second place; Mika Moshe,16, from Kfar Blum, who previously participated in the "Music School" youth singing competition and reality show, who finished in third place; and Dor Shimon, 30, from Beit Shean, who also reached the final in the reality show "Eyal Golan is calling you," and finished the Next Star in fourth place.
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Eden Golan will represent Israel at Eurovision in May in Malmö, Sweden, after winning the reality show 'The Next Star for Eurovision'
(Photo: Shai Franco)
Golan performed in the finals of the competition the songs "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith, the winning performance.
During the final broadcast, the hosts of the program, Assi Azer and Rotem Sela, tearfully remembered the killed IDF reservist Shaul Greenglick, broadcasting his segments in the program and presenting a performance by his family members who sang on stage the song "In The End, Everything Passes" by Omer Adam Greenglick, 26, from Ra'anana, participated in the talent show in its current season and passed the audition stage, but left the competition to return and fight with his company in the Nahal Brigade and was killed in battle in the northern Gaza Strip.
This is the eighth time that the reality show has chosen the Israeli representative for Eurovision, and all of those contestants managed to qualify for the finals of the European singing competition, including Netta Barzilai, who won it in 2018. Since then, Kobi Marimi and Eden Elena were selected and participated in the final, but failed to leave a significant mark in the competition. In 2022, the reality show "X Factor" sent Michael Ben David to Eurovision, who failed to qualify for the final.
Last year it was Noa Kirel who was chosen by a professional committee of the broadcasting corporation and managed to finish in third place.
Last week, more than 1,000 artists from Sweden, the country set to host the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, signed a petition calling for Israel to be banned from the competition because of its "brutal war in Gaza."
The European Broadcasting Union has been pressured to ban Israel in recent weeks. In Iceland and Ireland, petitions have already been signed on the subject, which call on their broadcasting authorities to withdraw from the competition if Israel does participate in the competition.