At number 28 in the countdown is Israel. Three-times winners, they have struggled a little in the last 10 years, only making the final in four of those years. Last year was one of their most successful in a long time, when 16 year old Golden Boy Nadav Guedj took Israel to 9th place in the final. He was the first Israeli Eurovision entry to sing entirely in English, something that this year’s entrant, Hovi Star has also done. Can he repeat Nadav’s success?

Hovi is certainly one of the more flamboyant characters at this year’s Eurovision. He’s a trained hairstylist and make-up artists, as well as being a professional singer, and he’s already indicated that a lot of thought and effort will be going in to what he wears on stage at Eurovision! I suspect he may bat for my team, though that’s just a hunch 🙂

Hovi sings one of only a couple male ballads in the contest this year, and to my mind, this is the one I prefer by far. It’s definitely haunting and he has no problems with his live vocal. A little surprising it’s this far down in the countdown, but the original version of this song that came out was not popular at all so maybe there is some memory of that lingering. This second and final version though shows that some things can indeed be polished enough to shine!

Live at Eurovision in Concert at Amsterdam

Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest:

First entered: 1973

Appearances (excluding this year): 38

Best result: Winner 1978, 1979, 1998

Last year’s result: 9th