The Israeli candidate Netta Barzilai won the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday. Her song, inspired by the feminist movement #me too, was called “Toy”, written and composed by Doron Medalie and Stav Berger.
Israel has won the song context three times in the past: 1978 with A-ba-ni-bi, 1979 with Hallelujah and 1998 with Diva.
After a dramatic voting, where Israel was ranked 3rd by the national juries and 1st in the popular vote, it won the song test with 529 points, followed by Cyprus with 436 points, Austria (342), Germany (340), Italy (308), the Czech Republic (281) and Sweden (274).
The Cypriot artist Eleni Foureira, with her dance track “Fuego”, was the other big favourite.
The ambitious and determined 25-year-old Netta has an extensive background in music. She finished high school with excellence merit in extended music studies and went on to study in the renowned Rimon School of Music in the Electronic Studies Department.
“I am so happy”, she said after receiving the trophy. “Thank you choosing differently, for accepting the differences between us, thank you for celebrating diversity… See you next time in Jerusalem!”
The Brussels Times
