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<\/a>Israel\u2019s Noam Bettan takes second place in Eurovision 2026, Bulgaria wins<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\nHANNAH BROWN<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n . The winning song was “Bangaranga” by DARA from Bulgaria, and “Eclipse” by Delta Goodrem of Australia came in third place.<\/span><\/p>\n in the semifinal. During the time between his final performance and the announcement of the winner, he told KAN 11, \u201cWow, wow, wow. That was crazy, I felt more emotional than the previous times\u2026 I felt good, I felt I gave 100% in real time, it was crazy, it was fun, we\u2019re done now\u2026 I love you, Am Israel Chai!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It was a triumphant finish in the song contest for Israel in a year filled with boos and boycotts, when many European governments, broadcasters, and artists did all they could to stop Israel from sending a performer.<\/span><\/p>\n Israel has been a major player in Eurovision since it began taking part in 1973, and has won four times, in 1978, 1979, 1998, and 2018. But this year, five countries \u2013 Spain, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Iceland — decided that because of the war against Hamas that began on October 7, 2023 and ended with a ceasefire and the release of all the living hostages in October 2025, Israel should be booted from Eurovision.<\/span><\/p>\n They demanded that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the body that oversees the song contest, vote at its general assembly on whether Israel could continue to participate. The EBU declined to vote but instead instituted several changes to the rules which made it harder for Israel to do well. The most significant change was that the semifinals, which had previously been determined by audience voting, would be judged half by the audience and half by the national juries. The national juries are far less sympathetic to Israel. Last year, for example, Israel\u2019s contestant Yuval Raphael won the audience voting with 297 points but received only 60 from the juries.<\/span><\/p>\n Other rule changes included that audience members could vote only 10 times, not 20, and strict controls on media campaigns, since many in Europe seemed convinced that an Internet campaign sponsored by the Israeli government was the deciding factor in Raphael\u2019s audience-vote win, rather than because people simply liked the song.<\/span><\/p>\n This year, the delegation from KAN, the Israeli public broadcaster which sponsors Israel\u2019s participation in the song contest, received a reprimand from Martin Green, Eurovision\u2019s managing director, over some social media posts promoting Bettan. It may seem absurd that in a flashy extravaganza in which millions are spent and earned (it costs almost one Euro for every vote cast), it is forbidden to promote artists on social media, but that\u2019s Europe in 2026, when it comes to Israel. Media campaigns for contestants from other countries, both this year and last year, went unremarked upon.<\/span><\/p>\n But in the end, all of that was just background noise and the only sound worth listening to was Bettan\u2019s singing, and the only images that will linger will be Bettan standing tall, indifferent to the scattered boos, surrounded by five beautiful dancers, who strutted around the eye-catching revolving diamond in the center of the stage. The talents of all who put together the performance for KAN were on display here, and it was a number that combined melodious singing, polished and sexy dancing, and elaborate stagecraft that fit right in with the spirit of Eurovision.<\/span><\/p>\n During the previous two years since the war began, Israel\u2019s songs, \u201cHurricane\u201d in 2024 sung by Eden Golan and \u201cNew Day Will Rise\u201d in 2025 by Raphael, a survivor of the killings at the Nova Music Festival, referenced the Hamas massacre which took 1200 lives on a single day, and looked wistfully to a better future while honoring the memories of those who were lost. But \u201cMichelle,\u201d by Bettan, Raphael, Tzlil Klifi, and Nadav Aharoni, is a fun up-tempo pop tune, sung masterfully by Bettan in English, French, and Hebrew, about a beautiful but maddening young woman. The song announces, through its lyrics and staging, that Israelis still live normal lives in the midst of nearly three years of war, and that it is time once again to think of romance and young love.<\/span><\/p>\n Bettan, with his diffident smile and soft voice, exemplified a certain kind of Israeli masculinity, with a neatly trimmed beard and mustache, dressed like a typical Tel Aviv hipster in black leather. But Bettan, the son of French immigrants to Israel, who was raised in Ra\u2019anana, also has a traditional side, and was photographed in Vienna praying and saying the Friday night kiddush prayer. He is the image of the best Israel has to offer, and he seemed to mean every word of \u201cMichelle\u201d\u2019s very catchy lyrics about a tormented love story.<\/span><\/p>\n While at age 28, he has eight years of experience as a performer, nothing could possibly prepare anyone for the pressure he faced as the public face of Israel in Europe in 2026. But he sailed through the multiple gauntlets placed in his way by hostile factions in the Eurovision community with flying colors. For his calm and grace in the midst of a very intense storm, he has earned our gratitude. We can all be proud of the way he conducted himself, and of his talent.<\/span><\/p>\n Speaking to KAN 11\u2019s Amit Harari before the final, he said, \u201cI feel good, I\u2019m excited, I\u2019m relaxed at the moment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n There was a large anti-Israel protest in Vienna\u2019s main square on Friday, which coincided with Nakba Day, on which some Palestinians protest the establishment of the state of Israel, and again on Saturday. Ynet reported that hundreds of protesters attended the protest, which was billed as a “concert against genocide,” with a motto against Israel\u2019s participation in Eurovision: “Song Protest – No Stage for Genocide.” Anti-Israel musician Roger Waters was reportedly involved in organizing the protest.<\/span><\/p>\n But fans turned out to support Israel as well, and these included former Culture Club frontman Boy George, who performed with San Marino’s Senhit this year. They did not make it to the final, but Boy George posed for photos with Bettan and sent messages of encouragement to him.<\/span><\/p>\n Eurovision broadcast flashy and nostalgic<\/span> Before taking the stage on Saturday night, Bettan received a video greeting for Gal Gadot, who told him not to let the booing rattle him: \u201cThey don\u2019t have any power over you\u2026 You\u2019re amazing and you\u2019re talented and we\u2019re all behind you, waiting for you to go on tonight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Loud boos were heard during Bettan\u2019s rehearsal on Saturday, and he told KAN 11 that they were \u201cthe loudest I ever heard.\u201d But he said that there were many fans who cheered him on, \u201cAnd we\u2019re doing it for them.\u201d And for us.<\/span><\/p>\n Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion’68,<\/em> Israel\u2019s Noam Bettan takes second place in Eurovision 2026, Bulgaria wins HANNAH BROWN ISRAELI SINGER Noam Bettan, representing Israel with the song ‘Michelle’, celebrates in the artist’s zone during the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 (ESC) at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria on May 16, 2026. \/ (photo credit: GEORG HOCHMUTH \/ APA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[33,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130636"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=130636"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130670,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130636\/revisions\/130670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=130636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=130636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=130636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}ISRAELI SINGER Noam Bettan, representing Israel with the song ‘Michelle’, celebrates in the artist’s zone during the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 (ESC) at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria on May 16, 2026. \/ (photo credit: GEORG HOCHMUTH \/ APA \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
\nNoam Bettan strode confidently onto the stage at the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna on Saturday night, after a year in which Israel faced an unprecedented campaign to ban it from the competition, and gave a brilliant performance of the song, \u201cMichelle,\u201d winning over an audience which sang along, and coming in second overall. Poland’s jury gave Israel 12 points. Israel received 123 points from the national juries, a strong showing compared to last year, and received 220 points from the audience, putting it briefly in first place during the reading of the results, which elicited some boos from the audience.<\/span><\/p>\nNOAM BETTAN, representing Israel, performs ”Michelle” during the Grand Final of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, May 16, 2026. (credit: REUTERS\/LISA LEUTNER)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
\nThe Eurovision broadcast was filled with the traditional mix of flash and nostalgia. Hosted by television presenter and singer Victoria Swarovski (and heiress to the Swarovski jewelry brand fortune) and Austrian actor and screenwriter Michael Ostrowski, it featured appearances by many past participants, including Alexander Ryback and Lordi. During the time the votes were being tallied, there was a video interview with American-Jewish music icon Billy Joel about the inspiration behind his hit song, “Vienna,” which was then performed by Austrian singer and Eurovision veteran C\u00e9sar Sampson. Mentalist Lior Suchard announced the results of Israel’s jury, which gave 12 points to Australia’s Delta Goodrem for her song, “Eclipse.”<\/span><\/p>\n
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