Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Israel participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Same Heart" written by Rami Talmid. The song was performed by Mei Finegold, who was internally selected by the Israeli broadcaster Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) to compete at the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. The song Finegold would perform at Eurovision was selected through the national final Kdam Eurovision 2014 that featured three songs submitted by the public and Finegold herself, which were presented to the public via the release of their official music videos during a show on 27 February 2014. "Same Heart" emerged as the winning song on 5 March 2014 after gaining 55% of the public vote.

Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Country Israel
National selection
Selection processArtist: Internal selection
Song: Kdam Eurovision 2014
Selection date(s)Artist: 11 January 2014
Song: 5 March 2014
Selected entrantMei Finegold
Selected song"Same Heart"
Selected songwriter(s)Rami Talmid
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (14th)
Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2013 • 2014 • 2015►

Israel was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 8 May 2014. Performing during the show in position 2, "Same Heart" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Israel placed fourteenth out of the 15 participating countries in the semi-final with 19 points.

Background
Main article: Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2014 contest, Israel had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-six times since its first entry in 1973.[1] Israel has won the contest on three occasions: in 1978 with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" performed by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, in 1979 with the song "Hallelujah" performed by Milk and Honey and in 1998 with the song "Diva" performed by Dana International. Since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004, Israel has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final five times, including two top ten results in 2005 with Shiri Maimon and "HaSheket SheNish'ar" placing fourth, and in 2008 with Boaz and "The Fire in Your Eyes" placing ninth. Between 2011 and 2013, Israel has failed to qualify to the final consecutively, which included their 2013 entry "Rak Bishvilo" performed by Moran Mazor.

The Israeli national broadcaster, Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) had been in charge of the nation's participation in the contest since its debut in 1973. IBA confirmed Israel's participation in the contest on 10 October 2013.[2] On 4 December 2013, IBA announced that it would conduct an internal selection to select the artist that would represent Israel and a national final to select the song for the artist.[3]

Before Eurovision

Artist selection

On 11 January 2014, IBA announced that Mei Finegold was selected as the Israeli representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. A special committee consisting of music industry professionals considered sixteen artists, of which Maya Bouskilla and Ella Doron were highly considered before Finegold was ultimately selected. The members of the committee were Bracha Ofir (retired judge), Izchak Sonnenschein (Head of Israeli Eurovision delegation), Udi Bezalel (delegation member), Moshe Morad (director of 88FM), Tali Katz (Channel 1 music editor), Tal Argaman (music editor at 88FM), Leon Kichler (former vice president of OGAE Israel), Liron Ben-Shimon (musician and producer) and Ofer Shafrir (show director).[4][5] It was also announced that a national final titled Kdam Eurovision 2014 featuring three songs would take place to select her song.

Kdam Eurovision 2014

IBA opened the public song submission following the announcement of Finegold as the selected artist with the deadline on 28 January 2014.[6] 78 submissions were received at the close of the deadline, which were subsequently evaluated by the committee that shortlisted ten songs. Two songs were ultimately chosen from the public submissions while one was provided by Finegold for the competition. The official music videos for the three songs, all directed by Lior Nordman, were presented on 27 February 2014 during a special presentation programme broadcast on Channel 1 and the public was able to vote for their favourite song through SMS until 4 March 2014. The winning song, "Same Heart", was selected solely by the public vote and revealed during a special televised broadcast on Channel 1 on 5 March 2014.[7][8]

DrawSongSongwriter(s)TelevotePlace
1 "Same Heart" Rami Talmid 55% 1
2 "Nish'eret Iti" (נשארת איתי) Loren de Paz, Chen Metzger Eder 40% 2
3 "Be Proud" Mei Finegold 5% 3

At Eurovision
Mei Finegold during a press meet and greet

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 20 January 2014, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. The EBU's Reference Group approved a request by the Israeli broadcaster for Israel to compete in the second semi-final on 8 May 2014 due to the date of the first semi-final, 6 May 2014, coinciding with the Yom Hazikaron memorial day.[9] During the allocation draw, it was determined that Israel would perform in the first half of the second semi-final.[10]

Once all the competing songs for the 2014 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Israel was set to perform in position 2, following the entry from Malta and before the entry from Norway.[11]

In Israel, the two semi-finals and the final were televised live on Channel 1 with Hebrew subtitles and Channel 33 with Arabic subtitles.[12] The three shows were also broadcast via radio on 88 FM with commentary by Kobi Menora and Yuval Caspin.[13] The Israeli spokesperson, who announced the Israeli votes during the final, was Ofer Nachshon.[14]

Semi-final
Mei Finegold during a rehearsal before the second semi-final

Mei Finegold took part in technical rehearsals on 29 April and 3 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 7 and 8 May. This included the jury show on 7 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. On the day of the second semi-final, Israel was considered by bookmakers to be the sixth most likely country to advance into the final.[15]

The Israeli performance featured Mei Finegold performing a choreographed routine in a sleeveless black dress together with two dancers in black leotards. The stage transitioned between red, blue and gold colours with the LED screens displaying black Asian inspired architectural shapes and designs. Finegold and her dancers concluded the performance on the left hand side of the stage's catwalk.[16][17] The two dancers performing on stage with Mei Finegold were Shiran Lagziel and Marin Termetz.[18]

At the end of the show, Israel was not announced among the top 10 entries in the second semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Israel placed fourteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 19 points.[19]

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding points from 1-8, 10 and 12 as determined by a combination of 50% national jury and 50% televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Israel and awarded by Israel in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to Israel
Points awarded to Israel (Semi-final 2)[20]
Score Country
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points  Greece
5 points  Macedonia
4 points
3 points  Finland
2 points
1 point  Romania

Points awarded by Israel

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Israeli jury:[22]

Detailed voting results from Israel (Semi-final 2)[23]
Draw Country M. Datz C. Aharoni A. Cohen D. Medalie N. Bukaee Jury Rank Televote Rank Combined Rank Points
01  Malta 9 13 11 8 12 12 9 12
02  Israel
03  Norway 13 8 12 11 14 13 11 13
04  Georgia 8 14 13 14 10 14 12 14
05  Poland 14 1 14 5 13 10 5 7 4
06  Austria 2 4 2 1 6 2 2 2 10
07  Lithuania 4 9 8 4 9 6 13 11
08  Finland 7 5 9 6 7 7 8 8 3
09  Ireland 12 7 7 13 8 9 10 10 1
10  Belarus 6 12 5 9 2 8 3 4 7
11  Macedonia 1 6 1 2 1 1 14 9 2
12   Switzerland 11 11 10 12 5 11 4 6 5
13  Greece 10 2 6 3 11 5 7 5 6
14  Slovenia 3 10 4 7 4 4 6 3 8
15  Romania 5 3 3 10 3 3 1 1 12
Detailed voting results from Israel (Final)[24]
Draw Country M. Datz C. Aharoni A. Cohen D. Medalie N. Bukaee Jury Rank Televote Rank Combined Rank Points
01  Ukraine 5 8 10 16 10 7 5 6 5
02  Belarus 13 23 11 20 11 17 7 10 1
03  Azerbaijan 7 16 13 14 14 10 16 11
04  Iceland 23 18 25 19 21 24 26 26
05  Norway 22 9 23 15 15 20 20 22
06  Romania 6 10 4 21 4 6 4 3 8
07  Armenia 14 11 15 18 7 11 1 5 6
08  Montenegro 9 13 14 9 17 9 25 19
09  Poland 19 5 20 11 26 18 12 15
10  Greece 17 6 8 5 8 5 14 9 2
11  Austria 2 2 3 1 1 1 2 1 12
12  Germany 24 26 12 25 22 25 24 25
13  Sweden 1 4 1 2 3 2 6 2 10
14  France 25 7 24 24 24 21 19 21
15  Russia 8 24 2 23 9 14 3 8 3
16  Italy 12 20 16 12 12 16 22 20
17  Slovenia 11 19 9 13 13 12 21 18
18  Finland 10 12 22 4 6 8 18 12
19  Spain 3 14 5 3 2 4 11 7 4
20   Switzerland 21 21 17 21 23 22 9 17
21  Hungary 4 1 6 7 5 3 8 4 7
22  Malta 20 22 26 17 20 23 23 24
23  Denmark 16 15 7 8 19 13 17 16
24  Netherlands 18 17 21 10 16 19 10 14
25  San Marino 26 25 19 26 18 26 15 23
26  United Kingdom 15 3 18 6 25 15 13 13

References
  1. "Israel Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  2. Jiandani, Sanjay (10 October 2013). "Eurovision 2014: Israel confirms participation". ESCToday. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  3. Jiandani, Sanjay (4 December 2013). "Israel: IBA opts for internal artist selection for 2014". ESCToday. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  4. רשמית: מיי פיינגולד תייצג את ישראל באירוויזיון. Walla! (in Hebrew). 11 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  5. Storvik-Green, Simon (12 January 2014). "Mei Finegold to fly the Israeli flag in Copenhagen". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  6. Laufer, Gil (17 January 2014). "Israel: IBA calls for songs". ESCToday. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  7. "Eurovision 2014 - Mei Finegold (Israel)". ESCKAZ. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  8. Storvik-Green, Simon (19 February 2014). "Israeli final set for 5th March". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  9. Hidalgo, Rodrigo Romero (13 January 2014). "General: Semifinal allocation draw". escXtra.com. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  10. Escudero, Victor M. (20 January 2014). "Allocation Draw results: Who's in which Semi-Final?". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  11. Siim, Jarmo (24 March 2014). "Running order for Eurovision Semi-Finals decided". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  12. "אירוויזיון ב88FM". Israel Broadcasting Authority (in Hebrew). 1 May 2014. Archived from the original on 20 July 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  13. המופע של פרנק נֵף לקראת אירוויזיון 2014. Israel Broadcasting Authority (in Hebrew). 17 April 2014. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. "Eurovision Song Contest 2014: ecco l'elenco degli spokesperson" (in Italian). Eurofestival News. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  15. Doyle, Daniel (7 May 2014). "Eurovision 2014: What do the betting odds predict for semi-final 2?". Esctoday. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  16. Storvik-Green, Simon (29 April 2014). "Israel: A fiery start for Mei Finegold". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  17. Roxburgh, Gordon (3 May 2014). "A golden touch for Israel's Mei Finegold". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  18. Méndez de Paz, Fernando (3 May 2014). "Israel: Mei Finegold second day rehearsal and press conference". ESCToday. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  19. "Second Semi-Final of Copenhagen 2014". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  20. "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Copenhagen 2014". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  21. "Results of the Grand Final of Copenhagen 2014". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  22. Brey, Marco (1 May 2014). "Who will be in the expert juries?". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  23. "Full Split Results | Second Semi-Final of Copenhagen 2014". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  24. "Full Split Results | Grand Final of Copenhagen 2014". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
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