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About Israel...
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2004 Result
Points in Semi Final: 57
Position in Semi Final: 11th
Points in Final: Failed to qualify
Position in Final: Failed to qualify
2005 Contest: Must compete in Semi Final
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History (1956 to 2003)
Israel's previous appearances: 26 year(s) out of 48
Years participated: 1973-1979; 1981-1983; 1985-1993; 1995; 1998-
Best result: 1st (1978, 1979, 1998)
I've lost track of the number of times that bright sparks have said to me "Why is Israel in Eurovision? It's not even part of Europe!" Unfortunately, it's difficult to reply "It's a member of the European Broadcasting Union, so it doesn't actually matter where the country is" without sounding like a Eurogeek. Nevertheless, despite not being in Europe, Israel's record in the contest is rather good, winning three times - in 1978 ('A Ba Ni Bi'), 1979 ('Hallelujah') and 1998. The most recent of these victories was by the splendid Dana International, famed as much for being transexual (she used to be a man) as for her song 'Diva'. I'm sure women across Europe (and Israel) were wondering how a former man could look so darn good as a woman. After a good 5th place at the Jerusalem contest in 1999, Israel has struggled during the noughties, managing no higher than 12th in 2002. Some have suggested that politics has played a part, though, in truth, none of Israel's songs since Dana International have been particularly strong. 2003 was no exception, with Lior Narkis limping into 19th place with his 'Many words for love'. As a result, the Israelis find themselves in the Semi Final in 2004.
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This year's entry
Position in Semi Final draw: 5
Position in Final draw: Failed to qualify
What I said prior to the Semi Final:
"With 'Le'ha'amin', Israel has the unusual distinction of a song with lyrics and music written by its performer. David D'Or has a stunning, unusual voice, which soars over this really rather beautiful song. Like Israel's most recent entries, it is likely to be performed in a mix of English and Hebrew; sometimes the combination of two languages can be rather clunky, but in this case it seems to work well. Certainly, I think this is Israel's strongest song since 'Diva', and much better than the mawkish 'Light a candle' that secured 12th place in 2002. Could we all be heading back to Jerusalem in 2005?"
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What I predicted...
My prediction for Semi Final: 12th to 16th
My prediction for Final: Unlikely to qualify
What I predicted prior to the Semi Final:
"Israel needs a really strong entry to win Eurovision, partly because it has the disadvantage of no neighbours to vote for it. While 'Le'ha'amin' is a beautiful song, it may not stand out enough, lost among a clutch of non-English songs near the start of the running order. Once again, it may fall victim to the fact that there are just too many good songs competing for the ten spare places in the Final. I would like this to qualify, but I think it will be lucky to do so; in the unlikely event it does reach the Final, a similar placing to Sarit Hadid's 2002 12th place will almost certainly be the best Israel can hope for, given the competition."
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What you thought...
Final Poll Ranking: out of 36 ()
(Updated 15 May 2004; change refers to movement over final week)
In the run up to the Contest, over 5,000 visitors to this site voted for their favourite song in the Soult.com Eurovision Poll.
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What actually happened
David d'Or got off to a good start by relegating his backing troupe to the back of the stage (take note, Piero), and by wearing an outfit appropriate for a man of his age (yes, that's aimed at you Jari!). I really thought David's performance was quite beautiful, though I can see how others might find his voice too much to stomach. The backing vocals were a little ropey, though.
I correctly predicted that Israel would be "unlikely to qualify", though I fell just wide of the mark by suggesting that it would finish 12th to 16th; in fact, David d'Or achieved a tantalising 11th place, scoring the same number of points as Estonia in 12th (57), but finishing ahead due to receiving votes from 18 other countries compared to Estonia's 11. I think I can count that as a 'close' though, rather than a 'wrong'...
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What the bookies thought...
 | Israel to win: | 15/05/04 (prior to Final) | - |
| | 13/05/04 (after Semi Final) | - |
| | 11/05/04 | 100-1 |
| | 08/05/04 | 50-1 |
| | 06/05/04 | 40-1 |
| | 04/05/04 | 40-1 |
| | 31/04/04 | 40-1 |
| | 24/04/04 | 40-1 |
| | 17/04/04 | 40-1 |
| | 07/04/04 | 33-1 |
| | 24/03/04 | 33-1 |
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Israel fell back in the betting prior to the Semi Final, and despite David d'Or's amazing performance, the bookies were right in predicting that it would fail to qualify.
(Odds quoted here were those offered by Coral.co.uk. 'F' indicates favourite, 'JF' joint favourite.)
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Links
 http://www.daviddor.com/
 http://eurovil.iba.org.il/
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Notes (see 'History' above)
- The 1956 Contest (where each country had two songs) is counted as a single appearance;
- Countries eliminated in the 1993 preliminary heat (EE, HU, RO, SK) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 1996 preliminary heat (DE, DK, HU, IL, MK, RO, RU) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Semi Finals ARE counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest.
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Your comments (94)
From Nida, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 16:28:42 2004-5-15
What a shame this song did not go through! It deserved to be in the finals more than many others songs that did actually go through.
From Mark, GERMANY
Added 22:53:23 2004-5-12
I must confess!
I didn´t like "Le'ha'amin" that much before the semifinal just an hour ago. But now it´s obvious that song contest and politics go hand in hand. What a shame, people.
David D´or was the best singer tonight!!! That was realy touching.
I thought this was supposed to be a SONG Contest. what reaches the final was mostly trash. tacky dancers,boys and girls who desperately try to find a note!
I like to congratulate Israel for having the best Song so far this year. Ande i´m a bit angry now : (
From Mike Collins, IRELAND
Added 18:0:13 2004-5-12
I'll most likely mute the TV when this comes on, and make a pot of tea.Who does this kind of music appeal to? Amoeba?
From Ran Rahamim, ISRAEL
Added 13:52:21 2004-5-12
in my opinion these countries will be in thr final...
#Switzerland
#Israel
#Cyprus
#Greece
#Ukraine
#Malta
#Serbia
#Bosnia
#Denemark
#Albania
good luck for all the countries..
From Almoni, ISRAEL
Added 16:40:22 2004-5-11
לכל מביני העברית תשכנעו אנשים ותצביעו בעד ישראל באתר הזה , אם תראו בתוך שבועיים ירדנו ממקום-5 ל-8 זה משמעותי אז תצביעו!!!!!!!!
From REJANE GARES, GREECE
Added 21:15:9 2004-5-10
I HAVE LOVED THIS SONG SO MUCH
I HOPE THIS SONG WILL WIN!
From Anton, NORWAY
Added 11:59:31 2004-5-9
Absolutely facinating song. It really deserves a lot of votes. A lot of votes doesn't always come with the good songs in this here contest. People have many motives for casting their telvotes.
From Ran Rahamim, ISRAEL
Added 10:51:13 2004-5-9
my 5 favorite songs for this year
# Cyprus
# France
# Belguim
# Norway
# Israel
From איזי, ISRAEL
Added 11:22:35 2004-5-8
של ישראל כמובן!!
למרות שאני אשמח עבור הקפריסאים, מגיע להם לנצח סוף סוף (ולא ליוונים שהשיר שלהם ממשל א מענין ונדוש בעיני)
From Ran Rahamim, ISRAEL
Added 12:18:53 2004-5-7
izi, לאיזה שיר אתה מתכוון שאתה אומר שהלוואי שאני צודק של ישראל או של קפריסין.???..??
From Izi, ISRAEL
Added 9:48:41 2004-5-7
רן, אל תגזים. הוא לא רע אבל יש לו לא מעט מגבלות.
יחד עם זה, הלואי ואתה צודק! זו התערבות שאני מוכן להפסיד בה :))
From Ran Rahamim, ISRAEL
Added 20:55:51 2004-5-6
i want to tell something...
all the songs are beauteful but i'm sorry of israel and of cyprus are the most beauteful.
From Sándor, FINLAND
Added 8:32:16 2004-5-6
First I was thinking, David D'Or is the number one. Later, I feel the song is empty. So, there is now approx 5 songs over Israel. Anyway, no bad at all.
From Nikolas, SWITZERLAND
Added 20:11:40 2004-5-5
I would love to vote for that one, but unfortunately his voice is completely destroing the song.
From Izi, ISRAEL
Added 7:55:59 2004-5-4
Why the odds are so low???
It's a nice song (although it is not a winner)and deserves much more!
From Makis, AUSTRALIA
Added 15:18:55 2004-5-1
hello israel..dodnt think this is the best of your songs over the years ..soory
i always feel that Sarit should have done much better ..she has a great voice and i love the song cinderela..got the cd:))SARIT FOR EVER! love from a greek
From hi, --
Added 19:14:19 2004-4-28
no good ,no bad
From Francis, BELGIUM
Added 15:22:59 2004-4-27
This song is nice but can not win.
From Graham Soult, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 21:9:51 2004-4-26
Hello everyone! Thanks for all your comments and contacts about the unpleasant postings which have appeared on the Israeli page.
As you will see, I have now removed the comments which have been causing concern, and I hope we will now be able to get back to talking about David d'Or and his beautiful song :)
As you will understand, I try and avoid having to edit people's comments, because that means difficult judgments on my part about what to keep and what to delete. However, I think we all agree about the kind of comments which are defintely not acceptable in a forum of this kind. So, I have removed comments which make no actual reference to the song, while trying to keep some sense of continuity in the discussion :) I hope that's acceptable.
Hopefully with the offending comments removed, the discussion can get back on track. I will keep an eye on what's happening here; I want to try and keep things as simple and free as possible, but if necessary, I may have to look at ways of moderating the postings before they are published.
Certainly, I don't want to remove the ability to post comments, because 99% of them are great :)
Thanks everyone for your support - feel free to contact me (see link at foot of page) if you have any more feedback about the site.
Cheers, Graham
From Ginger, ISRAEL
Added 26/04/2004 18:30
Lets talk about the israeli song pls...
From Michel, CANADA
Added 26/04/2004 16:57
Yes, erasing from this site all these political and hate comments would be a good start. It will at leat discourage to a certain extent people to put new ones.
From David, ISRAEL
Added 26/04/2004 16:39
Graham,
Michel is absolutely right!! Please, erase all politics comments! it's terrible to read what people have written here. This is NOT a political forum and we are not the united narions. This is a eurovision site and it should be about all things that bring people TOGETHER. Please, let's keep it that way!
(Besides, there are many other places to talk politics and to attack or defend israel so go look for it and let this one alone).
From Michel, CANADA
Added 26/04/2004 15:52
Graham,
Can something be done to stop racist people like this ONE MOROCCAN of coming on sites like these and spilling their venimous hate?
From Uli, GERMANY
Added 26/04/2004 15:23
Panos,
I agree with you. I like this song too. It has very nice melody. Really touching. And it is sung very well. Special voice.
It will get my vote.
From Panos, GREECE
Added 26/04/2004 15:20
What is wrong with people? This song is so beautiful and the singer is fantastic. Why are the bets so low? 40 to 1 seems to be ridiculously low for a song this nice! I am sure it will go to the finals for an excellent finish (top 5).
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Israel
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