Israeli grand slam in the Marcel Bezençon Awards

For the first time ever, one entry has won all the categories in the Marcel Bezençon Awards. The awards consists of a vote in three categories: the journalists', the composers' and the commentators' award. The commentators reward the best artistic achievement of the contest, while the composers vote for the best song.

In Oslo, the awards were presented in a ceremony backstage, hosted by Christer Björkman, founder of the Marcel Bezençon Awards together with Richard Herrey. When Harel Skaat and the Israeli team was announced for the second time, they already broke a record. Never before has an entry won more than one category in the awards. But that wasn't enough – Israel won the third category as well, setting an outstanding record for the awards.

“Winning these awards is really important for me,” Harel Skaat commented to Eurovision.tv after the show.

A virtue of the prize

In the Eurovision Song Contest Final on Saturday night, Harel Skaat and his song Milim reached the 14th place. The awards given to the Israeli entry show a virtue of the prize, according to Christer Björkman.

“I definitely think that this shows that this award has a function. It reveals something that didn't come across in the vote of the contest. Perhaps this speaks for that Israel had a lot of votes from the jury groups across Europe. This song is very beautiful, and we've been here in two weeks now, but it might be that this song doesn't reach out in the same way the first time you hear it,” Björkman reflects.

A new category for 2010 was the commentator's vote. Previously, this category was awarded by the former winners, but logistical problems has made the organisers change the basis of the vote. It has been too difficult to get hold of past winners, and some of them don't watch the contest. On the other hand, the commentators follow the rehearsals intensely and are regarded as a more reliable group for the voting.

The Marcel Bezençon Awards were first handed out during the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest in Tallinn. The awards are named after the creator of the contest, Marcel Bezençon. See the video of the event below.

The 2010  Marcel Bezençon Awards

Press Award – Given to the best entry as voted on by the accredited media and press during the Eurovision Song Contest: Israel, Harel Skaat – Milim.
Artistic Award – Presented to the best artist as voted on by the commentators: Israel, Harel Skaat – Milim.
Composer Award – The best and most original composition as voted on by the participating composers: Israel, Harel Skaat – Milim. Composer: Tomer Adaddi. Lyrics: Noam Horev.