Tonight: Eurovision national final in Israel

The national final in Israel will take place tonight at the Culture Hall in Rishon LeZion. After a number of years of internally selected artists, the Kdam Eurovision has returned to Channel 1 in Israel with a full live show. You can also see the show live on IBA's new Kdam Eurovision website!

Tonigh's final has the following line-up:

1. Adi Cohen – Al Ahava
2. Knob – Ohev Et Ze
3. Chen Aharoni – Or
4. Idit Halevi – It's My Time
5. Hatikva 6 – Hakol Sababa
6. Niki Goldstein – Amri Itach
7. Sivan Bahanam – Kach Oti
8. Michael Greilsommer – Tu Du Du
9. Dana International – Ding Dong
10. Carmel Ekman – El Gagoai

Completely open

In an attempt to revive the public interest in Israel, the competition for 2011 was completely open to every active singer in Israel. This is a change from the last four years where the artists were chosen internally by the broadcaster.

Broadcaster IBA made contact with various artists, through their representatives, in order for them to apply and take part in the competition.

Three victories

Israel have registered three victories in the Eurovision Song Contest. The first one came in 1978, when Izhar Cohen & Alphabeta won with A Ba Ni Bi. A back to back double victory was secured in 1979 when Milk & Honey won on home soil in Jerusalem with Hallelujah. A wait of almost two decades followed, before Israel's third and most recent victory, in Birmingham in 1998, with Dana International and the up-tempo Diva. The lyrics were written by the current Israeli Head of Delegation, Yoav Ginai.

Returning winner

Now, Dana International has decided to make a comeback to the Eurovision Song Contest scene. This makes it Dana's third attempt to represent her country, and bringing the victory back to her homeland for the fourth time.

It wouldn't also be the first time she'd be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest as a song writer, as she also wrote the 2008 Israeli entry The Fire In Your Eyes, performed by Boaz Mauda. The song finished 9th in the Final.

Diva was chosen as one of the 14 most popular songs in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, and was thus one of the entrants in the Congratulations 50th anniversary concert in Copenhagen, Denmark, held in October 2005.

Approval to swap Semi-Finals

Israel's 2010 entry Millim with Harel Skaat finished 14th in the Grand Final in Oslo, Norway. As the first entry in history, it won all three categories of the 2010 Marcel Bezençon Awards – the Press Award, the Artistic Award and the Composer Award.

Israel will take part in the Second Semi-Final of the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest, on Thursday May 12th, after gaining prior approval from the European Broadcasting Union due to the fact that the Israeli Memorial Day and Independence day occur on the same date as the First Semi-Final.