Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1998 The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaste ...

with the song "Diva" performed by

Dana International Sharon Cohen ( he, שרון כהן; born 2 February 1969), professionally known as Dana International ( he, דנה אינטרנשיונל), is an Israeli pop singer. She has released eight albums and three additional compilation albums. She wa ...

. The song was written by Svika Pick and Yoav Ginai. The Israeli entry for the 1998 contest in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, UK was announced on 23 November 1997, having been selected internally by an expert committee assembled by the country's public broadcasting service IBA.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

15 songs were submitted by the public, which were subsequently evaluated by a special committee that selected the Israeli entry for 1998 contest. On 23 November 1997, IBA announced that

was selected as the Israeli representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 with the song "

Diva Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is cl ...

". Among entries considered by the selection committee, "Shir Tikva" performed by Arkadi Duchin and Halimonim was highly considered before Dana International was ultimately selected.

At Eurovision

Heading into the final of the contest, BBC reported that bookmakers ranked the entry joint 6th out of the 25 entries. Israel was drawn to compete eighth in the contest, held on 9 May, 1998. At the end of the night, the nation placed 1st in the field of 25 entries, receiving 172 points.

Voting

''Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest''

"Diva" was one of fourteen Eurovision songs selected by fans to participate in the ''Congratulations'' 50th anniversary show in 2005. It was both the only entry from the '90s and the only Israeli entry to appear in the main competition. The song was drawn to perform third, following "

What's Another Year? "What's Another Year" was Irish singer and composer Johnny Logan's first Eurovision Song Contest winning song, achieving success in the 1980 edition of the contest, as well as 's second Eurovision victory. Composed by Shay Healy (who also wrot ...

" by Johnny Logan and preceding "

Eres tú Eres (English: "You Are") may refer to: * "Eres" (Alejandro Fernández song), 2008 * "Eres" (Café Tacuba song), 2003 * "Eres", a song by Anahí from her album ''Inesperado'', 2016 * "Eres", a song by José María Napoleón, 1975, later covered ...

" by

Mocedades Mocedades () is a Spanish singing group from the Basque Country, who represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 with the hit song "Eres Tú". Since June 2014, ''Mocedades'' has been the name of two bands: one with Izaskun Uranga ...

. Like the other acts that night, "Diva" was represented by dancers performing alongside footage of Dana International's original performance from 1998, with Dana herself appearing to lip-sync to the ending of the song and introduce the next act. She would appear later in the show to perform an English version of

Baccara Baccara was a female vocal duo formed in 1977 by Spanish artists Mayte Mateos (born 7 February 1951) and María Mendiola (4 April 1952 – 11 September 2021). The duo rapidly achieved international success with their debut single " Yes Sir, I C ...

's " Parlez-vous français?" during a medley of Eurovision favorites. At the end of the first round, "Diva" was not among the five songs proceeding to the final round. It was later revealed that "Diva" finished thirteenth with 39 points. It received a sole 12 points from Israel themselves, who (unlike in standard Eurovision editions) were allowed to vote for their own entry.

Voting

Notes

References

{{Congratulations (Eurovision)

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pri ...