Yuval Raphael was chosen to represent Israel at Eurovision 2025, and this morning many newspapers worldwide opened with the news, mostly in a positive and enthusiastic tone. From which countries did reactions to Yuval’s selection come? And which unexpected country covered Yuval positively?

Yuval Raphael was selected to represent Israel at Eurovision 2025, to be held in Basel on May 13, 15, and 17, hoping to bring Israel its fifth victory in the competition. Yuval won first place in the television program “HaKochav HaBa for Eurovision 2025” after performing the songs “Dancing Queen” (originally by ABBA) and “Writing’s On The Wall” (originally by Sam Smith). This morning, many newspapers worldwide opened with news regarding Yuval’s selection to represent Israel at Eurovision, detailing her heroic story from the October 7 terror attack.

Many leading newspapers around the world covered Yuval Raphael’s selection as Israel’s representative for Eurovision 2025. The reactions were positive, with emphasis naturally on Yuval’s bravery and her journey from the shelter at the music festival in Re’im to being chosen as Israel’s Eurovision representative.

Among the leading newspapers that covered Yuval’s selection were the French “Le Parisien”, German “Bild”, American “Billboard”, Swiss “Blick”, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and even the Icelandic network “Visir”, which is considered distinctly anti-Israeli and often covers the war in Gaza very critically towards Israel.

The sympathy towards Yuval Raphael as Israel’s representative is exceptional, coming in stark contrast to the global mood. The positive coverage of Yuval comes alongside a sharp rise for Israel in the betting odds to win the competition, straight to third place, after only Belgium and Sweden! Now, it remains to wait for the committee’s decision and see which song Yuval Raphael will bring to Basel to represent the country with honor!

The Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) and Keshet 12 have initiated contact with approximately 120 creators from various genres of Israeli music, chosen by a professional committee, to propose songs for representing Israel at Eurovision in Basel. Creators can submit their proposed songs until February 2, 2025, subject to regulations.

The IPBC emphasized that while the song can be in any language, it must include at least a few sentences in Hebrew. The creators of the songs must hold Israeli citizenship, and if a group of creators is submitting a song, one foreign creator is allowed. The selection committee will comprise seven members, including representatives from radio, television, and Keshet 12.

Committee Composition:

• Chairman – Director of the Corporation’s Music Stations
• Two radio representatives – Music editors chosen by the committee chairman
• Two television representatives – Head of Entertainment and Culture at IPBC and an additional representative of her choice
• Two Keshet representatives

Each committee member will vote based on professional criteria, including quality and originality of lyrics and melody, suitability for the representing artist and the Eurovision competition, potential success in Eurovision, appropriateness for representing a public broadcasting body, overall impression, and other relevant criteria as decided by the committee. Songs will be presented anonymously to ensure unbiased evaluation.

Israel in Eurovision 2024

“Hurricane” is the name of the song performed by singer Eden Golan, who was chosen to represent Israel after winning the tenth season of “HaKochav Haba”. Israel advanced to the final after winning the second semi-final with 194 points, and in the grand final reached fifth place with 375 points. In the public vote, Israel came in second place, just 14 points behind the first place.

This is the second consecutive time that Israel has reached the top five, an achievement it had not attained since its streak of successes in 1998-1999.