On Saturday night Israel won the annual Eurovision Song Contest in front of millions of viewers, with singer Netta Barzilai taking the trophy ahead of Cyprus and Austria.
Netta, who studied at Israel’s Rimon School of Music, performed a quirky electronic number called ‘Toy’, complete with its trademark chicken dance.
The elated singer thanked the crowd as she accepted the trophy, saying: “Thank you so much for choosing different. Thank you so much for accepting differences between us. Thank you for celebrating diversity. I love my country!”
The juries had placed Israel in third place behind Sweden and Austria, but Netta cruised ahead on the public vote, winning with an impressive 529 points, ahead of Cyprus, who came in second with 436.
This is Israel’s first Eurovision win since 1998 and fourth overall. As winners, they will have the responsibility of holding the contest in 2019.
