Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022

Eurovision Song Contest 2022
Country	Israel
National selection
Selection process	The X Factor Israel
Selection date(s)	5 February 2022
Selected entrant	Michael Ben David
Selected song	"I.M"
Selected songwriter(s)	Chen Aharoni Lidor Saadia Asi Tal
Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2021 • 2022

Israel will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy with the entry "I.M" performed by Michael Ben David. Israeli broadcaster Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/KAN) collaborated with the commercial broadcaster Reshet in order to select the Israeli entry for the 2022 contest. The fourth season of the reality singing competition The X Factor Israel, which was organised by Reshet, was used to select the Israeli entry. The competition concluded with a final on 5 February 2022 that featured four finalists with potential Eurovision songs that were selected for them through a song selection round in January and February 2022. The winner was selected following the combination of the votes from a public vote and two jury groups.

Background[]

Prior to the 2022 contest, Israel has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-three times since its first entry in 1973.^[1] Israel has won the contest on four occasions: in 1978 with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" performed by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, in 1979 with the song "Hallelujah" performed by Milk and Honey, in 1998 with the song "Diva" performed by Dana International and in 2018 with the song "Toy" performed by Netta Barzilai. Since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004, Israel has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final eleven times, including three top ten results in 2005 with Shiri Maimon and "Hasheket Shenish'ar" placing fourth, in 2008 with Boaz and "The Fire In Your Eyes" placing ninth, and in 2015 with Nadav Guedj and "Golden Boy" placing ninth, in addition to the victory in 2018. Israel has participated in the final for six consecutive years between 2015 and 2021, which included their 2021 entry "Set Me Free" performed by Eden Alene.

The Israeli national broadcaster, Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/KAN) has been in charge of the nation's participation in the contest since 2018. KAN confirmed Israel's participation in the contest on 21 February 2021.^[2] Between 2015 and 2020, the Israeli entry was selected through the reality singing competition HaKokhav HaBa L'Eurovizion ("The Next Star for Eurovision") in collaboration with Keshet and Tedy Productions, while in 2021, KAN conducted an internal selection to select the artist that would represent Israel and a national final to select the song for the artist. On 6 April 2021, KAN confirmed that they would cooperate with television channel Reshet 13 in order to select the Israeli entry through the reality singing competition The X Factor Israel.^[3][4]

Before Eurovision[]

The X Factor Israel[]

The Israeli entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was selected through the fourth season of the reality singing competition The X Factor Israel.^[4] The shows were hosted by  [he] and featured a judging panel composed of Margalit Tzan'ani and Miri Mesika (Groups and Over 25's), Aviv Geffen (Girls), Eurovision Song Contest 2018 winner Netta Barzilai (Boys) and Ran Danker (Teens). Show creator Simon Cowell was originally announced as a judge but withdrew prior to the competition.^[5][6] The competition took place over three months, which commenced on 30 October 2021 and concluded on 5 February 2022. All shows in the competition were broadcast on Channel 13 as well as online via 13tv.co.il.^[7]

Following the audition phase of the competition, 33 contestants advanced after receiving a "yes" from at least four of the five judges. During the Judge Houses and Chairs phase, each member of the judging panel selected from each of their categories four out of eight/nine contestants that advanced from the audition phase. The sixteen remaining contestants then competed during the live shows, which took place over six weeks and resulted in the selection of four finalists following the fifth week. The four finalists were: Eli Huli, Inbal Bibi, Michael Ben David and Sapir Saban.

Contestant progress in the live shows[]

Live shows began on December 26, 2021.

Song selection round[]

On 19 September 2021, KAN opened the public song submission with the deadline on 17 October 2021.^[8] Two songs per finalist were chosen from 130 submissions by a six-member professional committee with five members from KAN (four radio representatives and one television representative), among them which included the director of KAN music stations Ofri Gopher, and one from Reshet 13.^[9][10] The eight competing songs were presented on Kan Gimel on 30 January 2022 and the public was able to vote through KAN's official website and mobile application until 3 February 2022.^[11] A combination of the votes from the public vote (50%) and two jury groups consisting of The X Factor Israel 2022 judges (25%) and the professional committee (25%) selected one song per finalist to advance to the final, which was revealed during a special televised broadcast titled HaShir Shelanu L'Eurovizion ("Our Song for Eurovision") on Kan 11, Kan Gimel as well as online via kan.org.il on 3 February.^[12]

Final[]

The final took place on 5 February 2022 in the Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv.^[13] The winner was selected in two rounds. In the duel round, the four finalists were divided into two duels and each performed a cover song. Two entries progressed forward to the final round, while the two others faced each other off in another duel, which picked the third participant of the final round. In the final round, the three finalists that advanced from the duel round presented their candidate Eurovision entries chosen through the song selection round.^[14] The winner was selected by a combination of the votes from a public vote (50%) and two jury groups consisting of The X Factor Israel 2022 judges (25%) and the professional committee (25%).^[12]

At Eurovision[]

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 25 January 2022, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform. Israel has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2022, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.^[15]

Marvin Dietmann, who will also work on the staging for Cyprus, was announced as the artistic director for the Israeli performance.^[16] A revamped version of the song was released on 14 March 2022.^[17]

References[]