Israel finished unexpectedly high in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) early on Sunday, taking fourth place among the 39 nations that competed. Israel was represented by 24-year old Shiri Maimon, who sang her hit “Hasheket Shenishar” (“The Silence That Remains”). Here is the video of her performance.
Haaretz reported that the ESC “is one of Europe’s most widely watched events, with more than 150 million people expected to tune in to this year’s edition.”
Amy Samin of Israelity (a blog that eschews punditry and instead posts stories of “normal Israelis living normal lives”) described the ESC competition:
Each of the participating countries sends one representative (an individual or a group). Two past winners of the competition are well-known even outside of
Europe: ABBA . . . and Celine Dion, who performed as a representative from Switzerland. . . . Julio Iglesias (4th place in 1970) and Olivia Newton-John (4th place in 1974) competed in the ESC. . . . Each year, the song to be sung is played on the [Israeli] radio (over and over) and people enjoy debating its quality and chances for success. They also bicker over the selected performer, who has sometimes been chosen by a popular vote, sometimes by a committee.
This year, the people of
Israel voted. A special television program featured each of the Israeli competitors performing their songs. We chose as our representative a lovely and talented young woman named Shiri Maimon.
The Jerusalem Post filed this report on the competition:
Gracing the stage in a striking yellow and pink gown, Maimon sang the first half of "The Silence" in Hebrew, then switched to English for the sentimental love song’s second half. The performance earned 12 points — a first-place ranking — from
Monaco, which along with Belarus and Andorra had ranked Israel first in the semifinal. An estimated 150 million viewers across
Europe tuned in for the 50th year of the popular song contest, which Israel won in 1978, 1979 and 1998. . . . Israel has fared less well since then, placing 19th in 2003 and failing to make the final round in 2004. . . . Competition rules require participating countries to televise every other nation’s performance, and
Lebanon withdrew its performer rather than show a singer from Israel. . . . Accompanied to
Ukraine by her parents, sister, a cousin and her boyfriend, Maimon expressed gratitude to "everyone in Israel for all the support, and to the delegation that came with me." . . . . "It was a great honor to be here," she said, "where everyone calls you ‘ Israel‘ and not your name, so you know you represent your country and not yourself."
Update: Scott Johnson of Power Line notes that Shiri Maimon is "a lady with a venerable name in Jewish history. Moses ben Maimon (Moses son of Maimon, or Maimonides) was the twelfth-century sage who must be one of the most remarkable men of all time." It is a first name too: Scott references his friend Maimon Schwarzschild’s blog at The Right Coast. All three of these links are worth perusing.