Israel has advanced to the Eurovision 2025 grand final after Nova survivor Yuval Raphael performed her song “New Day Will Rise” in the second round of semi-finals in Basel, Switzerland on Thursday night.
Taking the stage despite a smattering of anti-Israel protesters demonstrating outside the arena, Raphael, 24, won enough audience votes to move on to the final for a chance to become the fifth Israeli ever to win the Eurovision Song Contest, following the country’s 2018 win by Netta Barzilai.
Raphael's solo performance, elegantly stripped-back compared to the pyrotechnics, strobe lights and back-up dancers put to use in numerous performances by her competitors, was met with resounding applause by the live audience at the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel – and in the media centre, too.
Also advancing to the final: Armenia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta and Greece.
They will compete against the countries that advanced during Tuesday night’s semi-final, including Albania, Estonia, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Sweden, Ukraine.
Raphael’s moving ballad “New Day Will Rise” was written by Keren Peles, the songwriter and composer behind Israel’s 2024 Eurovision song “Hurricane.”
The Israeli singer, who survived the Nova festival on October 7 by pretending to be dead whilst hiding in a bomb shelter, was met with some boos during the Eurovision opening ceremony on Sunday but has otherwise received widespread support from Eurovision audiences. The relatively peaceful response to Israel’s delegate marks a distinct contrast from last year’s competition, when thousands of anti-Israel protesters demonstrated in Malmö, Sweden against Israeli singer Eden Golan’s participation.
Raphael, who has been among the favourites to qualify for the grand final, will also compete on Saturday against British pop group Remember Monday, who are representing the UK in this year’s contest with their song ‘What the Hell Just Happened?’.
