As we know, when the contest takes place, there has to be a winner. It may not be every fan’s favourite song. But the vocal fans only make up a tiny proportion of the people who vote, so it’s possible they don’t always agree with the winner Europe’s given them.
Even so, we generally celebrate who wins and it’s always interesting to see how popular a song is several years after it wins. Today’s birthday girl נטע ברזילי/Netta Barzilai gave us Israel’s fourth win in Lisbon in 2018. Hers was a very popular choice, and fitted with the mood of the time. As you may remember, she scored off all-but-one country in her semi-final jury and televotes. In the Grand Final, she did really well from the televoters of Europe and beyond. In her native Israel, Netta is still a big star, even if her song doesn’t quite make it into peoples’ Top Tens these days. But who can deny that Ms Barzilai is a character.
Netta is 29 today.
!יום הולדת שמח, נטע