Michael Ben David will represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin with the song ‘I.M’. For the past few weeks, he’s been busy working on the song in readiness for Turin. This morning, the world got to hear this as the video premiered online.
Michael Ben David hails from Petah Tikva, a city in the Central District of Israel that lies just 10 kilometres east of Tel Aviv. He’s spoken quite openly on the show about the difficulties he faced as a child, from being bullied at school for singing in a high-pitched voice, to the trouble that his mother initially had accepting him when he came out as gay.
Fittingly, his song I.M is a positive anthem about self-acceptance, and it’s a message that was echoed once more by Michael when speaking with Israeli broadcaster KAN after his The X Factor Israel win: ‘I’m a little shocked. People voted for me and that means they accept me for who I am. This isn’t only for me. This is for so many people.’