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Israel confirms participation in 2027 Eurovision in Bulgaria

Israel has won the Eurovision Song Contest four times: in 1978, 1979, 1998, and 2018.

By Shiryn Ghermezian, The Algemeiner

Israel’s national broadcaster Kan confirmed this week that the country will compete in the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest in Bulgaria.

Israel’s representative in Eurovision will again be selected on the Keshet 12 reality television show and singing competition “HaKokhav HaBa” (“The Next Star”), which will air this fall.

Israel’s most recent Eurovision representatives were all winners of “HaKokhav HaBa.”

Noam Bettan finished second place in the 2026 Eurovision in Austria; Yuval Rafael came in second (and first in the public vote) in the 2025 Eurovision in Switzerland; and Eden Golan finished fifth in the 2024 competition in Sweden.

Kan said the process for picking the 2027 Eurovision song will be the same as the one used last year to select the track “Michelle” that Bettan performed.

Recordings submitted to Kan’s selection committee will not include the voices of the songwriters or anyone else who could reveal the identity of the track’s creators.

In addition, songwriters will be allowed to use artificial intelligence to record vocals in the demo version of their songs to ensure their submission stays anonymous.

“The committee, which will be composed of professionals from Kan and a representative from Keshet, will filter approximately 40 songs in the first stage, from which the winning song will be selected,” Kan announced.

Israel has won the Eurovision Song Contest four times: in 1978, 1979, 1998, and 2018. The country hosted the competition in Jerusalem in 1979 and 1999 and in Tel Aviv in 2019.

The European Broadcasting Union, which organized the Eurovision, has faced pressure to ban Israel from the international competition in recent years because of the country’s military actions in the Gaza Strip during its war against Hamas terrorists who orchestrated the deadly terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Anti-Israel activists have tried pressuring artists and countries to boycott the competition because of Israel’s involvement. Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia, and Iceland ultimately pulled out of the 2026 Eurovision because of Israel’s participation.