Eden Golan: “Every scorn gave me strength, I dedicate the participation to the abductees”

Peloni:  The sense of bravery and spirit embodied by Golan, both on and off stage, has been highly effective in embodying the pluck of the Israeli people, refusing to be cowered into accepting defeat, and persevering against great odds as they effectively face their abusers with poise and skill.  Indeed, it is very inspiring to know that the the coming generation is characterized by people of such strength, vitality and creativity as demonstrated by Eden Golan.  The fact that her performance won a close second highest televoting score demonstrates the resonance with which her persona and performance resonated with the general publics of the world.

Israel’s representative finished fifth in Eurovision 2024 and Switzerland was crowned the winner. “We had one goal – to make Israel’s strong voice known to the world – and we achieved it in a big way,” Golan said, adding, “There were difficult moments, but we didn’t give up and gave it our all.” Keren Pels: “There are women and men who go through the worst of all in Gaza. We will continue to express their voice even after Eurovision”

Raz Shachnik | YNET | May 11, 2024

Click on Photo for Grand Final Performance

After almost completely ignoring the judges, Eden Golan came in fifth place tonight (between Saturday and Sunday) in Eurovision thanks to the score from the audience. “I’m so proud of where we got to,” she said shortly after the results were announced. “Proud for the privilege I was given to represent my country with honor, and proud to be the one sent on this mission this year.”

“From the first moment we had one goal – to make the strong voice of Israel known to the whole world and I know that we achieved this goal in a big way,” continued Golan, who over the past week had to deal with harsh boos during the various performances and rehearsals for the competition. “There were difficult moments, but with courage and huge support from you we didn’t give up and gave everything. I want to thank everyone who supported me, my country, the amazing members of the delegation and my family that I can’t wait to see and give a big hug.”

The 20-year-old singer also wanted to emphasize: “I do not forget for a moment our abductees and dedicate my participation in the competition to them. Israel lives!”.

As mentioned, Israel finished in fifth place in the competition with the song “Hurricane”, thanks to the audience’s vote where it came in second place with 323 points. On the other hand, at the end of the judges’ voting phase, Israel came in 12th place with only 52 points, after most of the judges’ committees throughout Europe blatantly ignored Israel. At the same time, Switzerland, with the song The Code by Nemo, was announced as the big winner of Eurovision 2024, with Croatia – considered the leading candidate to win the competition according to the betting agencies – finishing in second place, followed by Ukraine in third place.

At the press conference held in front of the Israeli media, Golan referred to the place she had arrived at. “It’s actually a victory. I’ve been through difficult things, but nothing about our people and our country. I love everyone so much,” she said. “I’m really happy with the result – over the moon. I received a lot of love, out of this world and I was focused on the goal. I spread love and good energies. I can’t control the judges’ votes. What’s important is the audience and that really shows everything. The points we received show that people appreciate and love music Good, and music is stronger than anything, if you spread love, it will come back to you.”

“The tears were waiting,” she added in response to her tears at the end of her moving performance in the final. “In the end everything came out of me and still with everything I went through I feel amazing and proud.” When asked if there were breaking points along the way, Golan said “No. The tears were also part of the joy. I didn’t want it to end. I want to represent us on stage and sing 100 more times. With all the contempt. After the rehearsal yesterday I said: ‘Shout even more.’ Gave me strength to show what a beautiful nation we are with everything that is happening around, without the judges everything could have been – even a victory.”

You passed the Irish in the final score. “It’s karma!”.

When Golan was asked about the moving greeting that Merev Neshem Gonen sent her , she said: “It’s hard for me to talk about it. It’s a topic that hurts me a lot. I am the voice of everyone who needs to return home. That was my mission. To make their voice heard. It really touches me in the heart”.

Golan also shared with the journalists her plans for the future. “I plan to release my music. To tell my story, and to continue performing in our country.”

“There is no chance. Israel is my place and I want to continue to make people happy in my country. I am most connected to Israel.”

The director of the song, Yoav Tzafir, also summed up the evening and said: “They keep saying that Eurovision is not political – allow me to doubt it. We saw what the judges voted for and how the audience voted. It’s amazing to see the love Aden received, it touched them. To see a 20-year-old girl, every So talented, and she doesn’t deserve to be booed and many people felt it and wanted to hug her.

“I was naive and it surprised me,” he answered when asked by Ynet if he was surprised by the hostility, “Eden encountered evil. It also insulted me to see the hostility towards us. The first scorn insulted us and we had a difficult night – that’s the truth. We started training in scorn.”

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” added Golan. Keren Pels, one of the writers of “Hurricane”, also summed up the experience as “not simple”, according to her. “It was basically experiencing social ostracism,” the musician explained. “They kicked us out of the room and put us up on a separate floor to a room that was isolated and very cold. We heard the booing very loudly from the audience in the hall. It’s very sad because we went through the most terrible thing that you can go through as a people – and the world didn’t understand it, but the opposite. But there are also those who came to be strong and I got a hug Very hot full of few countries. Someone from Austria came and said to me: ‘We are with you, I see what you are going through’.

“It is important that we continue to raise our voice, continue to fight our fight and call for the return of the abductees. I am privileged here. There are women like me who are going through sexual abuse in Gaza, and men who are going through the worst of all in Gaza. We will continue to express their voice even after Eurovision.”

During the press conference that took place at the end of the competition, Nemo was the big winner. He was asked about the experience of participating in the competition this year, in the shadow of the security threats and the war between Israel and Gaza. “I have to say that the whole experience was really intense and not always pleasant, there were many things that happened that seemed to have nothing to do with love and unity and that made me very sad,” he told the crowd of journalists from around the world.

“At the same time, there was also so much love here, connections, cultures that met, people who are full of positivity and love for music and this gave me a lot of hope. I know that such people exist in the world but we need to work to create such an environment, and we need to ask ourselves what it is This atmosphere and what we want to support. I hope that Eurovision will continue to support peace and love in the future, but in my opinion it requires a lot more work.”

When asked later in the press conference about the dismissal of the Dutch contestant, Joost Klein, he preferred not to respond due to lack of knowledge of the details.

He was also asked about how he would like to influence the nature of Eurovision in the future, “according to the things that happened in this year’s competition”, according to the journalist who asked the question. “I don’t think it’s something in my power, but we have the power to continue influencing what we think the singing competition symbolizes. I hope that in the coming weeks we will be able to appreciate what Eurovision symbolizes.”