Israel Didnt Win Eurovision, But It Did Win The ‘rest Of The World
Israel may have finished third at Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool on Saturday night, but there is clear support from its fans outside of Europe.
This year, for the first time, fans from non-participating countries can vote. And Israel had more support than those who voted in "the rest of the world," whose votes were counted together and weighted with other countries.
Israel topped the table in both the semi-finals and the final, with a maximum of 12 points each time. In Saturday night's final, the votes were shared by Finland (10), followed by Armenia (8) and Sweden (7).
"It's an absolutely crazy result," Kirel told Israeli reporters when asked about the success of Sunday's "international" vote. "This is madness!"
Eurovision organizers did not immediately release information on how many voted in the "international" category or which countries were represented. The European Broadcasting Union, which runs the show, did not respond to a request for further details.
Sweden was the big winner in Saturday's grand final, taking the trophy as the public's favorite for the judges' vote, with Finland scoring 376 TV points compared to Sweden's 243.
Israel ranked fifth on television — aggregated by people voting online, on apps, via text message or by phone — with a total of 185 points. And while Armenia and Azerbaijan may not agree on much at the moment, both countries - judges and public voters - have given top marks to Israel.
In Cyprus, public voters gave Israel 12 points, while Kirel received 10 points each from televoters in San Marino, Moldova and France, and eight from voters in the Czech Republic.
In total, Israel scored at least 29 of the 36 nations entering this year's tournament.
Following the general trend for Israeli televoters - who don't get to choose their own country - they gave Finnish techno-rap extravaganza "Chacha Cha" 12 points, followed by 10 for Norway, eight for Ukraine and seven for Italy. .
Israeli judges awarded overall winner Sweden with 10 points to fifth-placed Norway and second-placed Finland with eight points.
Israel's third place finish out of 37 countries in the 2023 competition is a significant achievement for the Jewish state. It was Israel's highest ranking since 2018 leader Barzilai "Toys" won, and an achievement unmatched in the years between the 1998 Dana International victory and the Dana International victory.
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