She won The Next Star for Israel almost a month ago.
And now Eden Alene has her song for Eurovision too: “Feker Libi”.
Penned by Israeli hitmakers Doron Medalie and Idan Raichel, the track straddles five languages.
Fans had predicted success for the entry as soon as it was announced. With an Israeli dream team behind it and the show closing spot “Feker Libi” looked set for success.
Doron Medalie penned Israel’s 2018 Eurovision winner “Toy” and Idan Raichel is one of the country’s top selling artists. Raichel also appeared as an interval act during last year’s Grand Final. The dynamic duo will now both be back for Eurovision 2020.
“Feker Libi” ranked second in our readers’ choice for songs to represent Israel.
In the song selection “Roots” placed second, “Rakata” placed third” and “Savior in the Sound” fourth.
Eden Alene’s road to Eurovision
Alene’s road to Eurovision has not been without challenges.
First she took part in Israel’s marathon national final The Next Star.
Then, having survived countless duels, she almost failed to make through the first round of the final. She lost her first duel by a narrow margin. But, granted a wildcard, she passed to the second round where she cruised to victory.
Alene’s win makes her the youngest Israeli act since 2015’s “Golden Boy” Nadav Guedj.
Israel at Eurovision 2020
Eden now moves forward to compete in the semi-finals.
Israel is set to compete in the second half of the first semi-final. This is the first time Israel has been in the second-half of the first semi-final since 2012. It will also be the country’s first time back in the semis after automatic qualification for the Grand Final last year.
Kobi Marimi represented Israel in 2019, but his ballad “Home” failed to inspire votes, finishing in 23rd place on the night in Tel Aviv.
What do you think of the song choice? How do you rate Israel’s chances? Let us know in the comments below!
Wow so cool song number 1
A tecnho pop song with african and arabic influences.
Eden sings very well and the song has a nice beat. Im not a big fan of this though.
I really hope they would alter the chorus instrumentals and make it more interesting and contemporary. For me it’s the weak point of the song
Is she going to film a music video for “Feker Libi” anytime soon? 🙁
Charming and cute song. Catchy as well ? But there is not hiding that it is similar to “Haba Haba” and have that “Waka Waka” – feel to it. So it’s nothing new or original. Definitley an improvement from last year though. In a year that is packed with slower songs this one might do well even.
How can you compare the Haba Haba singer to this? It’s totally different. Maybe we should compare it to Iceland last year while we are doing ridiculous comparisons.
Ooh this is a good choice, Israel did good, cause Feker Libi or Rakata, isn’t the typical Eurovision type of song, and will stand out this year for sure, Congrats Israel.
This is not a typical ESC song???? Are you kidding me? This has typical trashy ESC song written all over it.
Just trashy prople can name some songs trashy. If don’t like music maybe it’s not Your taste ok. No one force You to listen it. But call trashy any song that You don’t like is beyond edge of idiotism. Sorry 🙂 I believe You could be better. So start become to be better NOW!!! Or faster as possible 🙂
Pretty much every online reviewer on YouTube thinks this is a top 5 or top 10.
… And Israel dropped to 20th in the odds since this was revealed, and keeps sinking. This song is not the winner anyway, the real question is: will this qualify or not? My personal opinion is it has a big chance of not qualifying, but we’ll see.
The odds are worthless at this point. Pretty much every reviewer says this is top 5. The odds last year in March had Portugal as a top song and it came in last in the semi. The odds had Macedonia as one of the worst songs and it won the jury. It had Norway as a barely qualifying and it won the popular vote. The reviewers are unanimous in praising this song. I haven’t seen a single one that does not think it will be a top song. Most of them are usually correct and they are rarely as unanimous… Read more »
I really hope it isn’t a Same Heart situation again. I don’t think it will be, though.
We have 75% of the songs so the odds are not “worthless”: the winner is still uncertain, but if a song drops to 20th and below you can pretty much tell it’s not getting any widespread support or traction. And since when are most reviewers “usually correct”, lol? I can upload my personal top right now on YouTube, that doesn’t show anything but my personal preferences. Also the reviewers are not unanimous at all, I literally just checked the top 2 results on YouTube: ESC FA/UN has it at 12th out of 28 and ESC Marco has it at 14th… Read more »
They are worthless in March. I just gave you several examples of why the odds last March were very different than the final result. Of course you can’t refute these examples and point back to the odds. Trolling much?
Odds? 2 of the top 5 don’t even have songs yet! What a joke!
Oh my god i love the ending of the song so much. When she yells out “Eskista” (which is what you call Ethiopian traditional dancing), and she and the dancers actually start doing eskista… As a fellow Ethiopian it makes me happy to see my culture represented. I like the song, not necessarily love it, but i love that it is very different and upbeat.
Painful
Of course this so-called song had to be composed by the “hitmakers” of Toy… A undigesteable mishmash of pseudo-ethnic sounds, pop, old-fashion techno beats and corny coregraphers. What is it with Israel and their fixation with cultural (mis)appropriation? One word: Horror!
That’s what people said about Toy, when it was first released…
Horror…barnyard animals…
Oh well
No. People were enchanted by it (not me of course). It got straight to nr 1 in all listings, youtube and odds. The thing is that this song has everything that is bad in Toy without the more creative stuff that Netta introduced.
my least favorite before the show ( roots) got my voting in the show….
it was all about good staging!
Ive been reading Wiwibloggs for years and I’ve never felt compelled enough to write a comment until now. Im so disappointed in this decision. Israel had two other songs which could have easily cracked the Top 5 at Eurovision (Roots and Rakata) and they went with this. The chorus is so generic. We’ve heard it a million times at nightclubs. Doron has also had a chance at Eurovision several times so it would have been nice to see other people represent Israel as songwriters.
There’s no way Belarus is qualifying though.
I quite like this Israel well done!
Ratana was my first choice but this is still a great result.
Definite bop that I would hold surely dance to.
Will it qualify though? I’m sure it will but it feels like the kind of song that could either finish Top 10, or last in the Semi.
Semi 1 is a slaughter fest as expected.
But on a personal music choice level, we’ll done Israel and best of luck.
You’re right but that is Eurovision to you. Countries want to win and they have to create a performance according to a formula that is not totally and fully known, but you adapt with the years to the general taste. It sounds manufactured? Sure, it is not an Indy concert or one where you put your art on display. Songs have one goal and it is, as they like to say it, “Slay” to get votes and that, to a degree- sucks. It is why many countries, including Israel, stopped sending song in their native language but tried to either… Read more »
You express the same sentiment the winner from Portugal expressed, that the most important thing is the music but this is not just about music – it turned to be a music show and unfortunately the show part exceeded somehow the music part. Countries of different cultures try to be mainstream and push in a pop, extra staged number in English to be liked by the voting countries (audience and jury). It’s not the pop part that is the problem, it is the thinking that sounding like the next international pop star, who sings in English and does a great… Read more »
Czech is in my top 3 this year, but somehow I can’t connect with this song from Israel. It has cool elements, but the whole of it bores me, it’s like too many things going on at the same time. Good luck though. I think it’s Finals guaranteed, at least.
No bad things for the song of Israel over here and bad things for Greece’s Stefania? really? hahahah you must be deaf or biased over Greece really. If the opposite would hapen (Greece with Feker Libi and Israel with Supergirl) you would again say that Israel slays… for god!!! I love wiwi but this site is full of Greek haters!!!
They’re completely different songs?
As i see nothing is about songs most of the time. but is about countries. at least here in wiwiblogs is aaaall about countries dude!!! There are 5-10 countries that alll wiwiblogs readers support…
Everything is about the songs. I read the comments about the greek song and they were about the song, not the country. You are tripping over nothing here. Go trip somewhere else.
Both are very dissapointing entries, Greece is slightly better as it at least sounds somewhat well produced and finished unlike this mess
amazing song im so happy with this choise Israel!!
It’s a cute song… that’s all i gotta say for today
best song
This could go either way, it needs really slick staging, the staging there was okay, but they’re going to have to pull something out the bag to qualify I think.
Really good singer though, i think an upbeat and fun song like this really suits her.
Are you serious? This is a sure bet to qualify. The question is how high in the final. With the right staging it could be top 5.
top 5? ahahhahaha how high? hahahah are you kidding us? this is not qualifier in a year like this and in a tough semifinal!!! dream on
Honestly, who would remember Haba Haba? It was 9 years ago, don’t use it as a standard.
This was my favourite and the best choice. That crazy oriental entry that people have missed and brings the contest a spicy flavour. In this new serious era this could work well!
It’s the first time I’m listening (and watching) to it. I like part of it, but as a whole it’s a bit confusing, too many things going on. But good luck to her and wish her well.
The interval act with Kobi Marimi was amazing! Such a great mix of self-depreciating humor, taking last year’s failure with a laugh, joking about how people called him “Kobi Merdimi” (“Kobi who makes me fall asleep”, in Hebrew), and then Shafita as a surprise act, talking about how we would’ve done so much better in 2019 if she had won.
I appreciate artists who can laugh about themselves.
I hope they will incredibly stage this winner-material song. A breath of fresh air! Good job Israel!
Wow, she’s so good live. Strong contender here.
However, it’s wasn’t my favourite song to pick. It’s still a fun three minutes though. 🙂
What was your favorite?
“Roots”. – A moving piece of music set to a dance track, with a very unique “in your face” cut-away drop. 🙂
But “Feker Libi” was my second favourite anyhow.
People say this every year that “finally there is no obvious winner”
The Netherlands’ path to winning unexpectedly had some hurdles to overcome, especially as it turned out, it didn’t top both sides of the vote. Not that it was in doubt, but one should always expect the unexpected.
Israel slaaaaying again!!!
So far my winner of the entire thing.
In a sea of ballads and industrial pop we finally have 4 languages, a unique performance style and a well sung, foot tapper of a song. Only really boring people could struggle to see how this is a recipe for success in ESC
Ya’ll forget Toy, another so called mess of a song by the majority, won just 2 years ago
I guess, with toxic attitude like this you don’t have many friends, do you?
It was mess but they promoted it like there’s no tomorow and forced #metoo movement into this do that people would vote for them. It’s not just luck that Israel won 3rd time during multiciply of 10 if Israel foundation aniversary
Oh give it a rest with the antisemitic conspiracy theories regarding Israel at ESC already, we had enough of them on ESC twitter last year. ‘Israel’s win was rigged to coincide with its 70th anniversary’, ‘ESC is so expensive so the Jooz can make money off us’, ‘Israel is banning flags to deliberately make ESC worse’ (despite fans complaining about flags getting in the way every other year) blah blah blah yawn
It’s just hypocrisy on your part. Israel gets massive promotion – “yay”. Iceland gets some promotion – “SCREW THEM CHEATERS”.
Toy was literally the most viewed song on YT, was #1 on the betting odds and everyone predicted it would be at least top 3 since the day it was released… but no it only won cause Israel promoted it and #metoo lmao
Maybe this is success for ESC, but it’s also a success to get my stomach revolting. And… as if this is not industrial pop… LOL It is industrial, but coming from old-fashioned factories.
Can anyone from Israel explain how come the song selection committee had 360 points to allocate? If each one of its members had 36 points to split between the four songs as in 6+8+10+12 then 360 points mean there were 10 members who voted and as far as I know there were only 6 members on that commitee – 4 from Kan and 2 from Keshet. Where did the other 4 come from? Not that it changes anything but I honestly don’t get it!!
The whole point system seemed entirely random to be honest.
More than half of points were given by audience at home
as an israeli i can say – No.
https://youtu.be/kcIgwuFO-Gw?t=140
Just realised the WEIRDEST THING. Her ear piece appears to be out then in then out again when the camera cuts to different angles. Were they using rehearsal footage combined with the live stream (maybe for better camera angles)? Just look at her ear piece, it’s changing position in seconds without her touching it!
That’s obvious, just didn’t think they would combine 2 different takes like that.
https://youtu.be/kcIgwuFO-Gw?t=140
Her ear pieces fell off completely and she didn’t even bother to put them back and sounded on point nevertheless. Where’s that Ukrainian dude that was claiming that he sounded horrible because of an ear piece?
Love it! Israel choose the right song to send. This was my personal pick as well! Bollywood, Mediterranean and African music all rolled into an infectious dance number. This is going on my Top 3 along with Sweden and Italy!
Just watched what is this Haba Haba everybody is talking about. Couple of things. The leading singer is not as vocally strong and accurate as Eden. The song sounds “nice” but it’s SO repetitive and doesn’t develop anywhere (literally the last whole minute they keep singing the chorus). Feker Libi with all of its “messiness” offers so much more excitement. So, apart of the African motives the songs are actually very very different. Comparing them doesn’t make much sense.
Right! Except for the African motives, they’re not similar at ALL.
Somehow, don’t seeing how will this be greatly appreciated by both – tele & jury.
It’s all over the place. A similar song went awkward (Norway 2011) and while she is likeable, the song itself sound not professionally produced. It’s kinda cheap.
Cheap? Come on Iceland looks like a high school talent show and it is trending in first right now. Their choreography is everybody looking left and then looking right in sync.
Yeah, Netflix trends. And if that song ends up winnng, I am done watching ESC for good.
Back on Israel – yeah, dislikes, I figured. Guys, you need to understand that polishing the song would be greatly appreciated here.
Norway’s 2011 result ain’t off the table.
Agree with everything you said, just cant see this qualifying. Haba Haba had a better hook and was more well prouduced, this is all over the place and its very distracting
I don’t know if 2011 should be taken as precedent or rule for something.
Most weird year ever
I hate the end but its honestly really good. I think she’s gonna stand out and end up in the top 10!
Hopefully not. This is T R A S H.
I… I feel things from this song.
If Israel hadn’t already won so recently I feel like this could be a serious contender for the title.
Yeah, it’s way too soon for Israel win again. I’d say hold out for at least five years before you wanna try for the win again.
Yeah this is a contender for first place, if you look at the scoreboard upside down.
Unique and stands out from the more commercial and generic songs.
I love this song! Well done, Israel!
It’s nice, reminds me of the Hindi music my dad listens to. I think the UK should send a moment like this with one of their many British Indians but that’s just my opinion.
It gave me Shakira – Waka Waka vibes
Agree with you 100% and I’ve been thinking it for years. UK could send something really special and unique if they just tapped into the South Asian talent that’s around
This entry makes you smile and have a good time. That’s more powerful than the most expensive staging
And she is just so likeable and easy to connect with
Totally agree !!! But this one is a serious one i think. Ben and tan [denmark) could have that « move the crowd » factor too maybe.
Yes Ben and Tan have such a crowd pleaser 🙂
I agree. Maybe Lithuania right now just like Netherlands last year. Feels the safest to appeal to both televote/jury but not sure can win both or maybe neither like Netherlands. Eurovision is becoming more unpredictable every year xd
Unless an undeniable winner comes during the week, I can even see 10 different songs making the top 5 of juries and televote. Always wanted an Eurovision with more than 2 or 3 clear frontrunners.
No way, the competition is totally open so far.
Love it ! At last it’s getting serious !!!!!! Oh god it was time i was getting worried we would get boooooored this year. That’s a serious winning material.
The performance needs A LOT of work but if they put it in, this is a MAJOR contender for the televote win, judging from the 25 songs we have heard so far. It’s a very enjoyable track, I love the ethnic vibes, the singer is both talented and charismatic, that last “I love you” really makes you smile! Israel has to be top 10 this year, this song is great and it has immediate impact! I just hope they give us a great show, good camera angles and better outfits in Rotterdam! Saviour in the sound was my personal favourite… Read more »
My thoughts exactly!
Including the part about ‘Savior in the sound’ 🙂
Slovenia and Norway better than Belgium? Sure… Nope!!! And I am even not such a fan of Release Me…
I won’t be so sure about that if I were you
I call this a popcorn song. Nothing stands out in it, it’s a whole bunch of busyness from start to finish – like a big bowl of popcorn. Pleasant while you’re in it, but instantly forgotten when it’s over.
I love those dancers, though – cute and goofy.
Can we all stand back and take the time to acknowledge that Israel might’ve just given us the best selection of songs in any NF this season?
The winner was my 3rd favourite and it’s still a definite qualifier to me. That’s how strong this selection was.
I challenge anyone to stay still for the entirety of the song. It can’t be done!
already dancing at 0:01 to be honest LOL
I know what thing for sure, it won’t be Israel 2021!