She won Israel’s The Next Star for Eurovision in early February. But now, Eden Alene is facing a different sort of competition — HaShir HaBa L’Eurovizion 2020 on 3 March. On Tuesday, the singer — who appears to be going with the mononym Eden — will perform four original songs in Neve Ilan. Now it’s time to pick your favourite.
Listen to all four songs below. Then vote for the ones you like best in our poll. You can only vote once, so make sure it counts!
HaShir HaBa L’Eurovizion 2020 Entries
The Ethiopian-Israeli will sing four songs in a total of five languages. Before we hear the live versions of all songs (and solve the mystery about how the chorus of “Roots” will sound), it is time for you to choose which song you would like to see representing Israel.
“Savior in the Sound”
“Savior in the Sound”, penned by Oren Emanuel, Talia Londoner and Uri Avni, will be first on the night. However, it will stand out from the pack, by being the only ballad. Also, the song is notable for ending on a surprising note, exploding with booming sounds 15 seconds before the end. While some fans see the short climax as a good thing, others view it as a con. The all-Englishy track shows Eden’s abilities to hit both very low and very high notes, so it’s interesting to see how well she’ll perform it live.
“Roots”
“Roots” discusses Eden’s Ethiopian origins and the role of her community in Israel. The song’s writers are singer Nathan Goshen and Stav Beger. It starts off slowly but picks up some pace, reaching a fierce pop hook reminiscent of Netta — which is hardly surprising given the songwriters’ pedigree. Goshen contributed to “Nana Banana” while Beger was involved with “Toy”. In case you missed it, the song also features a lyrical reference to Netta’ Eurovision winning song (“I’m not a preacher, I’m not here to teach ya”). The song features lots of fierce African elements, too. She loves her roots, y’all!
“Rakata”
The African feel in this one are present from the very beginning. It gives a vibe similar to Raylee’s “Wild” (Norway’s MGP 2020) or Elvana Gjata’s “Me tana” (Albania’s FiK 58). You may also notice that the song title — which is a deliberate misspelling of “Rak Ata” (Only You) — mimics the sound of the drumbeat featured in the song. “Rakata” is already building up some support within the bubble. The songwriters are Gal Jo Cohen, Eyal Ishay, Zlil Kalifi and Eran Kashi.
“Feker Libi”
“Feker Libi” has a team of great Eurovision brains behind it (“Golden Boy”, “Made of Stars”, “Toy”). It also stands out from the rest for including no less than five languages. While most of the song is in English, it abruptly alternates between Hebrew, Arabic, Amharic and Conlang during the refrain. It will be the last song Eden will sing on Tuesday. The songwriters are songwriting experts Doron Medalie and Idan Raichel.
Poll: What song should win Israel’s HaShir HaBa L’Eurovizion 2020?
[crowdsignal poll=10512561]Which song should win? Which song will win? Let us know in the comments.
Each one of them would be a great & refreshing choise, except “Savior in the Sound”.
I wonder whether the power couple ‘Medalie and Raichel’ will face some sort of a public and/or jury backlash to some degree because of the notion that too much of a good thing can be bad, like in a case of a ‘system overload’. Will voters in Israel be willing to look beyond brand recognition and reputation or dare to choose a song like ‘Rakata’ whose writing team is less familiar and has absolutely no Eurovision experience just like last year’s team behind Kobi Merimi. Perhaps ‘Roots’ can somehow benefit from this given that it has more meaningful and emotional… Read more »
I really cant pick between feker libi or rakata…. damn it
I liked Rakata and Fekar Libi, but if you listen carefully to the voice of Eden Arlene you hear Rakata has more to offer. In Fekar Libi she doesn’t chance much and in Rakata she really sings in my opinion.
Rakata !
The second Eden to represent Israel, and I can easily imagine her getting Top 5 too, just like the first Eden.
Feker Libi for me.
OMG these are all really good!
Can’t go wrong here, really.
Feker Libi is just something so fresh and exciting to listen to! It’s powerful, catchy, uplifting, and emotional, all wrapped in one! Please Israel!!
Hard to say which one to choose because they for sure will sound different in the live version. The song that translates into the live performance the best should win. But not the ballad, there are way too many of them already.
OK I LOVE THIS GIRL SHE IS AMAZING, I CANT PICK BETWEEN RAKATA AND FEKER LIBI I LOVE EDEN ISREAL IS GONNA SLAY
RAKATA
Faker libi is the song we’ve been waiting for. I love how it shows every culture in Israel. Not only with the languages, but with the beat and melody. I feel like this represents, not only Israel, but Eden the best, it really feels like she had a hand in the production and isn’t just singing a song someone else rite for her. ISRAEL, CHOOSE FEKER LIBI!!!!!!!
I LOVE FEKER LIBI AND RAKATA
Yes !! Thank you!! Someone who appreciates the diversity and freshness of Feker Libi, too! :’)
Absolutely, I do like the other two (not considering Savior in the sound) but I don’t think they’re as memorable.
I’m torn between Rakata and Feker Libi, but both would be great choices. As long as it’s not the ballad…
I don’t mind which they pick, they all are good (possibly feker libi, roots and rakata stronger than saviour in the sound) however, I feel like they need to tweak things in all of the songs, regardless of which they pick. There are lots I like in these songs but I do have minor issues with all of them and I hope that whatever they pick, they can perhaps revamp a little bit and then get a great result 🙂
Don’t need revamp. Not always it made song better. Made of stars i liked much more before they revamped it…
A revamp doesn’t mean changing the whole song, it can be slight changes to some problematic parts. I also feel like the songs are a bit raw and need to work on a little more. Feker Libi chorus sounds like a joke but the rest of the song is decent, so would be nice to make that part better if it gets chosen.
After first listening it was Rakata for me.
Now it is Feker Libi
rakata, and if not, feker libi! just not the ballad pls.
Rakata or Feker Libi, please!
I KNOW I LOVE BOTH RAKATA AND FEKER LIBI I CANT PICK BETWEEN THEM THEY ARE SO GOOD
Roots just strikes you. Not a boring second in the song. The beat drops just enough to get you moving and not get annoyed, the bridge is a beautiful moment and the fact that the verses are different make this a strong top 5 contender in May. I can’t stop replaying it. All 4 songs are good though. It’s just that Roots is playing on its own league.
For me it is Roots all the way
Then Rakata, bit the others are also good songs. Good job this year!
All four songs really impressed me. But Roots is the one that stuck out! But any of these songs will be a favourite of mine coming in! Israel continuing a fantastic streak now!
Rakata will stand out , instrumental parts are so amazing . „Savior in the sound „ is so beautiful and touching and i’m gonna listen it for a long time . I mean Israel is safe to qualify and it’s in my Top 10 . After last night i’m sure one of those songs can do really well .
Rakata! I like all 4 songs anyway, Israel should easily qualify this year as Eden is a great singer.
Roots is best choice for Israel and my favourite. Rakata and Feker Libi maybe finish like Norway.
No song. They are all awful. As usual, an unauthentic pre-fabricated attempt to get through the semis.
And this time with no creative input from the performer, which made the difference for Toy and made it audible.
i didnt hear more original entries then israel, dont know what you are talking about..troll???
I am talking about how unoriginal all these 4 songs are. What is there not to understand? And I didn’t call names to anyone, unlike you.
Yes, I have. The agenda of good music, which these four pieces are no exemple of.
Roots is the best one they’ve got.
I personally voted for roots(real vote, not in the poll), but it will all come down to the live performances.
Either one would be great for me 🙂
Though I don’t think we have a winner here, but as long as the entry’s good, then it’s fine
1 roots
2 feker libi
3 rakata
4 savior in the sound
I think roots is already my most played esc song of the season up till now. Very catchy and j love the bridge.
Feker Libi should win. And as juries have a big say in the result I suspect that Feker Libi will win, especially due to the fact it has Medali and Raichel behind it
I agree Feker Libi is the most likely but I think Rakata has a chance too if the staging is better.