“We wrote a song, which personally moves me every time I sing or hear it.”
The words of Israel’s Eurovision 2023 singer Noa Kirel after broadcaster KAN confirmed that she’ll sing the track “Unicorn” in Liverpool.
Congratulations, we have a UNICORN?
— KAN Eurovision Israel (@kaneurovision) January 17, 2023
The Israeli entry for the Eurovision Song contest has an official name – "UNICORN".@noakirel and her team: Doron Madali, Yinon Yahel and May Sfadia are firing up for Liverpool.@Eurovision pic.twitter.com/K3UCibt6Ig
“Unicorn” is Noa Kirel’s Eurovision 2023 song title
Ynet journalist Ron Booker also shared the news on his Instagram page on Tuesday.
As you’re already aware, Noa has co-written the song alongside Doron Medalie, the man behind Netta’s Eurovision 2018 winner “Toy” and other bangers like Eden’s “Feker Libi.”
Ran adds that they were joined by May Sfadia and the DJ Yinon Yahel. Apparently Noa commissioned three different teams to create three songs, and “Unicorn” came out on top of their internal selection process.
You may remember that Yinon co-wrote Nadav Guedj’s “Golden Boy” alongside Doron Medalie. He also worked on the remix of Madonna’s “Living for Love” which hit #1 on the U.S. Dance Charts back in 2015.
The song deals with “female empowerment” and includes some Hebrew lyrics, though it’s mostly in English.
You’ll have to wait until March for the official release.
Noa Kirel’s busy autumn
Noa has been busy. In case you missed it, at the end of August 2022 she had a huge concert in Tel Aviv in front of of more than 33,000 spectators. She actually made history with that concert as she became the youngest Israeli singer to perform in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park at the age of 21. That’s quite amazing. Artists significantly older than her still haven’t managed to fulfil that dream.
She says that after that huge concert she feels much calmer. It was quite a challenge, but Eurovision is different. For her, it won’t be a full show of almost two hours, but just three minutes (which she’ll arrive at after months of rehearsals and preparation).
Hard work doesn’t scare her.
“Once my song is recorded, we’ll shoot the music video and I will begin my rehearsals. I believe it will be around January. In the preparations for my live concert at Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park I sang while running on a treadmill and I will do that a lot before Eurovision. I’ll have three minutes and my pulse will be so high. I will dance at Eurovision, of course, that’s my thing.”
@wiwibloggs_official Bringing those unicorn vibes 🦄 🇮🇱 #Eurovision #ESC2023 #Israel #Unicorn #NoaKirel ♬ Please Don’t Suck – Noa Kirel
Her other songs have no international appeal, so most likely this will not be that good.
Didn’t have any appeal with this either.
Oh boy, here we go again, abusing a popular topic in modern media in the hopes of gaining traction from the fandom because “go women, you are awesome”. The likes of Manizha pulled it off well because she had her own spin on it, but I doubt a pop singer will do much to make the general topic any less bland to sing about. I am 80% sure this song will be like “We women are so much better than men, check out how much better than men we are!” (I’m a woman myself and I despise it when people… Read more »
You didnt even hear the song or lyrics, its not healthy to have such hate and negativity in life, check yourself
Oh boy, here we go again, jumping to conclusions lol
if anyone wants to sing about female empowerment, all the power to them.
Her other songs don’t impress me, but we’ll see what’s to come.
I’m not sure what to expect here, not much if last years representative was from X factor too.
Noa is not from x factor…she is the biggest pop star in israel for few years now and she is signed in atalantic records.
You can be sure she is coming ti compete for the win
oh yes because every other song this year is 100% original, you need to get out more
ooh ooh unicorn vibes
Well we will see if Israel will be eligible to compete in this Year’s contest. Bibi Netanyahu wants to close public broadcaster..
I hate that c*** so much words cannot begin to describe.
Stop the fake news! They don’t want to close Kan11 but just want to cut its budget from 800 million to 400 million. This does not mean that the channel will close.. Relax!
I read a lot of articles, I’m not much of a news person cus it makes me depressed but I have honestly become much more anxious than usual since BB won and Meretz did not make the Kneset.
I don’t wanna have to migrate to another country…
But a reduced budget could make things difficult.
The first stage is cutting the budget. The second stage is to privatize it within two years and close it if there’s no buyer. Part of the first stage is closing the news department. Once there’s no news desk, KAN will not be eligible for an EBU membership and rightfully so.
Apparently our supreme court keeps rejecting a bunch of crazy nonsense BB tries to make legal.
I would like another election please, PLEASE.
It’s already too stressful for us Israelis.
Let’s stop talking about politics and enjoy the competition.
I just had a terrifying thought. What if Israel fails to quality not because of a bad song but because the televoters could punish Israel because of any bad news about it around the time of the contest?
lmao dw the contest whitewashes israel
Don’t put anymore scary thoughts in my head please, I’ve got enough.
Ha! now I get it! “Unicorn” is actually the symbol of Scotland in Great Britain (which is hosting Eurovision this year) and it’s also a symbol of the LGBT+ community. These two topics are connected to Eurovision and in addition the song will be a song for female empowerment! I’m already waiting for the reveal!
Liverpool lies in England, not in Scotland
Not to be rude bc I love Noa and I trust that the song will be a banger, but the theme is something already done (not going too far, Netta did that in 2018) and that title, oof it’s too cheesy!
That’s a worry of mine too. Women empowerment is a great topic and all but it’s kinda like love and peace in a sense that’s rather basic and difficult to echo out things that have been said time and time again. I hope the Israeli team is aware of this and that the lyrical content won’t be blander than a raw potato.
To be honest according to an interview it’s not really about female empowerment.
It is more about “be who you are” theme.
This is so hyped that this better be amazing, although compared to last year and it’s trainwreck this can’t be worse than that.
Oh wow! Another female empowerment song! How originally original.
Israel has just established an extremist religious anti-LGBT government
Israel is an extremely divided country, but that has nothing to do with ESC.
anti lgbt? show me one thing they did against them….if you heard ben gvir(the one who refer to as anti lgbt)he said: all lgbt jews are our brothers and we will treat then as brothers”. he was asked what would you do if your son was gay?, he said:”i will hug him”.
so stop spreading lies about israel, the fact that you are anti israeli is your problem, not everyone’s problem. now go back to the hole you came from
Are you real?? Showing you one thing they did … let’s see… creating lists with gay influencers so they could be followed, considering allowing service providers to refuse to provide services based on their beliefs and conscious…and they’ve only been in power for 2 weeks.
I’m ashamed to be Israeli and hope I’ll move to Europe
Discussing place
You are not israeli, i bet you are a muslim troll
Ani Israeli
Kfotz li
The fact someone like Avi Maoz has some power in out education system is HORREDOUS and you know it. The dude is nuts!
And that has a lot to do with Eurovision right?
One of the reasons I love ESC is that it’s an escape from reality. Realities like the fact that our government is a clusterf***
Do not bring up stuff like that on here please! Focus on Noa and Unicorn.
I hope that Unicorn is a great song, I can’t wait to hear it
Made me wanna listen to MGP 2019’s “Mr. Unicorn” again. 🙂
There was a “Unicorn” up for Cyprus 2015 too, but I do not want to listen to it again.
Unicorn reminds me of Bassa Sababa by Netta!
Anyway, I thought Noa said she was to co-write the song? Looks like she didn’t.
I can’t wait for this entry, Israel is very hyped this year.
She is together with may sfadia and doron medalie with yinon yahel as the producer.
I think the unicorn term here is rather taken from the finance world – a startup company valued at over 1 billion dollars.
I think it’s very likely going to build on the “Panther” theme of being unique
Filing in her tribute to LGBTQ+ “Unicorn” attempts to emulate Conchita Wurst’s win with the most important imagery for this woke festival of fashionable correctness.
and yet here you are, still interacting and contributing to this so called “woke” festival. we all know you’ll still watch, its ok to cry about it, self pity is inevitable with that attitude to life
The female contributor, May Sfadia, wrote Zaza for Inbal Bibi last year. Here is her demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfE61p58qG4
“Unicorn Vibes” walked so that “Unicorn” can run..
I understand from an Instagram post that they chose avihai haim as the director for the staging.
He did the switch song and the opening acts in eurovision 2019 among others.
That’s promising as well.
Avihai haham*
Has he done work for Israeli entries in the past?
No.
More details about Unicorn:
“It’s not going to be a ballad,” Kirel told Israel’s Channel 12 News on Monday, “but it’s surprising. It’s different. It’s still me, but it was important for me to go for something unexpected. Let’s just say they haven’t heard me like this yet.”
Super excited!
People are putting so much emphasis on the word “Unicorn” as if that word actually tells you anything about lyrics or melody. Remember that Netta’s song was called “Toy” — had you been told the title before the music video dropped, would you have anticipated what Toy the song would sound and look like?
It tells you clearly that it’s a homage to the LGBT community, which is the most important, the defining thing at Eurovision. Remember Conchita Wurst’s win with Austria?
actually yes!
Doron Medalie once again? Aren’t there any other songwriters available in Israel?
I’m a fan of his music but he’s now written 5 in 9 Israeli entries, with 7 of those 9 songs (his song Made Of Stars being ironically one exception) having the musical sound associated with him.
Israeli here
I will say that I would also like to see others writing our entries
However, Doron is one of the most successful writers here, with so many hits under his name, and he does know and love Eurovision
I think he joined the writing team because he believes in Noa, otherwise, we probably would have had other people (if Noa hadn’t been the artist)
Plus, we all need at least one writer who comes back every year xD
Thomas G:Son, Philip Kirkorov and many others, including our own Doron Medalie xD
I like that he’s quite outspoken and is effectively the pioneer of the unique fusion that has driven modern anglophone Israeli music since Tel Aviv Ya Habibi.
What..?
Unicorn, first things that comes to my mind are freedom, rainbow, imagination, colors and imaginery. With that in mind and knowing that it will be an uptempo dance act, I imagine an explosion of colors in the like of Chameleon, I don’t know, this is what comes to my mind. An unicorn can fit totally the women empowering theme, it’s a majestic animal, proud and very powerful thanks to rightfully its horn. I think this concept could be efficient. Now the reveal…each year I will say the same but it’s totally useless to wait until the end if you are… Read more »
If I am not wrong, you are mixing Yinon Yahel and Offer Nissim. Offer Nissim worked on the official remix of Living for love
Dang it’s a March release! I was hoping it’d be a Feb release.
Better late than never
With Noa Kirel , Ulrikke , Dami Im and Loreen Eurovision 2023 will be the best edition so far!
Dami Im?? Have I missed something?
Dami Im has said : ”Putting my hand up for another shot if this is the case” about Australia Decides cancellation and upcoming internal selection. Appearently she is the best one among other internal race hopefuls and likely to be chosen
She had a chance – Australia is not San Marino …. I want Rabbit Hole singer
Ulrikke will stay in Norway or might join the delegation as a fan support 😉
So Elsie is taking it do you think?
I want something modern and interesting and not 26. Crying depressive ballads like last year or in 2017 …
Jone/Alessandra/ maybe Sandra/Ella or Akuvi but u never know maybe Ulrikke will win but she doesnt have strongest song – Its just bc of her name – Might be The Mamas 2021 situation
It will certainly be the best edition for these reasons and for me also because La Zarra will take part of it, don’t ignore her she comes to serve too 😉
I see misty woodland, frozen lakes, and flashes of lightning. I hear thunder, with an Enya soundtrack. Maybe some galloping hooves approaching.
I think about D’Sound’s song from MGP 2019 Mr. Unicorn lol.
Looks like Doron likes his female empowerment anthems. I am really excited and nervous for this entry!
I think Merlyn would like to have a word with her lmaooo
Ah no, I’m not gonna make judgments on the title, lets wait for the song.
When I think of unicorn, I think of something either mythological or unique, I wonder if that would tie in with the theme of the song. Female empowerment and being your own unique self.
While looking at the name Toy you might think certain things then it ended up being very unique and crazy. The name Unicorn doesn’t concern me per say but I do worry about it’s lyrical content.
Also in one of Noa’s songs that she released this year called Panther, she has the line “They tell me I’m strange, I tell them they are normal”.
Being an outsider and an oddball could be a key theme in Unicorn.
Sounds great. Title is fine, don’t get the nasty comment. This is a dream team of writers and Noa is at the peak of her career, there is no way this will not be good. I expect an infectious pop banger.
unicorn vibes part 2: back for revenge
Unicorn sounds so cheesy to me.
I hope I’m proven wrong when I hear the song. I just hope the song is better than her most recent singles Panther and Gone, if it isn’t I’ll literally be so disappointed.
No worries, unicorn is not just a hit, its a winner
I hope it’s a winner.
Noa has several songs that would easily win Eurovision, it would be a shame if Unicorn wasn’t winner material.
Panther, Belle, Gone, SLT, Drum, Bad Little Thing, Please Don’t suck. They could all have made it to the top 10 if not top 5 at ESC. I hope Unicorn is one the same level!
The creators of Golden Boy, Toy, Feker Libi, Zaza, are in on it. You can rest easy and expect a banger.
You can’t put Zaza with the other three lmao
Why not? True it didn’t get sent to eurovision, but it was still one of the favorites in our selection last year.
One of the favorites? Everything about out selection last year was trash lol. Being a favorite in that selection means nothing.
Usually big artists coming to Eurovision with a low quality songs – Robin in Finland, Cascada Germany, Malta 2022 …, Germany 2008 …
I don’t know what to think about it, on the other hand a song called “Toy” sounded childish to me at first, but we saw what happened and the song won… so I’m waiting for the reveal!
But Toy was actually not a good song though.
It was great for its purpose, which was winning Eurovision. That was the goal and it was effective in achieving it.
based on the song title, the song is not very good, but I will probably be pleasantly surprised.
?? praying for a flop
Why would you pray for a flop?
anything for Israel to get an L #HatridMunSigra
Hopefully they’ve snuck in the traditional Israeli reference to the year in the lyrics à la “2021 degrees” or “2022 let’s seal the deal” maybe get merlyn as a feature – automatic top 5
Markéta Irglová has put up a three minute song called “Happy” on YouTube. Make of that what you will.
I concur.
The title is cringe but may sfadia is one of the creators and this is super promising.
Merlyn from Eesti-Laul called.
She wants her song back.
“Oooh-Oooh-Oooh! Unicorn Vibes!”
Knowing Noa, it sounds promising 🙂
Hoping for a banger! Best of luck Noa!