Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004

Israel was represented in the Eurovision by David D'Or who sang the bilingual English / Hebrew song "Leha'amin" (Hebrew script: להאמין; English translation: "To Believe"). The song was co-written by D'Or and Ehud Manor.[1]

David D'Or at Istanbul (2004)
Eurovision Song Contest 2004
Country Israel
National selection
Selection processArtist: Internal Selection
Song: Kdam Eurovision 2004
Selection date(s)Artist: 13 November 2003
Song: 5 February 2004
Selected entrantDavid D'Or
Selected song"Leha'amin"
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (11th, 57 points)
Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2003 • 2004 • 2005►

Before Eurovision

Artist selection

On 13 November 2003, IBA announced that David D'Or was selected by a special committee as the Israeli representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004.[2] Among artists considered by the selection committee, Hamsa, Ninet Tayeb, Zehava Ben and Ron Shoval were highly considered before D'Or was ultimately selected. Among the members of the committee were Avraham Natan, Liel Kolet (singer), Lior Narkis (2003 Israeli Eurovision entrant) and Gali Atari (Eurovision Song Contest 1979 winner).[3]

Kdam Eurovision 2004

The song that David D'Or represented Israel with in Istanbul was selected through a national final called Kdam Eurovision 2004. Four songs were selected for the competition and were presented during a presentation show on 5 February 2004, which took place at the Nokia Stadium in Tel Aviv during a break in a televised Maccabi Tel Aviv Euroleague basketball game and hosted by Merav Miller.[4] The winning song "Leha'amin" was selected by a combination of the votes from an expert jury of IBA representatives (40%) and votes from the public (60%).

Final – 5 February 2004
Draw Song (English translation) Composer(s) Jury
(40%)		 Public Vote (60%) Total Place
SMS Televote
1 "Freedom" David D'Or, Ofer Meiri 0% 25% 18% 12.9% 3
2 "Yamim Tovim" (Good days) David D'Or, Simon Buskilla 0% 17% 4% 6.3% 4
3 "Bo'u Mal'achim" (Come angels) David D'Or, Ehud Manor 40% 11% 12% 22.9% 2
4 "Leha'amin" (To believe) David D'Or, Ofer Meiri 60% 47% 66% 57.9% 1

At Eurovision

For the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, a semi-final round was introduced in order to accommodate the influx of nations that wanted to compete in the contest. Because Israel placed 19th at the 2003 contest, country was forced to compete in the first Eurovision semi-final, held on 12 May 2004. David D'Or performed 5th, following Latvia and preceding the Andorra his song in the semi-final receiving 57 points which was not enough to qualify for the final. Therefore, Israel will have to compete in the semi-final again in ESC 2005.

Points awarded by Israel[5]
Points awarded to Israel (semi-final)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

References
  1. "Israeli lyricist Ehud Manor passes away at age 64". ESCtoday.com. April 12, 2005. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
  2. Barak, Itamar (November 13, 2003). "David D'or to represent Israel in Eurovision 2004". Esctoday.
  3. Yudilovich, Merav (13 November 2003). "David D'Or represented Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest". Ynet (in Hebrew).
  4. "News". ESCtoday.com. May 5, 2004. Retrieved May 7, 2009.
  5. Eurovision Song Contest 2004
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