Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Israel joined the European Broadcasting Union in 1957 and first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973, becoming the first country outside Europe to participate.[1][2] That debut entry finished fourth out of 17 contestants.[3] Israel holds the record for the most contest entries without ever finishing last.[3]

Israel had won Eurovision four times by 2019: in 1978, 1979, 1998, and 2018.[4] It hosted the contest in Jerusalem in 1979 and 1999 and in Tel Aviv in 2019.[3] The Jewish Review of Books argues that Eurovision participation has served as a means for Israel to assert its cultural presence among nations and to project significance beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[1]

Israel's Eurovision committee selected Mei Finegold to represent the country at the 2014 contest. She ranked first among 16 artists who had expressed willingness to participate, with Maya Buskila finishing second and Ella Doron third in the committee's assessment.[5] Finegold said she had wanted to represent Israel for a long time and recalled that she began crying when she received the news at home.[5]

In January 2014, the Israel Broadcasting Authority had not yet chosen her song and had asked the public to submit candidates by the end of that month.[6] Finegold had not served in the IDF, and a social stigma had previously attached to performers representing Israel abroad without having done so.[6]

The selection process itself drew public scrutiny. Allegations emerged that the Broadcasting Authority's committee had not followed its own regulations.[7] Retired judge Bracha Ofir-Tom, who was meant to head the committee, stated she had attended only one meeting — after the candidate list had already been prepared — and the authority gave differing accounts of her role in the process.[7] Critics also raised questions about how candidates were nominated and scored, though Finegold's selection stood.[7]

Viewers selected "Same Heart" as Israel's entry through a public vote announced on March 5, with the song receiving 55% of the votes.[8] Its closest competitor, "נשארת איתי" ("Nisharta Iti"), received 40%, while "Be Proud" took the remaining 5%.[8] Rami Talmid wrote and composed the song; Avner Hodorov arranged and musically produced it.[8] Finegold welcomed the public's choice, saying she was excited and intended to represent Israel with honor.[8]

The song's selection was not without dispute. A count published before the vote found approximately 47 Hebrew words out of 241 total — roughly 19.5% Hebrew and 80.5% English — while the Broadcasting Authority's rules required at least half the lyrics to be in Hebrew.[9] The lyrics were also reportedly altered after committee approval without written authorization, though the committee subsequently approved the song again.[8] The creators of the second-place song demanded disqualification and threatened legal action.[8] Nevertheless, "Same Heart" remained Israel's entry and was performed in Copenhagen.[8][10]

Before the semi-final, Finegold drew favorable assessments from the press corps in Copenhagen. Journalists ranked her first among the 15 acts in the second semi-final after her second rehearsal, with some observers considering her a possible winner.[11] Norway, Greece, and Romania were among the other countries regarded as contenders.[11]

Finegold described "Same Heart" as a song about an ongoing personal struggle and connected its themes to women's rights and female empowerment.[11] Her staging featured two dancers and, by her own account, deliberately avoided reliance on elaborate visual gimmicks. As she put it: "I'm good at going up on stage, burning it up, and coming down."[11]

Israel competed in the second semi-final in Copenhagen on May 8, 2014, with Finegold performing "Same Heart" as the second act of the evening.[10] The performance was described as a strong dance-rock number featuring two dancers, prominent movement, and colorful lighting, and it drew a loud audience response from the hall.[10] Despite the warm reception, Israel did not place among the ten countries that advanced to the grand final.[10]

Israel finished 14th out of 15 countries in the semi-final, accumulating 19 points.[12] Eurovision executive supervisor Jan Ola Sand praised the Israeli entry, stating that Israel had sent a singer who gave an excellent semi-final performance.[12] The result matched the finishing position of Israel's 2013 representative, Moran Mazor, who had also exited in the semi-final.[4] Austria's Tom Neuwirth, performing as Conchita Wurst, went on to win the contest.[4]

Finegold said after the result that she had come offstage feeling she had done what she could and thanked supporters for their encouragement.[12] She also expressed disappointment, telling Ynet that she felt the scoring was not connected to the quality of singing or performance but reflected other factors, including what she described as politics.[13] That assessment represented her personal impression; the sources do not establish political considerations as a cause of the result.[13]

The 2014 result was Israel's fourth consecutive failure to reach the Eurovision final.[12] It was followed by six consecutive final appearances; when Israel again failed to qualify in 2022, it was the country's first non-qualification since 2014.[14] Israel's broader Eurovision record also included never finishing last in the competition.[3]