Israel’s Noam Bettan takes second place in Eurovision 2026, Bulgaria wins

Poland’s jury gave Israel 12 points, the top score, and Israel received 123 points from the national juries, a strong showing compared to last year. “Michelle” received 220 points from the audience, putting it briefly in first place during the reading of the results, which elicited some boos from the audience.

It was a triumphant finish in the song contest for Israel in a year filled with boos and boycotts, when many European governments, broadcasters, and artists did all they could to stop Israel from sending a performer.

The winning song was "Bangaranga," a high-energy rave anthem by DARA from Bulgaria, and "Choke Me" by Alexandra Căpitănescu came in third place. DARA, the stage name of Darina Nikolaeva Yotova, liked a clip of Bettan’s rehearsal performance. It was a friendly and kind gesture that stood out in a year when many avoided the Israeli delegation or made it feel unwelcome.

Bettan reveled in achieving a second flawless performance after the first one in the semifinal. During the time between his final performance and the announcement of the winner, he told KAN 11, “Wow, wow, wow. That was crazy. I felt more emotional than the previous times… I felt good, I felt I gave 100% in real time. It was crazy, it was fun, we’re done now… I love you, Am Israel Chai!”

After Bettan’s return to Israel on Sunday, President Isaac Herzog congratulated him on X/Twitter, posting: “Noam, you are a pride for Israel! I just spoke with Noam in Tel Aviv and congratulated him on the impressive achievement at Eurovision. Second place, for the second year in a row, is a source of great pride, but beyond the achievement, Noam brought to the stage talent, emotion, and an admirable Israeli representation. I am very proud of him… Special thanks to KAN, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, for the production and performance.”

They demanded that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the body that oversees the song contest, vote at its general assembly in December on whether Israel could continue to participate. The EBU declined to vote and instead instituted several rule changes that seemed designed to make it harder for Israel to do well.

The most significant change was that the semifinals, which had previously been determined by audience voting, would be judged half by the audience and half by the national juries. The national juries are generally far less sympathetic to Israel than audiences. Last year, for example, Israel’s contestant, Yuval Raphael, won the audience vote with 297 points but received only 60 from the juries, which is why this year’s score of 123 from the juries came as such a pleasant surprise.

Other rule changes included limiting audience members to voting only 10 times instead of 20, and strict controls on media campaigns, since many in Europe seemed convinced that an Israeli government-sponsored internet campaign was the deciding factor in Raphael’s audience-vote win, rather than that people simply liked the song.

This year, the delegation from KAN received a reprimand from Martin Green, Eurovision’s managing director, over some social media posts promoting Bettan. It may seem absurd that in a flashy extravaganza in which millions are spent and earned (it costs almost one Euro to cast a vote), it is forbidden to promote artists on social media – but that’s Europe in 2026, at least when it comes to Israel.

Media campaigns for contestants from other countries, both this year and last year, went unremarked upon.

But in the end, all of that was just background noise. The only sound worth listening to was Bettan’s singing, and the only images that will linger are of Bettan standing tall, indifferent to the scattered boos, surrounded by five beautiful dancers, who strutted around the eye-catching revolving diamond at the center of the stage.

During the previous two years since the war began, Israel’s songs, “Hurricane” in 2024 sung by Eden Golan and “New Day Will Rise” in 2025 by Raphael, a survivor of the killings at the Nova Music Festival, referenced the Hamas massacre which took 1,200 lives on a single day, and looked wistfully to a better future while honoring the memories of those who were lost.

However, “Michelle” – performed by Bettan, and written by Raphael, Tzlil Klifi, and Nadav Aharoni – is a fun up-tempo pop tune, sung masterfully by Bettan in English, French, and Hebrew, about a beautiful but maddening young woman. The song announces, through its lyrics and staging, that Israelis can still live normal lives amid nearly three years of war, and that it is once again time to think about romance and young love.

Bettan, with his diffident smile and soft voice, exemplified a certain kind of Israeli masculinity, with a neatly trimmed beard and mustache, dressed like a typical Tel Aviv hipster in black leather.

But Bettan, the son of French immigrants who was raised in Ra’anana, also has a traditional side. He was photographed in Vienna praying and saying the Friday night kiddush prayer. He is the image of the best Israel has to offer, and he seemed to mean every word of the song’s very catchy lyrics about a tormented love story.

At 28, with eight years of experience as a performer, he could not have been prepared for the pressure he faced as the public face of Israel in Europe in 2026. But he sailed through the multiple gauntlets placed in his way by hostile factions in the Eurovision community with flying colors. For his calm and grace in the midst of a very intense storm, he has earned our gratitude. We can all be proud of the way he conducted himself, and of his talent.

Speaking to KAN 11’s Amit Harari before the final, he said, “I feel good, I’m excited, I’m relaxed at the moment.”

Bettan spoke convincingly, but there was a great deal going on around the Israeli delegation that could have caused stress. A large anti-Israel protest in Vienna’s main square on Friday marked Nakba Day, on which some Palestinians protest the establishment of the state of Israel. It was held again on Saturday.

Ynet reported that hundreds of protesters attended the protest, which was billed as a “concert against genocide,” with a motto against Israel’s participation in Eurovision: “No Stage for Genocide.” Anti-Israel musician Roger Waters was reportedly involved in organizing the protest.

However, many fans turned out to support Israel as well, including former Culture Club frontman Boy George, who performed with San Marino’s Senhit this year at Eurovision. They did not make it to the final, but Boy George posed for photos with Bettan and sent him messages of encouragement.

While the votes were being tallied, there was a video interview with American-Jewish music icon Billy Joel about the inspiration behind his hit song, “Vienna,” which was then performed by Austrian singer and Eurovision veteran Cesar Sampson. Mentalist Lior Suchard announced the results of Israel’s jury, which gave 12 points to Australia’s Delta Goodrem for her song, “Eclipse.”

While Eurovision may strike many as silly, it has a special place in the hearts of many Israelis, and it was one of the first international arenas in which Israel excelled. It’s also important to note that there is no accounting for musical taste, and while it would have been nice to see Bettan win, he needed to be given a fair chance to compete alongside performers from the other countries – and he was.

Before taking the stage on Saturday night, Bettan received a video greeting from Gal Gadot, who told him not to let the booing rattle him: “They don’t have any power over you… You’re amazing, and you’re talented, and we’re all behind you, waiting for you to go on tonight.”

Boos were heard during Bettan’s rehearsal on Saturday, and he told KAN 11 that they were “the loudest I ever heard.” But he said that many fans were cheering him on, “And we’re doing it for them.”

And for us.