Israel on Sunday presented its new Eurovision song titled ‘Hurricane’ after the original ballad October Rain was branded ‘too political’.
The song, which Eden Golan will perform on stage in Malmo, Sweden, in May, is about a woman going through a personal crisis, but reportedly retains some of October Rain’s lyrics.
Israeli broadcaster Kan 11 revealed the song, which was created by Keren Peles, Avi Ohayon and Stav Beger.
“Look into my eyes and you’ll see, people look away but never say goodbye,” the 20-year-old Russian-Israeli sings on Hurricane.
‘Every day I lose my mind, clinging to this mysterious journey, dancing in the storm, I have nothing to hide.
“Take it all and leave the world behind, baby, promise me you’ll hold me again, I’m still broken from this hurricane.”
Israel’s new Eurovision song ‘Hurricane’ was revealed on Sunday and will be sung by 20-year-old Eden Golan in May.
Israel faced disqualification if it did not change the lyrics of its original song October Rain.
The new song has lyrics primarily in English, except for a few lines in Hebrew at the end that translate as: “We don’t need big words, just sentences, even though it’s hard to see, you always leave me a little light.” ‘
speaking to Israel Times Following Hurricane’s reveal, Golan said: ‘I ended up (competing) in a not simple year.
‘But, on the other hand, this year I want to represent the country even more, because of its meaning: it has a totally different meaning.
‘And we can express everything we feel and everything the country is going through in those three minutes. Speak through song to the world.’
As part of the big reveal, Kan also aired a documentary exploring “the complexity of Israeli representation on the Eurovision stage over the years.”
Television writer Hen Avigdori, whose wife and daughter were kidnapped on October 7 and later released from Gaza, said: “I think it is very important that there is an Israeli delegation and an Israeli song at Eurovision.
“We have to keep going and keep doing, and that doing is also music and showing it to the whole world.”
Golan’s original song caused controversy as the lyrics were thought to reference the October 7 Hamas attacks.
Golan performed October Rain, which included lines like “there’s no air left to breathe” and “they were all good kids, every one of them.”
According to lyrics leaked to the media, and later confirmed by Kan, October Rain included lines such as “There’s no air left to breathe” and “They were all good kids, every one of them.”
These were seen as an allusion to those who were trapped inside the shelters as Hamas gunmen unleashed their bloody terror at the Supernova music festival that sparked the war in Gaza.
The song also references “flowers,” which is sometimes used as military code for war deaths, according to the Israel Hayom newspaper.
Israel had until today to change the lyrics and submit a song that complied with the rules of the international song contest.
As a non-political event, Eurovision can disqualify contestants deemed to have violated its strict impartiality rules.
The EBU checks all submitted songs before the competition to ensure they comply with the rules.
Musicians from other Eurovision countries have called for Israel to be suspended over the war in Gaza.
They include artists from Iceland, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden, and several pointed out that Russia has been disqualified since its large-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
Eurovision organizers have so far resisted those calls, arguing that the situations in Ukraine and Gaza are different.
Eurovision has previously blocked addresses they fear could politicize the event.
In 2022, Russia was banned from competing in the song contest after its invasion of Ukraine.
The country’s national broadcasters subsequently suspended their EBU membership in protest, preventing them from participating in future contests.
Last year, Israel was represented by Israeli singer Noa Kirel, who performed her third-place song Unicorn.
The UK will be represented by Years & Years singer Olly Alexander at Eurovision this year.
The Years & Years singer will perform his dance-heavy new single, Dizzy, which some critics have said may be “enough to make the judges’ heads spin.”