Eurovision fans, the wait is over — the clip of Noa Kirel’s song, ״Unicorn,״ which is Israel’s official entry in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, was revealed with great fanfare on Wednesday night on Kan 11.
In recent years, Israel’s Eurovision contestant was selected through a talent contest, but it was decided this year that it would be best for pop diva Kirel, whose videos receive hundreds of millions of views on YouTube, to represent Israel. The song, which is in English, is a self-affirmation anthem of the type which has come to dominate the contest in recent years, like Netta Barzilai’s “Toy,” which won the contest in 2018. Doron Madali, who wrote “Toy,” also wrote “Unicorn,” in collaboration with Yinon Yahel, and May Sfadia and Kirel herself.
In the clip, a sweet-looking young man waits for Kirel in a fancy restaurant while she proclaims her uniqueness by writhing on the ceiling in a clingy black dress, standing tall in a jumpsuit that recalls Rihanna’s Super Bowl outfit, doing a full-out dance number reminiscent of the audition scene in Flashdance and crooning away as her head and torso (in a crop top) are superimposed on the body of a horse.
“I’m gonna stand here like a unicorn, out here on my own, I got the power of a unicorn,” she sings in the English-language song. At the conclusion of the song, she resumes her seat across the table from the young man and begins eating her meal.
The contest will take place in Liverpool in May. A Ukrainian group won in 2022, but due to the war, England was chosen as the venue.
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Israel has a long and proud history with Eurovision, and has been competing in the song contest for 50 years. In addition to Barzilai’s win, Israel took first place in 1978, with “A-Ba-Ni-Bi” by Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta, in 1979 with “Hallelujah” by Milk and Honey and in 1998 with the song, “Diva,” by the trans artist, Dana International.
In light of the current charged Israeli political situation, Kirel said in an interview on Keshet on Thursday morning that he knew she would be asked about politics at the competition and that that would be the “less fun part of the whole thing,” but that, “I will send my message through my music,” and that she hoped the song would bring some unity to Israel.