Yuval Raphael advances to Eurovision grand final

Israel’s Eurovision representative, Yuval Raphael, advanced on Thursday night to the grand final of the competition, which will be held on Saturday night in Basel, Switzerland.

Raphael performed the song “New Day Will Rise” in the second semi-final of the competition. A Palestine Liberation Organzation (PLO) flag was raised in the audience and boos were heard at the start of her performance, but they did not affect her.

At the end of the performance, the Israeli singer received applause and supportive cheers from the audience.

After leaving the stage, Raphael, a survivor of the massacre at the Nova Music Festival, spoke with the team accompanying her to the contest and shared the emotional moment when she stepped onto the stage and saw friends who were with her in a bomb shelter after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

“I looked to the side, said ‘hello’ to the audience, and spotted my friends from the shelter. I saw my best friend—right up there, from above—waving hello to me. Oh my gosh, how that strengthened me!” Raphael said.

Also advancing to the final on Thursday night were Latvia, Lithuania, Armenia, Denmark, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Malta, and Greece.

These countries join Norway, Albania, Iceland, the Netherlands, Poland, San Marino, Estonia, Portugal, Ukraine, and Sweden—who advanced from the first semi-final held on Tuesday—as well as France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, known as the “Big Five,” who automatically qualify for the final.