Israel’s Noam Bettan qualified for the Eurovision 2026 grand final after performing “Michelle” in the first semifinal in Vienna on May 12. Israel advanced to the Grand Final alongside Greece, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Moldova, Serbia, Croatia, Lithuania and Poland.
This is the fifth time that Israel has qualified for the Eurovision final in the past six years.
After the three-minute performance, Bettan received applause from the audience at Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle. Several Israeli flags were seen waving during the performance. The cameras cut to fans wearing festive clothing adorned with Israeli flags.
“I feel amazing,” Bettan said in Hebrew after the semifinal performance. “What an amazing performance it was. אמא’לה! [Wow!] I enjoyed it so much. And then, there was a moment towards the end, when I was singing, “יש מי שישמע” (‘there is someone who hears’) which I felt like I was singing for Israel. I swear I know it’s so cliche, but I sang for Israel. I felt how complete it was. It was absolutely amazing and I enjoyed every second of it with these amazing dancers. Again it was amazing amazing amazing. Thank you God for everything. Thank all of you for everything. Wow. Let’s go!”
As with years past, there were some jeers from the live audience crowd. During the final rehearsal before the live semifinal broadcast, Palestinian flags were seen in the crowd and there were chants of “stop the genocide” could be heard. The Austrian newspaper Österreich reported that two people disrupting the show were ejected by security. Bettan’s weeks of rehearsals included preparation for performing during overwhelming boos to physical commotion.
Backstage, there was support for Bettan. On May 3, Boy George posed for a photo with Bettan at Eurovision rehearsals. The Culture Club singer performed in the semifinal with San Marino’s entrant. San Marino failed to make the Grand Final.
Still, during Bettan’s semifinal performance, there did not appear to be any noticeable disruption during the broadcast. Bettan performed 10th in the random lineup of 15 performers.
The song opens with Bettan singing over arpeggiated acoustic guitar. In the first verse, as he sings the lyrics “Oh Michelle,” dancer Lihi Freud appears by his side inside a diamond-shaped mirror stage prop. Bettan was wearing a black shirt under a black jacket with black leather pants. The spinning diamond then opened as the song’s first verse kicked up. They were then joined on stage by four backup dancers wearing half black, half white singlets.
Israeli delegation chief, actor Yoav Tzafir, told reporters after the semifinal that Bettan gave “a perfect performance” and said the singer “didn’t let the boos get to him.”
Bettan is a 28-year-old singer-songwriter born in Ra’anana, Israel to a French family. His breakout hit, “Buba,” was released in 2022 and has over 9 million listens on Spotify. His solo album “Me’al HaMayim” was released the following year.
Bettan secured his Eurovision spot by winning Israel’s reality singing competition “Rising Star” on January 20. He sang a cover of French pop star Indila’s “Dernière Danse” (“Last Dance”).
The song “Michelle” is a ballad about leaving a toxic relationship. Like Yuval Raphael’s “New Day Will Rise” at Eurovision in 2025, Bettan’s Eurovision song has lyrics in Hebrew, English and French. Raphael, a survivor of the Nova Festival massacre, took second place at Eurovision last year and is a co-writer of “Michelle.” Israel’s 2024 entry, “Hurricane” by Eden Golan, took fifth place. Bettan’s song is the first song since Noa Kirel’s “Unicorn” to not have any direct reference to the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023.
Raphael celebrated Bettan’s performance on Tuesday by sharing an Instagram video and writing a one word reaction: “Wowwwww!”
The song was selected for Bettan by an internal Kan Television committee from more than 200 submissions. Bettan told reporters after the selection that Israel was ready for “a different kind of energy” after sending several ballads in recent years.
Five countries boycotted this year’s Eurovision contest over Israel’s inclusion: Iceland, Spain, Slovenia, Ireland and the Netherlands. Ireland, Slovenia and Spain also said they would not broadcast the contest, while Iceland still planned to air it and the Netherlands’ sister broadcasters NOS and NTR planned to carry it through NPO 1.
In Vienna, organizers had given each competing country a themed café. According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel’s café was vandalized before the semifinal with anti-Israel graffiti found on a bathroom wall; it was removed after police arrived. Café owner Liza Vigenstein downplayed the incident, saying Vienna was full of security and “felt safer than Berlin.”
Anti-Israel protests also took place in Vienna before the semifinal, with larger demonstrations expected before the final. Police increased security around the contest, barred protests near the 16,000-seat arena and banned all political materials besides national flags. Austrian police also assigned two elite units to protect the Israeli delegation.
How to Watch the Eurovision Grand Final
For viewers in Los Angeles, the Eurovision Grand Final will stream live Saturday, May 16, at 12 p.m. Pacific on NBC’s Peacock streaming platform. U.S. viewers can also stream the shows live on the Eurovision YouTube channel. Viewers in nonparticipating countries, including the U.S., can vote through the “Rest of the World” vote at www.esc.vote. That online voting window opens at about midnight before the show, pauses when the live broadcast begins, then reopens just before the first song and stays open until about 40 minutes after the final competing performance. Viewers can vote up to 10 times.
