What the headlines missed about Eurovision 2025

What a night! Unexpected drama at the end of the finals of the European Song Contest. Israel is at the top of the charts with just one more country’s scores to be reported. In a shocking turn of events…Israel could win!

And then warnings flash all over the center of the country. Another incoming missile from Yemen. A reality check.

The Houthis couldn’t have timed it better.

Thankfully the missile was intercepted by the IDF. No casualties, no damage.

While that distraction was playing out, Israel’s contestant in Eurovision – Yuval Raphael and her song ‘A New Day Will Rise’ – finished second, just behind Austria.  A photo finish!

Yet there is more to this story than the unexpected drama of a close run for Israel in Eurovision…and the unfortunately expected drama of another Houthi missile, though the timing of this one was impeccable.

This requires some quick background on Eurovision for those in the US. (The rest of you can scroll down a paragraph or two…)

Eurovision began in 1956 as an effort to bring different peoples together and encourage understanding. The format has evolved but the basic idea is that each country nominates a song/performer who competes for the most votes – with the catch that those voting from a country cannot vote for their own country. Today, there are dozens of countries that participate, some beyond Europe, and points get awarded by a country’s “jury” as well as through audience voting from within that country. There are two semi-finals to narrow the field and then a final, which this year featured 26 performances. It’s like the Olympics of song – but campier with often really quirky songs and bizarre attire.

The producers of Eurovision try to leave politics off to the side, to encourage camaraderie between countries, societies, and people…keeping things fun through song and good-natured competition. Of course, though, politics is never far away.  Whether it comes to voting, especially by juries influenced by national friendships and affinities…which everybody recognizes but isn’t explicit enough to be proven.  Or, when there are more direct protests, such as after Russia invaded Ukraine.  Russia was kicked out of the song competition and Ukraine became a bit of a favored contestant, even though their song entries were not that good. Yet sympathy votes count for a lot.

In the past couple of years, Israel has also been a subject of controversy…with many past Eurovision contestants and even some countries’ leaders calling for Israel to be barred from this year’s competition based on what is happening in Gaza. These calls were rejected, rightly so. Israel competed, but with tight security for Yuval’s performance, as protestors made several attempts to rush the stage. Only flags of participating countries were allowed to be waved in the audience, though some Palestinian flags made it through as a protest. The producers also used sound technology to suppress boos during Israel’s song.

Somehow, though, this became the dominant headline following Eurovision. Not how everything went off without a hitch. Or even how Israel surprised EVERYONE and finished second in the overall voting.

When it came to jury voting, Israel got the top vote from only one country – Azerbaijan, if you can believe it. This happens before the audience voting is counted and Israel wound up being in the bottom half of the pack. Many folks thought…ok, sigh, this is what happens with all the negative news and protests about Israel – and, for Israel fans, this would be a disappointing night.

However, when it came to audience vote tallies, which are awarded based on the aggregate of every country’s votes – Israel jumped into first place in the competition and stayed there right until the end. Given all of the turmoil surrounding Israel and the threat of serious protest and pushback this goes beyond a sympathy vote.

How the heck did that happen? And, perhaps more importantly, what does it mean?

Had the jury votes been more aligned with the audience votes, Israel would have won. In a year when Israel is getting criticized in press and by governments and castigated by protests around the world, we almost won. Wow.

What may be more impressive is that Israel got the highest total of any country when it comes to audience votes at 297 – almost 40 more than the next closest country (and one which probably had one of the quirkiest, most fun performances of the whole show…Estonia!).

There may be some that look for the hidden hand of Jewish conspiracy to explain this…but it won’t work. Even though Israel got the most points possible from “the rest of the world” vote – basically, anyone from a country not participating can vote and they all get rolled up into this category – but that only counts for 12 points (and it happened to fall on Shabbat in the United States). And Israelis couldn’t vote directly for Yuval.

Think of it…the two largest Jewish communities in the world did not play a significant role in swinging this vote. This was as grassroots an outcome there could be, in the face of significant headwinds. Throughout the countries of Europe, where hostility towards Israel has supposedly been growing, the people spoke. And said: Israel, we’re with you.

Who could have expected this?

Certainly not the Houthis, who saw this as the right time to fire their missiles.  Whether or not they were actually watching Eurovision (which is kind of humorous to picture), they heard the message…but completely missed the point.

Despite all the protests around the world and the loud voices who shout to globalize the intifada, as well as the echo chamber provided through the media, people around the world made a statement that they get the reality of what happened on October 7.  They see the extremism and danger of those justifying massacre and calling for Israel’s demise – not just to Israel but to the entire Western world.

That should be the real headline here!

If true, this should give Israel supporters some hope. For sure, Yuval Raphael made this outcome possible, with the message of her song, an amazing voice, and her personal story from October 7th. But her message, and the meaning of her song, goes beyond her actual performance:

“New day will rise

Everyone cries, don’t cry alone

Darkness will fade, all the pain will go by

But we will stay”

This is a message that we should lean into and share proudly with the world.

Into this moment of excitement, the Houthis felt they needed to add their voice. Yet it was discordant and out of sync with the rest of the world.  We should all take note.

Who knew the Houthis followed Eurovision? But clearly they’re not fans.