Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009
The national final was produced entirely by IBA after commercial broadcaster Keshet had turned down a collaboration proposal to select the Israeli entry for 2009 for financial reasons.[3] On 11 January 2009, IBA announced that Achinoam Nini, under the artistic name Noa, and Mira Awad were selected as the Israeli representatives for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009.[4][5] A professional committee with members from IBA considered several artists, of which Harel Skaat, Marina Maximillian Blumin and Maya Bouskilla were invited to participate before Noa and Awad were ultimately selected.[6][7] Negotiations with Skaat broke down due to a legal dispute with his former record label Hed Arzi Music which forbade him from recording any new material, while Blumin and Bouskilla had turned down the offer to represent Israel due to issues with their current military services in the Israeli army.[13] The final took place on 2 March 2009 at the Nakdi TV Studios in Jerusalem, hosted by Eden Harel and broadcast on Channel 1 as well as online via IBA's official Eurovision Song Contest website Eurovil.Several Jewish and Arab artists and intellectuals called for Awad to step down because, in their view, her participation would convey a false impression of national coexistence that would be used to cover up the deaths of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip."[17] According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top nine songs from each semi-final as determined by televoting progress to the final, and a tenth was determined by back-up juries.The stage was set in dark blue colors with the LED screens displaying a big orange rose at the end of the performance.This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.
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