Israel’s representative to the Eurovision, Imri Ziv, won a trip to the finals of the song contest Thursday night after belting out an assertive rendition of his dance anthem “I Feel Alive” during the second night of the semifinals at the International Exhibition Center in Kiev.
The finals will take place on Saturday night in the Ukrainian capital.
The other countries to qualify on Thursday were Bulgaria, Belarus, Croatia, Hungary, Denmark, Romania, Norway, The Netherlands and Austria.
They will join Moldova, Azerbaijan, Greece, Sweden, Portugal, Poland, Armenia, Australia, Cyprus and Belgium, which qualified on Tuesday, the first night of the semifinals.
Israel’s Imri Ziv performs the song ‘I Feel Alive’ during the second semi-final dress rehearsal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 on May 10, 2017 at the International Exhibition Centre in Kiev (AFP PHOTO / Sergei SUPINSKY)
In February, Ziv, 25, beat out three other contestants on the reality television show “A Next Star” (“Kochav Haba”) when Israeli viewers chose him as their representative to the contest
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He had previous experience at Eurovision, having been a backup singer for the Israeli entrants Nadav Guedj in 2015 and Hovi Star last year in Stockholm.
Ziv competed in the first season of talent show “The Voice” in 2012, reaching the battle round. Along with others, he sang in a promotional video for the IDF in 2012.
Israel first appeared in the Eurovision in 1973 and it will be its third straight appearance in the finals. Israel won the competition three times, most recently in 1998, when Dana International, a trans woman, won with “Diva.”
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