After weeks of uncertainty, Israel unveils revised Eurovision song ‘Hurricane’

Israel unveils its song for this year’s Eurovision, titled “Hurricane,” capping weeks of uncertainty over its participation in the annual song contest amid boycott calls and accusations of politicization.

The song, to be performed on stage in Malmo, Sweden, in May by Eden Golan, is about a young woman going through a “personal crisis,” says the Kan public broadcaster.

Written by Keren Peles, Avi Ohayon and Stav Beger, the song includes some of the same lyrics from the original “October Rain” submission, which Eurovision organizers initially disqualified on charges that it was too political.

“Look into my eyes and see/ People look away but never say goodbye,” sings Golan. “Who’s the fool who told you boys don’t cry/ Every day I’m losing my mind/ Holding on in this mysterious ride/ Dancing in the storm/ I’ve got nothing to hide/ Take it all and leave the world behind/ Baby promise me you’ll hold me again/ I’m still broken from this hurricane.”

The song is largely in English, except for a few Hebrew lines at the end, which say: “We don’t need big words/ Just prayers/ Even if it’s hard to see/ You always leave me one little light.”

“I ended up in a not simple year,” says Golan. “But on the other hand, I even more so want to represent the country this year, because of its meaning — it has a totally different significance — and we can bring everything we’re feeling, and everything the country is going through, in those three minutes. To speak through the song to the world.”

Israel is one of the final countries to unveil its song ahead of the contest slated for May 7-11, after Eurovision organizers disqualified its first submission on charges that it was too political. Kan originally declared that it would refuse to submit a new song or edit the lyrics, but later agreed to rewrite the original submission to satisfy the European Broadcasting Union, which hosts the competition.