Luxembourg taps Israeli singer as Eurovision song entry

An Israeli singer is to represent Luxembourg at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest after scooping up the most points in a selection event held in the tiny European country on Saturday night.

Tali Golergant, 23, was born in Israel to an Israeli mother and a Jewish father from Peru. Though she currently resides in New York, Golegrant traveled to compete in the Luxembourg selection events to choose an artist and song for the coming Eurovision.

Golegrant secured the nomination with the song “Fighter” written by Ana Zimmer, Dardust, Manon Romiti, and Silvio Lisbonne. She won with a total of 178 points — 94 from a jury and 84 from the public. Second place went to “Drowning in the Rain” by Krick, who scored 165 points in total.

Speaking to the Euromix outlet in a Hebrew-language interview published Friday ahead of the nomination event, held in Esch-sur-Alzette, Golegrant said she visits Israel at least once a year, sometimes twice.

“I love Israel,” she said.

For the initial selection process, she sang a song that she had written herself but was later advised to use a different creation for the latter rounds, whereupon she chose “Fighter.”

“The song is about being a ‘fighter’ in life. We all deal with things in life; the song is about coping with difficulties,” she explained, saying it spoke to her because of the challenges in developing a music career.

“But everyone has his war and so the subject is universal,” she said.

The nomination contest was produced by Israeli Tali Eshkoli, who also produced the 2019 Eurovision contest hosted by Tel Aviv and the 2021 Miss Universe contest held in Eilat.

“It’s crazy, everyone is Israeli,” Golegrant said of the production team.

As she advanced toward the final round of the selection process, she received a lot of messages of support from Israelis.

Golegrant said she has a particular fondness for Eurovision because, when she was a young girl, her grandfather, a big fan of the event, would send her information about the annual contest.

Due to her father’s work, Golegrant moved around in her younger years, spending time in Chile, Argentina, and Luxembourg. The family eventually moved to New York, where she works as a vocal coach and music teacher while also pursuing her professional music career.

According to her website, she speaks fluent Hebrew and Spanish, as well as good French and reasonable German. She has appeared on screen and in the theater, playing, among others, the characters of Eponine in “Les Miserables” and Tzeitel in “Fiddler on the Roof.”

Luxembourg has competed 37 times in the Eurovision and won five titles. However, it has not competed since 1993.

The 2024 Eurovision will be held in Malmö, Sweden. There will be two semifinals on May 7 and 9, followed by the final on May 11.