Yuvel Raphael rose to fame after winning the casting show “HaKokhav HaBa” with her stunning cover of ABBA’s "Dancing Queen" . Her victory secured her the opportunity to represent her country at the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel. The song she will perform was released at a later stage.

Born in 2000 in Ra’anana, Israel—situated between Netanya and Tel Aviv, Yuvel spent much of her childhood in Geneva, Switzerland, where she enjoyed skiing and playing tennis. Her participation in “HaKokhav HaBa” marked the beginning of her professional music career.

On October 7, 2023, Yuvel attended the Supernova Music Festival, which was targeted in a brutal terrorist attack by Hamas. She survived the massacre by hiding in an open rocket shelter with about 50 others. As the terrorists fired into the shelter and threw grenades, Yuvel pretended to be dead for seven to eight harrowing hours, lying beneath corpses. Only ten people, including her, made it out alive. To cope with the trauma, she later joined healing retreats with fellow survivors. In April 2024, she addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, sharing her experiences.

Song: New Day Will Rise
Writer(s): Keren Peles
Composer(s): Keren Peles
Broadcaster: KAN

Yuvel Raphael’s song, New Day Will Rise, is an uplifting ballad performed in English, Hebrew, and French. Drawing from her harrowing experience during the massacre, the song conveys a message of hope, resilience, and love, emphasizing the belief that brighter days will come:

New day will rise
Life will go on
Everyone cries
Don’t cry alone
Darkness will fade
All the pain will go by
But we will stay
Even if you say goodbye

As with last year’s Israeli contestant, Eden Golan, Yuvel and the Israeli delegation are expected to face some backlash. Despite the European Broadcasting Union stepping in to maintain fairness, some fans are likely to express their disapproval through gestures such as wearing headphones or even covering their ears. However, while audience reactions cannot be controlled, strict rules at the ESC prohibit discrimination and harassment among participants.

It is concerning that certain artists in Finland have actively called for a boycott of Israel’s participation in the contest. However, the ESC is fundamentally a non-political event, dedicated to unity, friendship, and music, values that should remain at its core.