This year's Grand Final ended with a big surprise and celebration when Israel won the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. It was Israel's fourth time winning, exactly 20 years after that last victory in 1998 by Dana Internation.
The winning song Netta Barzilai's "Toy" has been bookies favorite for weeks, up until the last weeks prior to Eurovision when countries like Cypus and Austria seemed to take ahead and challenge the long time bookies favorite.
Barzilai is a 25-year-old Israel-born singer known for her looping singing technique and arrangements. Last year she won the "Hakokhav Haba," qualifying her to represent Israel the the most watched entertainment show in the world. As part of the final performance she was accompanied by dancers and her signature looping machine delivering a summer anthem with a strong message.
The winning song "Toy" is truly a #metoo anthem covering topics of female empowerment and celebration of differences. As part of her acceptance speech Netta gloriously said "thank you for so much for choosing different". While the Eurovision viewers seems to love her, she has received criticism for her appearance and an odd musical style, which seemed to work in advantage of her, making her highly distinctive and memorable. The quirky electronic tune has already received over 70 million views on YouTube.
