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Israeli Noam Bettan takes second place behind Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest

Israel’s Noam Bettan takes second place at the Eurovision Song Contest grand finale in Vienna, Austria, while Bulgaria’s Dara takes the overall top prize.

The thrilling finale ended with Bulgaria ousting Israel at the end of the public vote.

Israel ultimately scored a total of 343 points – 123 from the jury and 220 from the audience – while Bulgaria, whose dance hit “Bangaranga” was a crowd favorite – received 204 from the jury and 312 from the audience, cementing their first place with a whopping 516 total.

These numbers placed Israel third overall in the popular vote and eighth in the jury vote, but had enough collective support to move to second place overall.

Participants from Israel and Bulgaria await the final vote in the Eurovision song content, which will take place early on May 17, 2026. Bulgaria emerged victorious. (Kan screenshot)

Bettan performed his song “Michelle” in French, Hebrew and English alongside five backup dancers as millions tuned in around the world. Unlike the semi-finals on Tuesday, no anti-Israel chants or boos could be heard in the live broadcast. Right at the beginning of the song, several fans could be heard chanting “Noam, Noam.”

The Israeli jury awarded the highest points to Australia, followed by ten to Denmark, eight to Bulgaria and seven to Finland.

Israel received 12 jury points – the highest possible – from Poland, as well as 10 from Ukraine and Moldova, and eight from Albania, Austria and Lithuania.

This is the second year in a row that Israel has taken second place, after Yuval Raphael took the same spot last year with “New Day Will Rise” after coming out on top in the televote.