Ilanit

Who is Ilanit?

Ilanit is a female Israeli singer who represented her country twice in the Eurovision Song Contest. In 1953, the family moved to Brazil and returned to Israel in 1960.

In 1973, she first took part in Luxembourg where she reached the fourth position with the song "Ey Sham". This was also the first ever participation of Israel in the Song Contest. The song was composed by Nurit Hirsh, who also conducted the orchestra in Luxembourg on that occasion. It was only the second time that the orchestra was conducted by a woman; the first time was on that very evening.

The second participation by Ilanit was in London in 1977 with a song entitled "Ahava Hi Shir Lishnayim". With this song she came eleventh. Ilanit almost took part for a third time in 1984: she was appointed by IBA to sing the song "Balalaika". The 1984 Eurovision Song Contest coincided with an Israeli memorial day wherefore the IBA withdrew their entry. At that time Ilanit was already one of Israel's most popular singers and the song "Balalaika" became an instant hit, despite not taking part.