Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

{{Short description|none}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{more citations needed|date=October 2021}} {{Infobox song contest national year | Year = 1981 | Broadcaster = Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) | Country = Israel | Selection process = {{lang|he-latn|Kdam Eurovision|i=unset}} 1981 | Selection date = 3 March 1981 | Song = {{lang|he-latn|Halayla|i=no}} | Artist = Habibi | Writer = {{unbulleted list|Shuki Levy|Shlomit Aharon|Yuval Dor}} | Final result = 7th, 56 points | Prev = 1979 }}

Israel was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the song "{{lang|he-latn|Halayla|i=no}}", composed by Shuki Levy, with lyrics by Shlomit Aharon and Yuval Dor, and performed by the band Habibi. The Israeli participating broadcaster, the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), selected its entry through {{lang|he-latn|Kdam Eurovision|i=unset}} 1981. IBA returned at the Eurovision Song Contest, after withdrawing from the {{escyr|1980||1980 contest}} because of National Day of Remembrance.

==Before Eurovision== {{unreferenced|section|date=April 2025}} === {{lang|he-latn|Kdam Eurovision|i=unset}} 1981 === The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) decided to replace the Israel Song Festival with a new competition designed to select a song for the contest.

The final was held on 3 March 1981 in Jerusalem, and was hosted by Daniel Pe'er. The votes of nine regional juries across Israel decided the winner.

The winning entry was "{{lang|he-latn|Halayla|i=no}}", performed by Hakol Over Habibi and composed by Shuki Levy, with lyrics written by Shlomit Aharon and Yuval Dor.

{| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; text-align:center" |+ Final – 3 March 1981 |- ! {{Abbr|R/O|Running order}} ! Artist ! Song ! class="unsortable" | Points ! Place |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 1 | align="left" |Eitan Masuri | align="left" |"Etmol" ({{lang|he|אתמול}}) |35 |7 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 2 | align="left" |Milk and Honey | align="left" |"Serenada" ({{lang|he|סרנדה}}) | 61 |4 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 3 | align="left" |Mike Burstyn | align="left" |"Sviv kol ha'olam" ({{lang|he|סביב כל העולם}}) |57 |6 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 4 | align="left" |Sexta | align="left" |"Cinderella" ({{lang|he|סינדרלה}}) |75 |2 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 5 | align="left" |Miri Aloni | align="left" |"Piyus" ({{lang|he|פיוס}}) |11 |10 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 6 | align="left" |Irit Bulka | align="left" |"Mona Lisa" ({{lang|he|מונה ליזה}}) |31 |8 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 7 | align="left" |Gary Eckstein | align="left" |"Aya ve Dan" ({{lang|he|איה ודן}}) |4 |12 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 8 | align="left" |Hedva Amrani | align="left" |"Bo elai" ({{lang|he|בוא אליי}}) |24 |9 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 9 | align="left" |Shlomo Gronich & Dafna Armoni | align="left" |"Kaleidoscope" ({{lang|he|קליידוסקופ}}) |6 |11 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 10 | align="left" |Avi Toledano | align="left" |"Karnaval" ({{lang|he|קרנבל}}) |69 |3 |- style="font-weight:bold; background:gold;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 11 | align="left" |Hakol Over Habibi | align="left" |"Halayla" ({{lang|he|הלילה}}) |91 |1 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 12 | align="left" |Yigal Bashan | align="left" |"Ten li" ({{lang|he|תן לי}}) |58 |5 |}

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; text-align:center;" |- |+ Detailed Regional Jury Votes |- ! scope="col" | {{Abbr|R/O|Running order}} ! scope="col" | Song !{{vert header|nb=1|Tel Aviv}} !{{vert header|nb=1|Karmiel}} !{{vert header|nb=1|Kfar Saba}} !{{vert header|nb=1|Haifa}} !{{vert header|nb=1|Tzora}} !{{vert header|nb=1|Herzliya}} !{{vert header|nb=1|Ashdod}} !{{vert header|nb=1|Lakhish}} !{{vert header|nb=1|Jerusalem}} ! scope="col" | Total |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 1 | align="left" | "Etmol" | 8 | 2 | 4 | 8 | | 2 | 5 | 6 | | 35 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 2 | align="left" | "Serenada" | 10 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 61 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 3 | align="left" | "Sviv kol ha'olam" | 4 | 5 | 5 | '''12''' | 10 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 57 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 4 | align="left" | "Cinderella" | '''12''' | 7 | 8 | 5 | 5 | '''12''' | '''12''' | 2 | '''12''' | 75 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 5 | align="left" | "Piyus" | | | 2 | | 3 | | | 1 | 5 | 11 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 6 | align="left" | "Mona Lisa" | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 31 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 7 | align="left" | "Aya ve Dan" | | 1 | | | 1 | 1 | | | 1 | 4 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 8 | align="left" | "Bo elai" | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 24 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 9 | align="left" | "Kaleidoscope" | 1 | | | 2 | 2 | | 1 | | | 6 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 10 | align="left" | "Karnaval" | 5 | '''12''' | 10 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 69 |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 11 | align="left" | "Halayla" | 7 | 8 | '''12''' | 10 | '''12''' | 10 | 10 | '''12''' | 10 | '''91''' |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 12 | align="left" | "Ten li" | 6 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 58 |}

==At Eurovision== On the evening of the final Hakol Over Habibi, performing as Habibi, performed 5th in the running order, following {{esccnty|Luxembourg|y=1981}} and preceding {{esccnty|Denmark|y=1981}}. Shlomit Aharon, the band's soloist, was in about 6–7 months pregnant at the contest. At the close of voting "{{lang|he-latn|Halayla|i=no}}" had received 56 points, placing Israel seventh of the 20 entries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Final of Dublin 1981 |url=https://eurovision.tv/event/dublin-1981/final |publisher=European Broadcasting Union |access-date=13 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413070150/https://eurovision.tv/event/dublin-1981/final |archive-date=13 April 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> IBA appointed Dan Kaner as its spokesperson to announce the result of the Israeli vote in the final.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

=== Voting === {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} {| class="wikitable" |- |+ Points awarded to Israel<ref name="1981detailed">{{cite web |title=Results of the Final of Dublin 1981 |url=https://eurovision.tv/event/dublin-1981/final/results/israel |publisher=European Broadcasting Union |access-date=13 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413142935/https://eurovision.tv/event/dublin-1981/final/results/israel |archive-date=13 April 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> |- ! scope="col" width="20%" | Score ! scope="col" | Country |- ! scope="row" | 12 points | |- ! scope="row" | 10 points | |- ! scope="row" | 8 points | {{Unbulleted list|{{Esc|Austria|y=1981}}|{{Esc|Norway|y=1981}}}} |- ! scope="row" | 7 points | {{Unbulleted list|{{Esc|Ireland|y=1981}}|{{Esc|Netherlands|y=1981}}}} |- ! scope="row" | 6 points | {{Esc|Finland|y=1981}} |- ! scope="row" | 5 points | {{Esc|Portugal|y=1981}} |- ! scope="row" | 4 points | {{Unbulleted list|{{Esc|Luxembourg|y=1981}}|{{Esc|Switzerland|y=1981}}|{{Esc|United Kingdom|y=1981}}}} |- ! scope="row" | 3 points | {{Esc|Sweden|y=1981}} |- ! scope="row" | 2 points | |- ! scope="row" | 1 point | |} {{col-2}} {| class="wikitable" |- |+ Points awarded by Israel<ref name="1981detailed" /> |- ! scope="col" width="20%" | Score ! scope="col" | Country |- ! scope="row" style="background:gold" | 12 points | {{Esc|United Kingdom|y=1981}} |- ! scope="row" style="background:silver" | 10 points | {{Esc|Ireland|y=1981}} |- ! scope="row" style="background:#CC9966" | 8 points | {{Esc|Germany|y=1981}} |- ! scope="row" | 7 points | {{Esc|France|y=1981}} |- ! scope="row" | 6 points | {{Esc|Spain|1977|y=1981}} |- ! scope="row" | 5 points | {{Esc|Cyprus|1960|y=1981}} |- ! scope="row" | 4 points | {{Esc|Netherlands|y=1981}} |- ! scope="row" | 3 points | {{Esc|Luxembourg|y=1981}} |- ! scope="row" | 2 points | {{Esc|Finland|y=1981}} |- ! scope="row" | 1 point | {{Esc|Belgium|y=1981}} |} {{col-end}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

1981 Category:Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 Eurovision

Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

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