In an interview with ynet on Wednesday, the 27\u2011year\u2011old singer said he will submit two songs to the selection committee that will choose Israel\u2019s official entry for the contest. \u201cYou\u2019re allowed to send two \u2014 so I\u2019ll send two. One of them even has French,\u201d Bettan said, adding cautiously, \u201cI trust the committee\u2019s choices.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bettan, who won Tuesday night\u2019s finale of the reality show The Next Star, said he slept only \u201ctwo or three hours\u201d after securing the coveted ticket to Eurovision. \u201cI\u2019m excited, happy, overwhelmed, grateful,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m especially happy to bring pride to my parents. They\u2019re passionate Zionists who moved to Israel when they had a good life in France. My mom cried a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked what from that conversation with his mother stayed with him, Bettan said, \u201cShe mostly cried, right? But she and my father told me: \u2018Do you know what pride it will be for us to see you wave the flag of Israel at Eurovision?\u2019 Giving them that joy and pride \u2014 for me, that\u2019s extraordinary. Then she added: \u2018Do you realize what an honor you have \u2014 to bring the world to Israel if you win?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite his young age, Bettan said he has extensive experience in music. He previously reached the final of the reality competition Aviv o Eyal and had earlier tried his luck on The Next Star.<\/p>\n
Recounting an earlier setback, Bettan recalled an audition about 10 years ago when he didn\u2019t advance. \u201cI was very sad. I was a sensitive, introverted kid; it was challenging and not easy,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was really frustrating. I went back to school, but I kept making music, playing and singing. I didn\u2019t give up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked whether he ever thought he could win this time, Bettan said he focused on the process rather than the outcome. \u201cFrom the start of the season, I didn\u2019t look at the result. I was in the moment, focused on the task at hand. I know God was with me the whole way; I told Him to do what was right and true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some say the public backed him from the beginning \u2014 and Bettan said he felt that support. \u201cI felt a lot of love from the outside, and it warmed my heart. I wanted to deliver what I could. I tried to stay authentic and true, always remembering God was guiding things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked whether he followed concerns that Israel might not participate in Eurovision, Bettan said, \u201cYes, before the season I did \u2014 but I was in the peak of the season and didn\u2019t have time to deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent years, Israel\u2019s Eurovision entries have faced booing from audiences, and last year Palestinian flags were waved in the arena. Bettan said he is undeterred. \u201cI feel supported and safe. The teams at Kan and The Next Star and, of course, my people \u2014 who have been with me many years \u2014 are with me. I know I can rely on them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked whether he has the mental strength to handle Palestinian flags and boos, he said, \u201cYes, there\u2019s an entire nation behind us. There\u2019s no greater force than the people of Israel. The Israeli flags will be in the crowd \u2014 and that\u2019s where I\u2019ll put my focus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if he thinks he can win, Bettan said, \u201cWith God\u2019s help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if he thinks he can do it, he added, \u201cI believe it\u2019s possible; I\u2019m coming to do my best \u2014 and beyond that, I have no control.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bettan is set to compete in the first semifinal on May 12 in Vienna, broadcast on Kan. The second semifinal will take place May 14, followed by the grand final on May 16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an interview with ynet on Wednesday, the 27\u2011year\u2011old singer said he will submit two songs to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,282],"class_list":["post-256192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}