{"id":412840,"date":"2026-05-05T12:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T12:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/412840\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T12:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T12:24:10","slug":"we-focus-on-the-support-not-the-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/412840\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We focus on the support, not the no"},"content":{"rendered":"

A week before the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026, in which Noam Bettan will take the stage in Vienna to represent Israel with the song \u201cMichelle,\u201d Israeli delegation director Yoav Tzafir spoke with ynet\u2019s studio about Bettan\u2019s first rehearsal, the reactions the delegation received and preparations for the performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first rehearsal on stage is exciting every year, because you work on a number and you don\u2019t know how it will turn out,\u201d Tzafir said. \u201cEspecially Noam, who may not be new to the music and stage business but is new to Eurovision \u2014 you never know how it will come out, but he handled it like a king. He\u2019s also an excellent singer and a strong performer, he has it. If this is how he is at the first rehearsal, it will only get better, I\u2019m sure. It will keep improving.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05e0\u05d5\u05e2\u05dd<\/a>\"\u05e0\u05d5\u05e2\u05dd<\/p>\n

Noam Bettan during a rehearsal on the Eurovision stage <\/p>\n

(Photo: Corinne Cumming, European Broadcasting Union)<\/p>\n

According to Tzafir, during the second rehearsal, scheduled for Wednesday, the delegation expects to further refine the performance. \u201cWe prepared various fixes and adjustments to make the number even better, and tomorrow we\u2019ll check if it works with the contest team. Noam will be more precise, the dancers will be more precise, and that\u2019s how we reach the finished number \u2014 that usually happens by the end of the second rehearsal.\u201d<\/p>\n

What reactions did you receive after the first rehearsal?
\n\u201cFirst of all, the contest team was \u05de\u05d0\u05d5\u05d3 impressed with Noam\u2019s vocal abilities. There was applause from the entire team. We were told we brought the largest prop among all the delegations \u2014 we didn\u2019t know that. It\u2019s a kind of diamond, you\u2019ll discover what happens with it, but the real diamond is Noam, that\u2019s the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tzafir was also asked about the atmosphere surrounding Israel in the competition, against the backdrop of boycott attempts, boos heard in recent years over Israel\u2019s participation and the decision to allow Palestinian flags into the arena.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe focus on the atmosphere within ourselves, because those are outside noises we don\u2019t want to address, even if they exist,\u201d he said. \u201cWe focus on the tremendous support we receive from the country and from the responses, and also from Israelis who are expected to come here. I understand there\u2019s now a better chance the skies won\u2019t close, thank God, so they\u2019ll come with Israeli flags and cheer us on. When Noam stands on stage and sees the flags, nothing else will matter to him \u2014 he\u2019ll only see Israeli flags. That\u2019s what matters. And within the delegation, we lift him up and truly make him feel good so he can focus on the positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first semifinal, in which Bettan will compete, will be held May 12 and broadcast on Kan 11. The grand final is scheduled for May 16. Tzafir also addressed a change in the voting system.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat they did is that instead of being able to vote 20 times from each phone, now it\u2019s 10 times per phone. I\u2019m sure people will still vote a lot. And by the way, I also believe Europeans vote for our songs regardless, because our songs are good, our representatives are good. It\u2019s not for nothing that we place first in the public vote \u2014 at least last year \u2014 so we believe in the good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A week before the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026, in which Noam Bettan will take…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,69,437],"class_list":["post-412840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}