Israel singer Eden Golan receives 'mixed reaction' at Eurovision Song Contest

Israel’s Eden Golan had a 'mixed reaction' at tonight's Eurovision song contest, with her rousing song Hurricane drawing some cheers and applause - but also some booing - from the audience at the Malmo Arena in Sweden.

The sixth act of the night, the singer appeared unfazed by the pro-Palestine protests which have been held in Malmo in the run up to tonight's final.

Hosting BBC's live coverage of the gala, Graham Norton commented on what he called the 'mixed reaction' inside the venue after Golan had finished her song, thanked the audience and blew a kiss to the crowd.

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He said: "I would say that was a mixed reaction from the 9,000 people here in Malmo Arena. In some of the open rehearsals, we heard more booing but there was quite a lot of cheering tonight as well. But I should tell you, that song is tipped to do very well tonight."

The singer qualified on Thursday for the final amid pro-Palestine protests against Israel country being included in the event.

The 20-year-old singer-songwriter was selected as Israel's entry after winning the talent show Rising Star, where she performed Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing and Aerosmith's I Don't Want to Miss a Thing for the final.

Eden was born in the city of Kfar Saba and moved to Moscow when she was six years old, where she lived for 12 years. Eden and her family moved back to Israel in 2022.

While in Russia, Eden took part in the Russian selection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015, but failed to qualify. She also appeared in the Russian version of The Voice Kids in 2016.

Eden, whose musical style encompasses pop, soul and R&B, cites her influences as artists such as Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Jessie J, RAYE, Whitney Houston and Justin Timberlake.

Her Eurovision song, Hurricane, was reworked from a previous track called October Rain, which was thought to reference the Hamas attacks on Israel. It was written by Avi Ohayon, Keren Peles and Stav Beger.