The Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — is reviewing and rating the 37 competing songs in Eurovision 2025. Next we review Israel, who have chosen Yuval Raphael with “New Day Will Rise”.

What were our thoughts? Read on to find out!

Yuval Raphael – “New Day Will Rise” (Israel Eurovision 2025)

Review: Yuval Raphael – “New Day Will Rise”

To safeguard the welfare of our jurors, all scores and reviews will remain anonymous.

Juror A: Meh… This is the epitome of “heard it all before.”  A talented female singer delivers a beige power ballad. What’s new? Yuval’s story is indeed harrowing. But the lyrics here are fairly tepid and songwriting 101. The use of multiple languages is an interesting touch, if clearly trying to pander to the masses. Sure, it’s universal enough to pick up the points at the contest. But an all-time Eurovision classic this most certainly is not.

Juror B: I’m going to be a petty grammar snob here — ever since one of my wiwi colleagues mentioned that they couldn’t overlook the grammatical mess that is the phrase “New Day Will Rise”, when she could so easily sing “A New Day Will Rise”, I can’t unhear it. It’s such lazy, pathetic songwriting. I also love a bilingual song, but trilingual ones feel like they’re trying too hard to tick all the Eurovision boxes — see Leonora in 2019. Lastly, while “Hurricane” had the plausible deniability of being about loss, the lyrics this year can’t be construed as anything but political, so I don’t even know how they allowed it to compete.

Juror C: Despite the upheavals and controversies surrounding Israel’s participation at Eurovision, they show up to the contest with another quality package. Yuval Raphael’s voice is serene. At just 24, she emotes Keren Peles’s songwriting in a way that deepens her personal story. As she transitions from English into Hebrew and French, she takes you on a musical journey. This optimistic journey feels visual. If there’s ever a Eurovision mood board ranking on Pinterest, Yuval’s collage would get my vote.

Juror D: “New Day Will Rise” is a passable ballad reminiscent of classic chansons, though it never quite hits its oomph at the end. The interjection of strings – and Yuval’s raspy vocals at various points – bring a welcome edge to what would otherwise be a fairly straightforward song. The multilingual lyrics in English, French, and Hebrew are a nice touch. Sure, the fact that the second verse is just a translation of the first is lazy, but it gets the point across. “New Day Will Rise” doesn’t break any musical ground, but it’s a safe entry with a strong message of perseverance.

Israel Eurovision 2025 ranking

We have removed the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. This is to remove outliers and potential bias.

Wiwi Jury verdict: 5.13/10

What do you think of Israel’s Eurovision 2025 entry? Share your thoughts on Yuval Raphael’s “New Day Will Rise” below!