Eden Golan represented Israel at this year's Eurovision Song Contest, and despite protests and calls to exclude her she finished in fifth place.
At the Grand Final the jury largely ignored her but the public vote spoke volumes when she was awarded 323 points, the second highest amount on the night. Briefly Israel jumped to the top of the leaderboard before ultimately finishing fifth.
Golan endured booing during her performances at the semi-final and the Grand Final, was confined to her room for her own safety while in Malmö and was ignored (and complained about) by her fellow contestants. Through it all, she showed incredible resilience and at only 20-years-old, she's become an inspiration to many.
How she delivered a performance as stunning as she managed at Eurovision, we'll never know, but she didn't let all the furore around Israel's participation ruin her moment. As she's seen a surge in popularity since the weekend, we thought we'd highlight five of her songs worth adding to your playlists.
1. Hurricane
This is the song you'll likely already know and what a song it is. It's hard to listen to ‘Hurricane' without thinking of what happened to the country at the hands on Hamas on October 7th 2023. With some of the hostages still in Gaza, the song hits hard. Golan's vocal is nothing short of breathtaking as she hits super-human notes and delivers a powerhouse performance. Any other year, it would have won Eurovision.
2. Dopamine
Released in 2023, ‘Dopamine' is a total dance banger. With shimmering club beats and a distinctive vocal from Golan, it shows that she's capable of more than just delivering a power-ballad. This is one to turn up loud and get lost in the beats. With the right push, this could have been a global club hit and cracked the charts around the globe.
3. Taxi
Also released in 2023, ‘Taxi' starts off with a stripped-back acoustic-led melody and a catchy hook, before transforming into an uptempo dance track. It might not be as heavy on the beats as ‘Dopamine', but that whistle that appears throughout is catchy as hell. Pop is definitely Golan's strength and we'd love to hear a full album of gems like this one.
4. Let Me Blow Ya Mind
Released in 2022, ‘Let Me Blow Ya Mind' is a collaboration with Russian-born dance artist TYMMA. You'll likely recognise the sample from the Eve and Gwen Stefani collaboration of the same name. This iteration is a spacey house beat-filled dance track that turns the hip-hop/pop track into a dance floor anthem.
5. Ghost Town
Lithuania-based producer Lucky Luke is huge in Europe and it's no surprise after listening to ‘Ghost Town', his collaboration with Golan. This track set the tone for most of what Golan has released since (‘Hurricane' aside) and it positions her as Israel's answer to UK dance star Becky Hill. Mixing drum'n'bass with electro-beats, this is a proper weekend banger!
All of these songs are available to stream and download now across the usual streaming services.
