Noa Kirel. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Israeli pop singer Noa Kirel has been selected to represent her home country at next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported on Monday.

The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) said a committee internally selected the Ra’anana-born singer, 21, from a shortlist of 78 artists “with rich and proven experience in standing in front of a large audience.” Kirel’s spokesperson said, “We received the news with complete surprise. We are happy and grateful for the choice of Noa and are proud to represent the State of Israel with dignity.”

IPBC announced last month that Israel’s representative in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest would be selected by a professional committee for the first time since 2014. Artists chosen in the past by the committee have included Rita, Dana International, Sarit Hadad and Lior Narkis.

From 2015 to 2020, the Israeli contestant for Eurovision was the winner of the Israeli television show and singing competition “HaKokhav Haba.”

The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest was originally set to be held in Ukraine, after Ukrainian entrant Kalush Orchestra won this year’s event, but those plans were nixed due to the war currently raging in the country. The European Broadcasting Union said in June it was talking with the BBC about hosting the competition in the United Kingdom, but no final decision has been made.

Kirel released her first single in Israel, “Medabrim,” at the age of 13. In recent years she has reached new fans abroad by signing with the international record label Atlantic Records, and releasing the English-language tracks “Please Don’t Suck,” “Thought About That” and “Bad Little Thing,” She performed live at the 2021 Miss Universe pageant, which was held in Eilat, and was a guest judge in 2019 on the “HaKokhav Haba” competition.

Michael Ben David represented Israel at the 2022 Eurovision with the song “I.M.” He finished in 13th place, marking the first time since 2014 that Israel did not qualify for the finals.