Noa Kirel relies on a spectacular performance - but on the right is a screenshot of her failure in the jury finale. © Matt Crosick Empics/Imago
Nightmare moment for Noa Kirel from Israel: At the all-important jury final before the actual ESC event, she had a delicate breakdown in her pants.
Liverpool – It is probably the biggest, most important and most sensational moment in the ESC performance of Noa Kirel from Israel. And perhaps one of the most spectacular ever at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. Towards the end of her pop song "Unicorn", the 22-year-old yells "You want to see me dance?" several times. Then, with a quick rattle – using Velcro or some other trick – her crew tears her wide black baggy pants off her legs. And the singer, freed from unnecessary ballast, sets off for a spectacular dance interlude. It looks like this:
Noa Kirel's pantless dance performance at the ESC semi-finals – where everything went smoothly, unlike at the jury final. © Vesa Moilanen/Imago
ESC 2023: Mistake at Israel appearance in jury final causes discussions on Reddit
But in the jury finale, the action did not quite go according to plan. Jury finale? Yes! What many people don't know: On the day before the actual event, all participants perform their contributions for the jurors of the countries. So in reality, they evaluate Friday's performances and not Saturday's, which are broadcast live all over the world via TV and stream. But of course, various spectators in the audience also picked up their cell phones on Friday and filmed the performances – so the show by Noa Kirel from Israel remains documented for posterity.
In a YouTube video filmed from high above, the fail is not visible. This is not the case with the short clip that appeared on Reddit. It is not confirmed that he is actually from the jury final. But there is also nothing to indicate a fake. Especially since some other users also want to have seen the lapse. The sound is very poor and is covered by audience shouting. But you can see very clearly that something is going wrong.
ESC 2023: Reddit users take their hats off to Noa Kirel's professionalism
Because the long pants don't come off as well as planned, they get stuck. After a brief moment of shock, the dance crew is able to prevent even worse from happening, but still gets the unruly material. Noa Kirel seems to stumble briefly, but then recovers herself directly. She skilfully covers up the breakdown and puts her dance moves on the dance floor. What is actually a small thing is likely to pass as a more blatant mistake in the choreographed ESC, where every detail has to be right.
"It's a shame that it could cost them points with the juries. Really hope it doesn't," writes one Reddit user. Others take their hats off to how the ESC singer dealt with it: "How she recovered from it, respect for her." Similarly, another said at the same time on Friday: "It's good that it happened today. They're going to double and triple check everything for tomorrow to be 100 percent sure it doesn't happen at the main show." Another observer praises the two dancers "who stayed to pull them down and didn't run away like the others".
Moving images filmed by proper cameras probably do not exist publicly of the performance. But they were presented to the Eurovision Song Contest juries. Which is why one of them wonders: "I wonder how bad it looked on the camera." On Reddit, several people are also speaking out who either want to have seen the Eurovision Song Contest fail on site in Liverpool – or, according to their own statements, were given the broadcast due to their job.
The dancers tear away these wide trousers with a quick rattle – if everything goes smoothly. © Matt Crossick/Imago
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ESC 2023: Noa Kirel's glitch was not noticed by everyone
One describes that surprisingly not much arrived in the moving images for the juries. "The camera crew panned to the audience and then to Noa when she was actually ready to perform the dance. It was clear that something had gone wrong, but they covered it up really well." Another was "standing in the front row" and "didn't even notice it". Hats off to the way the ESC participant covered it up – that's what many people say. "Imagine if she had to do the dance with her pants on her ankles," another ponders. In any case, it's worth taking a look at the Eurovision Song Contest evening to see how the pants thing works this time. When will it actually be Israel's turn? Here's the ESC start order. Of course, we will follow the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in the ticker. (lin)
