Ethiopian Israeli Eden Alene, a 21-year old from Jerusalem, placed 17th out of the 26 finalists, with 93 points, 73 from the jury and 20 from the public. Her performance was truly stellar and inspirational, sending out the light of Israel to the world. After the performance, she posted a video to Instagram expressing disappointment.

True, I got to 17th place and I was not in the top 10, and that’s a letdown,” Alene said. “I’m definitely embarrassed. Israel, you are amazing. I hope that I brought you and Israel honor. Israel is amazing. The amount of love I have received lately has been so insane, I want to say thank you, you are the ones who are important to me and no one else. Thank you very much, you are amazing, you are the best… I love you so much no matter what happens in the country, no matter what the rest of the world will say, we are the strongest… we are the best, because we are Israelis and we are proud of it.”

She then sang “Am yisrael chai” (the nation of Israel lives).