AceShowbiz - Israel triumphed at the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night, May 12 as singer Netta Barzilai was crowned the winner of the annual competition. The 25-year-old racked up 529 points from the international panel of judges for her women's empowerment techno track "Toy", easily beating the runner-up, Cyprus' Eleni Foureira, who scored 436 points for her song Fuego.

Barzilai's win gave Israel its fourth Eurovision victory, its first since 1998, granting the nation hosting duties for 2019's contest. Austria's Cesar Sampson placed third with Nobody But You at Saturday's event, which took place in Lisbon, Portugal.

In total, singers and groups from 26 countries competed in the final for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest, the first not to feature a qualifying representative for Russia, after singer Julia Samoylova failed to make the cut on Thursday, May 10. Russian officials had previously pulled out of 2017's event after authorities in the host nation, Ukraine, banned wheelchair-bound Samoylova from appearing.