winner, 1978
Izhar Cohen
Izhar Cohen sang at two Eurovision Song Contests, in 1978 and 1985, for Israel, and won in 1978 with “A-Ba-Ni-Bi”.
- who
- Israeli singer and actor
- born
- 13 March 1951, Tel Aviv, Israel
- contests
- 1978, 1985
- win
- 1978
- music
- rhythm and blues, pop
- active
- since 1970
- sang for
- Israel
Biography
Izhar Cohen is an Israeli singer who won the 1978 contest in Paris with “A-Ba-Ni-Bi”, performed with the group the Alphabeta. It was Israel’s first win. Cohen sang for Israel again in 1985 and finished fifth with “Olé, Olé”.
Written by ESC Predictions, 8 October 2026. Sources: Wikipedia, “Izhar Cohen”.
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The act’s own accounts, as listed on Wikidata. If one is wrong or out of date, tell us and we’ll take it down.
At Eurovision
Two songs, oldest first, and what became of each.
-
1978 Paris
“A-Ba-Ni-Bi (א-ב-ני-בי)”
Winner Won the contest with 157 points, ahead of 19 other songs.
- Billed as
- Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta
- Sung in
- Hebrew
- Written by
- Nurit Hirsh, Ehud Manor
- Conductor
- Nurit Hirsh
- Running order
- 18th of 20
- Age on the night
- 27
Play: Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta — “A-Ba-Ni-Bi”, the winning performance at Eurovision 1978 hear it YouTube the contest’s channel Spotify search Apple Music search
The story of Eurovision 1978: A-Ba-Ni-Bi, a bunch of daffodils and the first nul points
-
1985 Gothenburg
“Olé, Olé (עולה, עולה)”
5th of 19 Finished 5th of 19, with 93 points.
- Sung in
- Hebrew
- Written by
- Hamutal Ben Ze'ev, Kobi Oshrat
- Conductor
- Kobi Oshrat
- Running order
- 11th of 19
- Age on the night
- 34
- Won that year
- Norway: Bobbysocks, “La det swinge”
The story of Eurovision 1985: Norway, at last, and a skirt that came off on live television
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In our contest stories
What we wrote about Izhar Cohen, year by year. Follow a link for the rest of that night.
- 1978 The winner
Israel won for the first time, with "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. It finished on 157 points, 32 ahead of Belgium.
- 1985 Familiar faces
Izhar Cohen, Israel's winner of 1978, was back and finished fifth. Italy sent Al Bano and Romina Power again, nine years after their first try.
Results as published by the European Broadcasting Union. Biographical details from Wikidata. The photo is from Wikimedia Commons and is credited beside it. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.