Eden Golan

Eden Golan was born in Kfar Saba, in the Central District of Israel. Both her parents were born in the Soviet Union to Jewish families of Ashkenazi descent. Golan's mother, Olga, is of Ukrainian Jewish descent,^[7] and her father, Eddie, is of Latvian Jewish descent.^[8] Her grandfather, Yuri Golan (formerly Glagolev), graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University and worked for the newspaper Soviet Youth.^[9] She has a younger brother, Sean Golan, and she is a niece of pianist Dorel Golan.^[10]

When Golan was six years old, she and her parents moved to Moscow due to her father's work; where they remained for 12 years. According to Golan, she has mixed feelings about her time living in Russia, and that while she started her music career there, she was also uncomfortable due to frequent manifestations of antisemitism.^[5][11] Golan and her parents moved back to Israel in 2022;^[12] the immediate cause of the move was the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but according to Golan, her family would have done so regardless.^[5]

Having been exempted from serving in the Israel Defense Forces on medical grounds, Golan decided to volunteer following her participation in Eurovision, saying "I believe serving your country is vital, especially in today's reality... I really hope to serve as a singer, performing for soldiers on bases, visiting those who protect us, and bringing them some joy—I get chills just thinking about it."^{[13][14][15][16]}

In 2015, Golan took part in the Russian selection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015. She finished fifth in the final, scoring 22 points, eight fewer than the eventual winner Mikhail Smirnov. In 2016, when Golan was 12 years old, she performed in the children's edition of the New Wave competition, including performing her song "Howl at the Moon" in a duet with Nyusha. In 2018, Golan was a finalist in the fifth season of the show The Voice Kids, representing Pelageya's team.^[17] She collaborated with Yinon Yahel.^[18] After her return to Israel, in 2022, Golan participated in the season 2 finale of Ro'im et Hakol and was eliminated in the first round.

In preparation for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation decided to return to selecting the country's representative for the competition through cooperation with the Keshet 12 channel and the talent show Rising Star.^[19] Golan won all stages of the show, performing Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" and Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" for the final. She ultimately won both the jury and public vote, becoming the Israeli representative for the contest.^[20][21] Her entry for the contest, "Hurricane", was selected at a later stage.^[22] Her song qualified for the final on 11 May^[23] and finished in fifth place overall and in second place based on the public vote.^[6]

In May 2024, she performed in a Tel Aviv rally demanding the release of hostages amid the Gaza war hostage crisis. Noga Erez, Netta Barzilai and Lola Marsh also performed. Family members of hostages also spoke, including Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin. Ambassadors from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Austria also addressed the crowds. Former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton also appeared in a video message.^[24] On 2 June 2024, Golan joined New York City mayor Eric Adams in the annual Celebrate Israel parade, and at a fundraising event for United Hatzalah on 4 June 2024, Golan won the organization's Hero Award and Adams in his capacity as mayor declared June 4th "Eden Golan Day", saying of her performance at Eurovision “We should all use our talents, and Eden has used hers in a real way," and adding while addressing Golan “And we know you should have won the total contest.”^[25][26]

Golan released her first new single, "Older", following her Eurovision performance on 25 September 2024.^[27][28]

Golan was the spokesperson revealing the Israeli jury votes in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025.^[29]