Netta’s Toy is the hot favorite to win Eurovision Song Contest
Thousands of Europeans think Israel’s entry in the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest should win this year’s competition.
Netta’s song, Toy, has been a hot favorite for a while to win next weekend’s competition. But OUTTv viewers have now overwhelmingly voted it as the song to beat.
Toy has had 18 million YouTube views in the month since it was uploaded to the official Eurovision channel.
More than 4,000 gay viewers of the gay TV channel voted for Israel to win followed by Belgium, France, Australia and Czech Republic.
OUTTv airs in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, the Scandinavian countries, Austria, Switzerland and Canada.
It has run the popular Eurovision poll ever year for the past nine years. And it’s had a pretty good run of picking the top three songs every year.
‘It is no secret that the Eurovision Song Contest can count on a lot of ‘gay votes’ every year, which is why the OUTmusic Award also has great relevance,’ said Jens Geerts, ambassador of OUTtv Europe.
‘The organization knows that this target group is an important part of the success story of the contest. Every year, several European media ask us for the Eurovision predictions of the gay community, because gay people have great knowledge when it comes to Eurovision music.’
The significance of the poll result was not lost on Netta who burst into tears when she found out her song was voted favorite to win.
‘It is silly that I have to cry over this, but it’s nice to get recognition,’ Netta said.
‘I want to thank my parents in the first place, they have always told me how beautiful I am and for a long time I didn’t want to believe them, but they have always supported me without any doubt.
‘And to everyone who feels like an outcast: do not forget that we should not waste time. We have to have more fun. Think “outside the box.” Miracles do not just happen. You make your own miracle and it is a long-term process.’
Toy’s gay composer
Gay composer Doron Medalie, co-wrote Toy. He became obsessed with Netta’s when she was a competitor on Israeli reality singing TV show, The Next Star.
‘From her first audition I wanted her to win,’ he told Gay Star News earlier this year.
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