ISRAEL'S NETTA WINS EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

ISRAEL WON the Eurovision Song contest in Lisbon early Sunday after singer netta Brazilai beat  25 other contestants with her upbeat song ''Toy'' -

Whose lyrics have been embraced by the #MeToo movement.

The winning track, which contained refrains such as ''I am not your toy, you stupid boy'', summed up the concerns of many women who have adopted the growing global movement against sexual harassment.

The 25-year old former singer in the Israeli Navy band accompanied her winning performance with trills, clucking sounds and chicken-like dance moves in an eye-catching and bizarre performance that is often typical of the Eurovision contest.

Portugal hosted the event for the first because it won the contest last  year in Ukraine with a jazzy solo balled by Salvador Sobral. Barzilai's victory is the fourth time Israel has won the contest.

Eurovision was first held in 1956 with the aim of uniting Europe after World War II.

Today it has an estimated global audience of around 200 million people  -more than the Super Bowl in the united States   -and has served as a global launching pad for the likes of ABBA and Celine Dion.

After two semi-finals held this week,  20 countries moved to the final while Britain, Italy, Spain, France, and Germany got free passes as they are the biggest contributors to the European Broadcasting Union.

Portugal automatically qualified because it was the host. [AFP]