Diva (Dana International song)
"Diva" () was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 performed in Hebrew by Dana International representing Israel. The music was composed by Svika Pick, with lyrics written by Yoav Ginai. the song produced by Offer Nissim with music arrangements by Alon Levin. It totalled 172 points in the polling. This was Israel's third time winning the Eurovision Song contest (after 1978 and 1979).

Eurovision selection and victory
The song became the last entry entirely in a language other than English to win the Contest until 2007. As the song did not have any live orchestral accompaniment, the interval act was the last time live music from an orchestra was used in the Contest, as the 1999 Contest lacked the necessary budget and was held in a venue not large enough to hold one.

The selection of Dana International's song caused so much controversy amongst conservative groups in Israel that on her arrival in Britain, police escorts and security were required continuously. The performance consisted of Dana International wearing a silver dress, backed by four other female singers wearing black. It involved no dancing.

The song was the eighth entry performed on the night, following Poland's Sixteen with "To takie proste" and preceding Germany's Guildo Horn with "Guildo hat euch lieb!". At the close of voting, it had received 172 points, placing 1st in a field of 25. This was Israel's third Contest victory and, as they had not entered the previous year's Contest, they achieved the unusual distinction of having won a Contest the year after not competing. Ukraine also had this unusual bought of luck, having won in 2016 after missed the contest in Vienna a year before. The same would happen the following year with Portugal, missing the contest in 2016 but winning in 2017.

After winning the contest, Dana International caused a stir by arriving to the presentation late after a long delay in changing into an extravagant costume designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier adorned with bird feathers before performing the reprise.

The song was succeeded in 1999 as Contest winner by Charlotte Nilsson, performing "Take Me to Your Heaven" for Sweden. It was succeeded as Israeli representative at the 1999 Contest by Eden with "Yom Huledet (Happy Birthday)".

Congratulations
The song was chosen in an internet poll conducted by the European Broadcasting Union in 2005 as one of the 14 most popular songs in the history of the Eurovision, and was one of the entrants in the Congratulations 50th anniversary concert in Copenhagen, Denmark, held in October 2005. It was re-enacted by Dana International along with six dancers equipped with giant feathered fans and a live orchestra as the original footage was shown in the background. Diva came 13th in the final voting.

Digital release
Despite its legacy as a well remembered Eurovision winner, as of 2018 the song was unavailable on digital music platforms (with the sole exception of Scandinavia). Efforts were made to get the rights holders to release the song digitally; the efforts finally paid off, as on 11 April 2019 the English version of the song got released, with the Hebrew version to follow the week after.

Content
The song is a moderately uptempo number. It is an ode to the powerful women of history – with Cleopatra in fact being the only real figure named. Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory and Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty are also named.

Track listing
The Blue CD version had the following tracks:

 English Radio Version (3:03)
 Hebrew Radio Version (3:03)
 Handbaggers Remix (7:17)
 G's Heavenly Vocal (6:04)
 G's Heavenly Dub (7:28)

Sony Music UK/DancePool 15.06.1998 - DANA 1CD
Sony Music Australia/DancePool (thought to be released on 15.06.1998) - 666145 2 
Sony Music South Africa/DancePool 06.1998 - CDSIN 268 1

The Pink CD version had the following tracks: -

 English Radio Version (3:03)
 Sleaze Sisters Paradise Revisited 7" (3:26)
 Sleaze Sisters Paradise Revisited 12" (6:39)
 Sleaze Sisters Euro Anthem (7:08)
 Sleaze Sisters Paradise Revisited Instrumental (6:39)

Sony Music UK/DancePool 15.06.1998 - DANA 1CDX
Sony Music Australia/DancePool (thought to be released on 15.06.1998) - 666145 5

All remixes are in English. For some reason, both Australian versions of Diva were released with a blue cover.

The MC (cassette) version (DANA 1MC) had the following tracks: -

 English Radio Version (3:03)
 Hebrew Radio Version (3:03)

Sony Music UK/DancePool 15.06.1998 - DANA 1MC

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts