Shiri Maimon, who represented Israel in the Eurovision Song
Contest finals Saturday night with "The quiet that remains," captured a respectable fourth place with a total of 154 points.
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Greek singer Helena Paparizou, who belted out a catchy pop song filled with Balkan motifs, finished far ahead of second place Malta, which picked up 192 points.
"This is the prize for the song that unites all Europe," Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said in presenting the award.
As a result of Greece's first-ever victory in the contest, next year's competition is set to be held in Athens.
Maimon became ill following her semi-finals performance Thursday and rested in her hotel for most of the weekend. She also held her final preparations in the hotel, and arrived at Kiev's Sports Palace moments before the event began.
"I am very happy," Maimon told Ynet following the competition. "Backstage we received a lot of compliments and many people told me my song was the best."
She said she was disappointed of the countries that did not give her any points in the voting, but added that the scoring was a culmination of several factors, some of which had nothing to do with the quality of the song.
"This is a success, even though I obviously wanted to finish first," Maimon said. "I felt good on stage. I was focused and I forgot about the illness, but as soon as I walked off stage I took medication."
Israel's fourth place ensures its participation in next year's Eurovision contest.
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