Prior to the 2010 Contest, Israel had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-two times since its first entry in 1973. Israel has won the contest on three occasions: in 1978 with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" performed by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, in 1979 with the song "Hallelujah" performed by Milk and Honey and in 1998 with the song "Diva" performed by Dana International. Since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004, Israel has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final four times, including two top ten results in 2005 with Shiri Maimon and "Hasheket Shenish'ar" placing fourth, and in 2008 with Boaz and "The Fire In Your Eyes" placing ninth. Israel had qualified to the final for two consecutive years in 2008 and 2009, which included their 2009 entry "There Must Be Another Way" performed by Noa and Mira Awad.