She may have upset some of the more traditional inhabitants of Israel and she may even have angered committed Dana supporters in Ireland, but the winner of the 1998 Eurovision song contest was in no mood for apologies yesterday.
In one of the most closely fought competitions for many years, Israel's transsexual performer, Dana International (formerly Yaron Cohen), walked away with the Eurovision prize at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena on Saturday night and immediately forgave her critics.
Orthodox rabbis in Israel opposed to Dana International said choosing the former drag artist to represent their country at the Eurovision song contest was like "sending a message of darkness to the world".
A member of the Israeli Parliament even described the artist's much-publicised sex change as "worse than an act of sodomy".
However, among the excitement and revelry of winning the competition all that was forgotten by the singer. "I want to send them a message of forgiveness," Dana International said after wards.
"What I am does not mean I do not believe in God, and that I am not really part of the Jewish people . . . People judged the song and my performance, not my sexuality and I am glad for it. "I cannot imagine that this is really happening to me . . . It finally happened and I am so grateful to Europe that it allowed me to bring my country such a wonderful gift. Now I want Europe to get to know me. This is actually not my type of music. Now Europe will hear what Dana is really like."
The performance of the winning song, Diva, which has already been a big success in the Israeli charts, was pure theatre. Wearing a black Jean-Paul Gaultier dress with authentic coloured feathers on her arms, Dana International had the audience jumping from their seats throughout the performance.
Earlier, she had performed the song wearing a simple silver dress and, explaining the change of clothes, she said: "I thought it was in the song's best interests to put another dress on for the performance. But Jean-Paul Gaultier deserved a victory not a com petition."
The climax to the competition saw Dana International battle with the Maltese entry and the UK's performer, Imaani, until the last votes were cast. First Israel was in the lead, then Malta, then the Netherlands, but in the end Dana International scored 174 points, putting her seven points ahead of the UK.
Ireland's entry, Is Always Over Now, sung by Dawn Martin from Dundalk, came in at ninth place with a respectable 64 points. But sadly for Switzerland it scored the now familiar Eurovision "nil points".
With an estimated audience of 100 million people and the decision to allow the public to vote for their favourites, the Eurovision was the biggest ever, with 25 countries taking part.