The song addresses antisemitism, xenophobia, and feminism, advocating for diversity, empowerment, Judaism, and the country of Israel.

"Unicorn" was written and composed by Doron Medalie, May Sfadia [he], Yinon Yahel, and Noa Kirel.

[1] Initially, when asked to accept an invitation to apply for Israel for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan), Kirel declined the offer, stating that she "felt unsure" and felt "very nervous" over Kan internally selecting their participant for that year.

[2] However, after she realised the potential possibility of achieving international fame if she placed high in the contest, she accepted the offer.

It premiered on Kan 11 during a special Eurovision broadcast hosted by Maya Wertheimer at the Dan Eilat Hotel.

[24] Six days later, Kirel made a press appearance with Isaac and Michal Herzog, the Israeli president and the first lady of Israel, respectively.

[25] The day before the 2023 Eurovision grand final, Kirel released a remixed version of "Unicorn" made by Israeli DJ Rotem Mansano, a victim of the Dizengoff Center suicide bombing, to honor him and his friend who died in the attack.

El Al, the flag carrier of Israel, offered to fly Kirel on a direct flight to Liverpool, in the process also changing their logo for the promotion.

Domino's Pizza Israel and the Strauss Group both released products featuring a unicorn to promote Kirel's song.

In a statement given out by Kirel, she stated to Ynet that she "never thought that a few months later it would take on a completely different meaning", declaring that "in joy and sadness, we will stand strong against the world" for Israel's victory in the war.

The Jerusalem Post's Noa Feigenbaum declared the song to be a "powerful anthem for feminism and individuality", praising its lyrics, vocals, and message.

[38] Numerous past Israeli Eurovision participants, including Gali Atari, Izhar Cohen, Moti Giladi, Lehakat Shiru, Dana International, and Michael Ben David praised the song.

[39] Haaretz's Ben Shalu gave a mixed review, stating that while the song in general was "generic", it had a "nice flick-flack there, which touches both the almost contemporary pop of Sia and Rihanna and female power ballads from the 80s".

[40] Ynet's Einav Schiff wrote that the song had "considerable shortcomings"; while he praised the mixture of multiple genres, he criticised it for sounding too familiar to Loreen's "Euphoria" and David Bowie's "Life on Mars".

[45] Vulture's Jon O'Brien ranked the song ninth overall, stating that it traversed "dramatic neo-classical and playful tropical pop to thumping Eurohouse and frenetic K-pop over the course of three energetic minutes".

[48] A committee of ten people consisting of Ofri Gopher, Yuval Cohen, Kobi Nussbaum, Sharon Drix, Tali Katz, Tal Argaman, Yossi Gispan, Eden Darso, Avia Farchi, and Leon Feldman selected the artist out of 78 candidates.

[56] Kirel was later drawn to perform eighth in the semi-final, ahead of Switzerland's Remo Forrer and before Moldova's Pasha Parfeni.

[2] The performance featured Kirel accompanied by five backing dancers consisting of Amit Gueta, Eden Shama, Niv Elbaz, Rephael Binyamin, and Zohar Fizitski.

Alternating between rapid arm and leg movements and the occasional rolling on the ground, one might say it's reminiscent of breakdancing, but with a more contemporary twist.

Kirel, who had approximately 220 relatives killed by the Nazis at Auschwitz,[71] stated that "receiving 12 points from Poland after what our people and my family have been through in the Holocaust [is] a true victory".