Category: ISRAEL

Eurovision 2019 🇮🇱 why ticket sales delay?

ISRAEL – It is reported that ticket sales are delayed due to complications with the company which was suppose to build the grandstands.

The company Itzuv Bima cannot be definitely chosen because company was convicted of causing the death of Lt. Hila Bezaleli and injuries to seven other soldiers when a steel lighting rig collapsed during rehearsals for the torch-lighting ceremony on Mount Herzl in 2012.

The company has no building licence. In 2004, a design company asked for such a license, but there is no documentation that it has passed the required tests. KAN has not yet commented on the issue.

Company Gadi Vagan, which lost its tender bid, filed a petition last week with the Tel Aviv District Court against the broadcasting corporation and against Itzuv Bima. Th

e petition claims that the tender for the stands appears to have been tailored to the capacity of Itzuv Bima, reports Walla.

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Israel 2019 🇮🇱 Kobi Marimi to represent host country

ISRAEL – Kobi Marimi was named the winner of Israel’s Rising Star reality singing competition Tuesday evening and will represent the Jewish state at the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv this May.

Marimi handily defeated the three other finalists, Katria Pouch, Rotem Shefi (Shefita) and Maya Buskila, who came in second, third and fourth places respectively in a joint vote decided by the public and a panel of judges.

Marimi will be hoping to lead Israel to a second successive victory after last year’s win by Netta Barzilai and her song “Toy,” which brought the competition back to Israel for this year’s final to be held on May 18.

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Throughout the reality show process of selecting Israel’s entrant, Marimi, a 27-year-old from Ramat Gan, was a favorite of the judges, although not always of the public. When he was voted off in the quarter-final stage, he was brought back with a “life saver.”

He powered through the final with a series of impressive covers of hits like Bon Jovi’s “Always” and The Beatles’ “Let it be.”

A professional committee from the Kan public broadcaster, which is hosting the event, will choose a song for him to perform in the next two weeks.

Kan congratulated Marimi and said in a statement that they were sure he would successfully “fill the shoes of Netta Barzilai.”

“We are working day and night to make the next Eurovision the most spectacular event ever put on in Israel and in the history of the competition and we have no doubt that Kobi will bring us the double, so that immediately after the end of the final on May 18, we can start working on Eurovision for the following year,” Kan said.

Tel Aviv, which was chosen as the host city, also congratulated Marimi, lighting up city hall with his name.

ISRAEL 2019 🇮🇱 HAKOKHAV HABA L'EUROVIZION FINAL

PARTICIPANT(S)SONG TITLESCORESTATUSJURY 2PUBLIC 2RANK
Kobi Marimi" Russian Roulette "0.78Second round66221
Shefita" Crazy "0.74Saved62202
Avraham de Carvalho" Believe "0.89Second round52183
Daniel Barzilai"Im ha'ita ro'eh"0.58 4
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🇮🇱 Jack White to Receive Writing Credit After Plagiarism in Netta Barzilai’s Eurovision Winner ‘Toy’

ISRAEL – U.S. rock legend Jack White just added a distinctly pop credit to his opus: He will be listed as one of the songwriters of Netta Barzilai’s “Toy,” which won the Eurovision Song Contest last year.

Though the terms of the plagiarism settlement are confidential, White will presumably be entitled to royalties. The settlement was first reported by the Israeli public broadcaster Kan.

From 1997 to 2011, White was the brains behind the White Stripes, the guitar-drum duo for which the Detroit-born guitarist wrote virtually all the songs.

The settlement follows a claim by White’s record label, Universal Music Group, that elements of “Toy” resembled those of the 2003 hit “Seven Nation Army,” which reached No. 1 on Billboard’s U.S. Alternative Songs list and the U.K. Indie chart.

However, going further back in time and to Austrian composer Anton Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony, White’s song, one of the most successful and recognized pop songs ever, is suspiciously similar to the classical piece. Bruckner, one of the world’s greatest composers, died in 1886, at the age of 72.

The abruckner website, which preserves the composer’s heritage, says that “the song containing the iconic guitar riff was written by Jack White. He was a student of classical music, and the opening of Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony inspired him in creating the song that became a rock legend.”

According to the rock band, the song’s famous riff was created while they were staying at a hotel in Australia while on tour there in 2002. White later put some words to it, and the name of the song was what he mistakenly called The Salvation Army as a child.

Last March, two months before Barzilai’s Eurovision victory in Lisbon, Haaretz music critic Ben Shalev wrote that “Toy” reminded him of “Seven Nation Army.”

“Let’s hope Jack White doesn’t hear this song before the Eurovision Song Contest. He may sue,” Shalev added.

In July, Israel Channel 2’s “Good Evening with Guy Pines” reported that Universal had informed Medalie and Beger that they may have violated White’s intellectual property rights over the song.

Barzilai’s manager, Ofer Menahem, said: “No legal claim was received, only a preliminary clarification letter on the matter.”

Medalie told Haaretz last summer that he could not comment on this legal issue. Neither Menahem nor Medalie have commented on the report of the settlement.

Universal is one of the world’s largest recording studios. Its artists include Eminem and Lady Gaga – and in Israel Asaf Avidan and the duo Static and Ben’el Tavori.

In May, shortly after Barzilai won Eurovision, “Toy” went on sale in the United States on the Sony label.

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Eurovision 2019 🇮🇱 Room Rates Soar, but No Tickets Yet for Sale

ISRAEL – Looking to attend the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv this May in high style? Look no further than the Setai luxury hotel in Jaffa that is charging 23,800 shekels ($6,370) per couple for six nights, according to Booking.com. Don’t quite have the budget for that?

The Jaffa Hotel is charging 23,400 for the same May 13-19 dates. The Sheraton and Alma are asking 20,000. The CUCU boutique hotel wants 19,200 shekels and the Orchid Tel Aviv a mere 18,400. The room rate madness comes as Tel Aviv gears up to host some 18,000 visitors for the music events, not to mention the performers themselves.

The number of expected visitors is a rough estimate based on attendance at recent Eurovision events elsewhere. Tel Aviv may see fewer because European fans can’t arrive by train or car and the boycott, divestment and sanctions is actively discouraging fans.

With just three and a half months to go, Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster hosting the event, has yet to announce when ticket sales will begin, although it is promising to announce the date in the next several days. Leaan, the official Eurovision ticket agency, will commence sales in mid-February.

Kan was supposed to announce the start of ticket sales at the official Host City Insignia Handover Ceremony last week. But Kan is still deciding how to configure the Tel Aviv International Convention Center and what class of tickets will be sold.

Ticket prices haven’t yet been determined, but based on prices for last year’s Eurovision final in Lisbon they will range from 35 to 150 euros for seats and 120 euros for standing room in the arena. Golden Ring tickets will go for about 200 euros and premium seats for 2999.

For those who can’t splurge that much for a ticket after reserving a room at The Setai, Eurovision also sells tickets for live rehearsals before the main event that can run as low as 15 euros. All told, there will be nine Eurovision events —two semifinals and the final plus two rehearsals for each.

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Eurovision 2019 🇮🇱 EBU fumes at Netanyahu over Eurovision security costs

ISRAEL – The European Broadcast Union has urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure that the government covers the costs of security arrangements for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, and accused him of going back on his word after previously agreeing to fund security for the event.

Song contest supervisor Jon Ola Sand sent a letter Tuesday to Netanyahu as well as to Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Communications Minister Ayoub Kara, Channel 12 news reported.

Sand was prompted to intervene after Israel’s national broadcasting agency, Kan, recently told the EBU that the government was refusing to budget security for the contest. He claimed that during a meeting in October with Netanyahu in Israel, the prime minister had assured him that the state would cover the security costs.

In the letter Sand wrote that placing the burden of paying for security arrangements on Kan would “contravene our meeting, during which it was made clear that all of the security aspects are the responsibility of the state and not the broadcast body,” according to a Hebrew translation of the letter aired by Channel 12.

The Israel government “cannot shirk its responsibility,” he wrote and urged Netanyahu to make sure the government takes full charge of security arrangements for the event, scheduled for May 14-18 in Tel Aviv.

Sand noted that with the event drawing closer, the EBU has received many questions from participating countries about security arrangements and suggested that a commitment by the government to fund and handle security will “greatly sooth the countries sending delegations to Israel.”

The Prime Minister’s Office said in a response to Channel 12, “The Israel Police is currently carrying out thorough work to formulate the security needs and costs required for arranging the Eurovision events in Israel. When the work is completed, the subject will be examined and budget sources will be summarized.”

Israel won the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in two decades on May 12, 2018, when Netta Barzilai snagged first place with the women’s empowerment anthem “Toy.”

Barzilai’s win meant Israel will host this year’s Eurovision competition. Over 40 countries are expected to participate, bringing many thousands of fans.

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Eurovision 2019 🇮🇱 Sylvan Adams to fund Madonna Eurovision appearance

ISRAEL – Singer Madonna may appear at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Israel in May 2019. Informed sources said that final closing of the deal would take place in the coming days. Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams will fund the cost of at least $1 million at the request of the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation (Kan). Financing will be through Adams’s fund for branding Israel, unveiled at the Globes Israel Business Conference two months ago.

Adams, who brought the Giro d’Italia bicycle race to Israel last year, decided to establish the fund in order to present to the world “the true image of Israel.” Israeli and Jewish philanthropists invest in the fund, which has activity amounting to over $100 million.

“The fund’s goal is to portray Israel not merely as a place with cultural and culinary wealth, but mainly as a safe place,” Ayelet Frish, who is responsible for the fund’s branding and strategy, told Globes.” “Up until now, Adams’s best Jewish friends were scared to come to Israel because they were afraid that they would meet what they see on the news – a country with tanks in the street.”

Frish says that, a few months ago, Kan asked that the Eurovision Song Contest should be included in the fund’s activities in order to increase its rating and awareness of it. “It was obvious that one of the anchors should be an internationally famous artist. Madonna’s name came up in a review, and we knew it was perfect. She appeals to the exact target viewing audience, and she was also amenable to the idea. Intensive round-the-clock negotiations have been taking place in recent days, and there are still a few things left to settle.

“The anchor of this visit is not just getting on the stage; it’s also what Madonna will do in order to use the visit to gain exposure for the country. That’s what most of the negotiations now are about.”

Kan said, “We are currently forming the artistic program for Eurovision 2019. When the time comes, we’ll publish the list of artists that will take part.”

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Israel 2019 🇮🇱 Shefita charms and annoys, and seems poised to be Israel’s next ‘Rising Star’

TIMES OF ISRAEL REPORTS / ISRAEL – Meet Shefita, the latest in a long line of Israel’s Eurovision Song Contest hopefuls. Shefita, otherwise known as Rotem Shefi, is the glammed up singer currently sweeping “HaKochav Haba,” the reality singing competition from Keshet based on the Rising Star franchise. The show’s winner will be positioned as Israel’s Eurovision hopeful.

Yet Shefita’s approach to performance is entirely different from that of Netta Barzilai, Israel’s 2018 Eurovision winner. Shefita sings covers to a selection of alternative rock classics (Nirvana’s “Lithium,” Aerosmith’s “Pink,” “Karma Police” from Radiohead, for example), in Hebrew with an Arabic accent. But Shefita, or Shefi, is 100 percent Jewish, born and raised in the northern city of Carmiel.

Her act is funny, but not everyone is laughing, because it feels more than a little bit inappropriate. There are viewers berating it all over social media, comparing it to the blackface once used by white comedians in the US channeling African-American characters.

One social welfare website, Drove, posted a campaign opposing Shefita’s possible representation of Israel in the Eurovision, writing that “Shefi enjoys and ignores the cultural appropriation. For her, it’s a game, a way to make cultural capital and a lot of money, all by means of mocking and imitating an Arab woman.”

The story of Shefi’s performance began at the Rimon School of Music, where she studied singing.

At the time, she performed with an ensemble that covered the songs of the English alternative rock band Radiohead, and would sometimes fool around by singing “Karma Police,” one of their hits, with an Arabic accent — but just for friends, according to several profiles in the Hebrew press.

After Shefi graduated and was looking for work, she decided to record her version of “Karma Police” professionally as a way of finding an audience.

She set up a Kickstarter campaign with a friend, a cellist named Leah Sabbat, and collected $1,900, and they transformed Shefi into an Arab-styled diva, complete with horse-driven carriage and a trio of a cellist, darbuka drummer and oud player.

When it was posted to YouTube, not everyone loved the concept, and some accused Shefi of appropriating Arab culture. Shefi has said in interviews that she did not intend any disrespect or undermining.

It feels like she’s pulling a sort of Sacha Baron Cohen stunt, making the most obvious social gaffes in her sprint for stardom.

During every performance of “Kochav Haba,” Shefi enters the theater trailing an entourage, sometimes throwing toffee candies at the judges, making the most of her time on camera.

Shefita, Shefi’s performance alter ego, is an attention seeker, with outlandish, ultra-feminine outfits chosen for each performance. She always draws attention to the designers and stylists who work with her, tagging them in posts on Facebook and Instagram.

Her performances have charmed viewers and the judges on “HaKochav Haba” as much as they has incensed the viewers and critics who have called her covers racist and overbearing.

Yet Shefi is a trained singer, with the voice, skills, stage presence and musical choices of a professional, a combination that has impressed the “HaKochav Haba” judges.

It’s clear that she loves the attention, but the jury is out on whether this performer will be the right choice for Israel at Eurovision — a song contest known as a bellwether of social progressivism — due to be held in May in Tel Aviv.

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🇮🇱 When ISIS Blows Up the Eurovision in Israel

HAARETZ REPORTS / ISRAEL – The Israeli TV industry has taught its creative artists to be massively patient. Series such as “Shababnikim” (about young people in the ultra-Orthodox community) or “Metumtemet” (about a struggling actress who goes undercover for the police) have sometimes needed up to five years to go from idea to screen. But now there’s the miniseries “Douze Points” (which means 12 points).

The setting is the Eurovision song contest, which is being held in Tel Aviv this year after Netta Barzilai’s famous victory in Lisbon last May. In “Douze Points,” the Islamic State plans for a French contestant to carry out a spectacular terror attack on the air. Mossad agents do their best to foil it.

Asaf Zelicovitch and Yoav Hebel started working on the series right after Barzilai’s triumph. They wondered, what if there were a terror attack at Eurovision? The two, who once worked together at the McCann advertising agency, decided on a three-part comedy thriller.

Last week, filming started at a hotel in central Tel Aviv, where the fictional French delegation to Eurovision, including the planted Islamic State terrorist, is welcomed. Of course the suits in the closets are sequins galore, not your typical Parisian elegance. Eurovision has its own fashion rules.

The series’ creators surely couldn’t imagine how much their screenplay would imitate life. France is sending Bilal Hassani to Tel Aviv. The 19-year-old Muslim, who came out as queer in 2017, has infuriated orthodox Muslims who can’t seem to relate to his wigs and makeup.

“Douze Points” is directed by Daniel Syrkin, whose timetable is almost impossible. Eurovision takes place in less than four months; in the remaining time he must finish the filming in Israel – and three days in Paris – while hoping the editors can stitch the three episodes together before the deadline: one week before the broadcasting of Eurovision in mid-May.

In the miniseries, Shani Klein plays Tzionit, the patriotic Israeli accompanying the European delegations including the two French singers. The two grew up together but took different paths: One is a gay man who came out of the closet, while the other is an Islamist who has lost it. Meir Suissa, Mali Levi and Roy Miller play the Mossad agents.

A key goal of Zelicovitch and Hebel is to make fun of the serious facade of Israeli security agents, as well as the Islamic State’s intimidation tactics.

“For a long time Mossad agents have appeared in all kinds of series like ‘Kfulim’ [‘False Flag’] and ‘Hamidrasha’ [‘Mossad 101’], in which the Mossad and other agencies are taken very seriously,” Hebel says. “We said ‘enough’ – we have to have some fun with this.”

“They’re people too and they’re also screwed up in some ways. These characters have two kids at home and a wife who reminds them to pick up some diapers on the way home. We’ve put them in comic situations that bring out the human being inside them.”

Zelicovitch adds, “There’s also the fact that having Eurovision in Israel rubs ISIS’ face in it. It’s being hosted by Israel, it’s full of gay people and the whole world is interested. From a comical standpoint, there’s a lot of material to play with, because suddenly these tough Mossad agents find themselves at Eurovision with cruel ISIS operatives also having to blend in.”

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