Israeli Music Today: Transcript
Today in Israeli Music, we introduce a new hashtag #ThankYouMadonna…the Israeli public votes – on their favorite musical act in Israel…and kids from the US sing the music of Arik Einstein. This is MyIsraeliMusic.com, I’m Josh Shron, and here’s your Israeli music news for Wednesday, April 10, 2019.
#ThankYouMadonna: Let’s make it go viral!
On Monday we reported that Madonna will perform at the Eurovision final in Tel Aviv on May 18th. Of course, it was just a matter of minutes before BDS activists began protesting her appearance. The Jerusalem Post reports that, using the hashtag boycotteurovision2019, posts began appearing all over social media urging Madonna to reconsider. “Madonna, open your heart to the people of Gaza,” one said. Another: “Madonna, artists and countries participating in the Eurovision Song Contest are taking part in the normalization of the murder of Palestinians and the Zionist occupation.” I think it’s time we took our own steps to counter their influence. What do you say? Let’s flood social media with the hashtag #thankyoumadonna and show her – and the world – how proud we are that she’s standing up to the haters. Let’s do it!
Who is your favorite Israeli singer?
The Israeli election may be behind us, but Maariv online recently held an exciting election of their own. They asked visitors to vote for their favorites in Israeli entertainment. That included their favorite Israeli television network – channel 12 is the winner with 39% of the vote, their favorite Israeli drama – Fauda, obviously, at 41%, and the Israeli musical act they just can’t stop listening to. The winner? Eyal Golan, with 30% of the vote, followed by Netta Barzilai at 23%, Omer Adam at 22%, Static & Ben-El, 19% and Eden Ben Zaken at 6%. Pretty impressive that the Israeli music veteran continues to be the most popular Israeli artist of 2019.
US Kids Sing the Music of Arik Einstein
And finally, speaking of Israeli music veterans, the late Arik Einstein’s music continues to make an impact around the world, nearly six years since his passing. ILTV reports that a number of Jewish Day Schools and Hebrew Charter Schools in the New York area recently joined together to sing the songs of Arik Einstein in a special concert. The story from ILTV.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…you don’t need to be fluent in Hebrew to appreciate Israeli music, you just need to care about Israel and have a desire to immerse yourself in its culture. Just ask the kids on stage in New York.
That’s your Israeli music news for today! Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and never miss an episode of our show. Check out our latest podcast on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And finally, this show is now available as an Alexa skill! More details at our web site. Until next time, I’m Josh Shron…Al Tafsiku Lashir.
