The concept of “New Year’s” is a little complicated in Israel.
Of course, everyone knows that it’s the start of the new year. But in Israel, they already did the whole “New Year’s” thing back in the fall.
So as a result, “New Year’s Eve” is referred to as “Chag HaSilvester” (Saint Silvester’s Holiday…go look it up), and is thought of as a Christian holiday.
New Year’s Eve often comes and goes without anyone noticing, and January 1st is just a regular day on the calendar.
But that didn’t stop Galgalatz radio from taking the opportunity to celebrate the international songs of 2018.
On January 1st, they counted down the top “non-Israeli” songs of the year. But while doing it, they invited some special *Israeli* guests to sing their unique versions of the biggest hits of the year.
Can Israeli singers do justice to the hits of 2018?
While I’m typically not all that fond of Israelis singing in English, it’s always interesting to hear them tackle songs we may know and love. I’d be curious to hear your thoughts!
Let’s begin with a little movie called “A Star Is Born”. Heard of it? Well, it was as big a hit in Israel as it was in the US and around the world. Coming in at #3 on the Galgalatz countdown, “Shallow” was the movie’s biggest hit. Who better to sing it than Israeli music’s newest “power couple”, Keren Peles and Ron Bochnik? They have a current hit on their hands with “Shkufim“, and joined the party to sing one of the biggest songs of the year. Despite their accents, they sound pretty good!
Next, we bring you a song called “One Kiss“, a hit this year for Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa. It came in at #9 on the Galgalatz year-end countdown – and to celebrate, Sarit Hadad and “MaZeZe” put together a very odd music video in Sarit’s unique musical style.
The biggest musical story of the year?
But let’s forget about all of the hits on the radio for a moment. The biggest musical news out of Israel in 2018 was Shiri Maimon’s stint as “Roxy Hart” in “Chicago” on Broadway. Shiri had all of Israel talking about her…and the conversation will continue with the upcoming series of “Chicago” performances (in English) in Tel Aviv this March. To help promote the upcoming tour, Shiri stopped by Galgalatz HQ to sing a couple of songs from the show.
The international music community was stunned to learn of the passing of famed DJ Avicii, who took his own life back in April. Avicii is probably best known for the song “Wake Me Up”, so it seemed fitting to include the song in Galgalatz’s New Year’s Party. Amir Dadon was on hand to pay tribute to the young musical star.
Ladies and gentlemen, the #1 song of 2018!
Finally, it was time to reveal the biggest hit of 2018. As we previously reported, Spotify users in Israel streamed “Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 and Cardi B more than any other song this year. So it was only fitting that Galgalatz also named that hit as its song of the year. To sing it, they brought in Eden Hason, an up and coming Israeli singer who’s hit “SheMisheHu Ya’atzor Oti” topped the charts for many weeks in 2018.
As we say…”Shana Tova”! Looking forward to more great Israeli music in 2019. What do you think of these uniquely Israeli versions of popular American songs?