SF 02 - 12 - Israel 2011

Israel. What can i say? i'm a sucker for a hebrew accent!  Israel has been a bit of disappointment the last few years. But what could compare with "Hasheket Shenish'Ar" by the divine goddess Shiri Maimon? Israel has tried various formants for success, the most common (i.e. the format for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010) is to internally select a singer and then present 4 Songs, from which their entry is selected. This year, it's back to basics and that means an open National Final, which the Israelis call Kdam.  By far, the most noteworthy and favorite to win, is Dana International.


For those of you who don't know, Dana International is simply a fucking legend. In 1995, she got 2nd place in Kdam with the AMAZING "Laila Tov Europa"(Good Evening Europe).

 Despite not winning, which rumor has it is all because the Israeli Juries were unsure about a Transgender Person repsenting Israel, the song went on to become a huge hit in Israel. In 1998, Israel put aside it's worries and internally selected Dana to reprsent the Nation with "Diva".

Of course, selecting a Transgender singer (She was born a Male and later had a number of surgeries to become a female) caused quite the stir in Eurovision. Of course she swept ESC 1998 (despite "Hemel En Aarde" being universally known as the best song of ESC 1998)

Despite not having the best song, she by leaps and bounds had the best performance of a pretty amazing song (Diva is ranked 3rd in my ESC 1998, which is nothing to laugh about considering it is just a brilliant year).

And of course she is absolutely brilliant and perfection.

Although she for sure brought her A Game, she's by no means the only great song.

Songs -
Number - Title (Translation) - Artist
01 - Al Ahava (About Love) - Adi Cohen

02 - Ohev Et Ze (I'm Loving That) - Knob

03 - Or (Light) - Chen Aharoni

04 - It's My Time - Idit Halevi

05 - Hakol Sababa (Everything Is Good) - Hatikva 6

06 - Amri Itach (I'll Take Off With You) - Niki Goldstein

07 - Kach Oti (Take Me) - Sivan Bahnem

08 - Tu Du Du - Michael And Shimrit Greylsummer

09 - Ding Dong - Dana International

10 - Nosa'At El Ga'Agu'Ay (Driving To My Belongings) - Carmel Eckman

In the Actual National Final, the winner will be chosen by a combination of Televoting (60%) and an "Expert" Jury (40%).  Of course, i have to complicate things because it's my nature :).  I selected my winner in 2 Rounds. In the First Round, i awarded points 3 times (First after my first listening, Second after listening to all 10 songs 3 times and Third after just listening to the songs i liked) to select the top 3 Songs. In the Second Round, i awarded Televotes based on what felt right.

Round 01 -
Key -
Gold - Qualified To Round 02

Number - Title - Voting 01 - Voting 02 -Voting 03 - Total - Place
01 - Al Ahava - 06 - 06 - 05 - 17 - 5th
02 - Ohev Et Ze - 08 - 10 - 07 - 25 - 3rd
03 - Or - 04 - 05 - 06 - 15 - 6th
04 - It's My Time - 03 - 03 - 04 - 10 - 7th =
05 - Hakol - 05 - 02 - 03 - 10 - 7th =
06 - Amri - 02 - 04 - 02 - 08 - 9th
07 - Kach Oti - 01 - 01 - 01 - 03 - 10th
08 - Tu Du Du - 10 - 08 - 12 - 30 - 2nd
09 - Ding Dong - 12 - 12 - 10 - 34 - 1st
10 - Nosa'At El - 07 - 07 - 08 - 22 - 4th

Round 02 -
01 - Ohev Et Ze - 38 914 - 3rd
02 - Tu Du Du - 59 173 - 2nd
03 - Ding Dong - 80 259 - 1st

Thoughts -

Although Dana was always my winner, i'm a bit surprised by some of the other entries. Clearly, "Ohev Et Ze" was a favorite from the beginning, but "Tu Du Du" managed to overcome it. Something about that song just touches my heart. Normally, i despise when songs are sung in a language other than the Native language of the nation or english, but "Tu du du" managed to worm it's way into my heart. Of course, i expect it to fail epically at the actual NF, which i'm sure "Ding Dong", "Ohev Et Ze" or "Al Ahava" will win. It should be Dana, and if it's not, i'll be completely shocked and appalled.