Please Note: Due to international restrictions set in place by Eurovision producers, we are unable to show you the clips associated with today’s stories. You can watch the entire Eurovision Song Contest from the official Swedish site. Click here to view.

Israeli Music Today: Transcript

Today in Israeli Music, Eurovision 2019 has come and gone, and boy, does Israel know how to throw a party! We’ve got a full musical wrap up. This is MyIsraeliMusic.com, where we’re building a stronger Israel, one song at a time. I’m Josh Shron, and here’s your Israeli music news for Tuesday, May 21, 2019.

Netta Barzilai, Our Hero

In any typical year, if you ask most Israelis what they think of the Eurovision Song Contest, they’ll probably roll their eyes at you. But this year, it seems almost everyone agrees that the Eurovision in Tel Aviv was something special. The grand final took place this past Saturday night, and it was full of Israeli music and positive messages about Israel – broadcast to the world. Last year’s winner Netta Barzilai was everywhere, including at the very beginning of the show.

Netta returned later in the broadcast, singing her brand new hit, “Nana Banana”.

Israel’s Greatest Eurovision Hits

As each country’s contest was being introduced at the beginning of the show, they would pause every so often for a brief musical interlude, featuring some of Israel’s most notable Eurovision entries throughout the years.

Gal Gadot loves Tel Aviv. You should too.

We love Gal Gadot, and we love Tel Aviv. So when Gal Gadot creates a fantastic Eurovision video singing the praises of our host city, well, that’s pure magic.

Idan Raichel – Israel’s International Ambassador

Idan Raichel appeared later in the show, singing his hit “Bo’ee” along with a multi-cultural crew of backup singers…perhaps the return of the Idan Raichel Project? Nice to showcase the music and magic of Idan Raichel to an international audience.

#ThankYouMadonna…Wait, what?

Of course, the most eagerly anticipated performance of the night came from Madonna, who we still commend for coming to the Eurovision, despite her surprise political statement in the middle of her performance.

Politics aside, I was not impressed with Madonna’s appearance. Her performance of “Like a Prayer” sounded flat to me a number of times, and I just thought someone of her caliber would put on a better show. Since the contest, however, Madonna’s people have released an edited version of the video, presumably to cover up a few off-key moments.

Israel Loves Kobi Marimi!

Song #14 of the night was Kobi Marimi singing Israel’s 2019 entry, “Home”. If there ever were any doubts in Israel about the song, you wouldn’t know it from the response of the crowd during Kobi’s performance.

Netherlands Wins Eurovision 2019

Ultimately, though, Israel finished in 23rd place, a bit higher than expected. As expected, however, the Netherlands won the competition this year, with Duncan Laurence singing a song called “Arcade”.

L’shana Haba’a b’Amsterdam…Next year in Amsterdam.

The Shalva Band TOTALLY would’ve won…

In addition to the Netherlands, there were two other winners at this year’s Eurovision. The first, of course, is the Shalva Band, who blew away the WORLD with their inspiring performance at Thursday night’s semi-final.

Shalva had been one of the finalists to represent Israel in the contest, but withdrew from contention due to the fact that they might have had to perform on Shabbat. Without a doubt, they totally would have won the Eurovision for Israel had they continued on in their journey. What a shame.

The REAL Eurovision winner? Israel.

But the other winner here was the state of Israel. Israel put on quite a show, both on and off screen. Israeli producers are being commended for the spectacular production, and tourists are singing the praises of the wonderful Israeli hospitality. The thousands of visitors in town for the Eurovision left with a very favorable impression of Eretz Yisrael. Kol HaKavod.

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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.