Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

  Israel's ever lasting talent show (read more here and here ) to find the artists for Eurovision song contest 2020 ended a month ago and Eden Alene (19) was crowned the winner. A search for songs was launched and now she has four songs to choose from. It will be done by a professional jury (50%), judging panel (10%) and televote (40%). Amog the songwriters Eurovision winning composer ( Toy ) Doron Medalie with fabulous Idan Raichel, And quite a fabulous selection of songs they have for her. Rakata is great (not so sure if it really fits her though), Roots kinda funny and my least favorite here, Savior has a weird structure but I listened it till the end with great interest not getting at least bored and Feker libi is my favorite.  Roots  *** (Nathan Goshen, Stav Beger) Feker libi  ***** (Doron Medalie, Idan Raichel) Savior in the Sound  **** (Oren Emanuel, Talia Londoner, Uri Avni) Rakata  **** (Gal Jo Cohen, Eyal Ishay, Zlil...

It seems Israelis have dusted off the Turkish opening of the Eurovision final as Dana International will arrive "by plane" to the stage flown by Netta singing Tel Aviv ya habibi/Diva during the flag parade with all the finalists. Remember Istanbul when Sertab Erener arrived by helicopter to the stage singing amazing Leave ( Aşk ) after with her winning entry Everyway that I can? It seems it has also been confirmed Madonna will perform Like A Prayer  ( read more ) and a new yet unnamed song, but most likely I rise , not Medellin as speculated at first.  However it seems she has watched Eurovision lately and got some hologram ideas, as apparently for the American audience they are something new and exciting while for us Eurovision viewers nothing new anymore :-) Medellin gets its spotlight in Billboard Music awards on May 1, 2019 with a huge show featuring holograms and virtual reality so Eurovision is a good chance to premiere a new song with equally spectacula...

As much as I would like the countries hosting Eurovision song contest showcase their own musical heritage and culture - best done in recent years by the underdogs Finland in 2007 and Portugal last year - the rumor of Madonna being in negotiations for performing in the Eurovision 2019 final is just too juicy to let go by. And wasn't she rumored also for Lisbon at some point, after all she lives there now and seems to be somewhat familiar with the event. If that becomes reality I hope it's done better than Justin Timberlake's somewhat out of the place performance in 2016 of Can't stop the feeling , did he even know where he was? After all the Kabbalah loving queen of pop already has done a very fitting performance on her Confessions Tour, including Im nin'alu and all.... Let's get unconscious honey, get into the groove and I'm gonna party (It's a celebration) etc. You know. And there's still plenty of room for Netta, Dana International and Idan ...

Israeli Idan Raichel would be an awesome Eurovision entry. Or at least interval act in Tel Aviv next year! Singer-songwriter and musician known internationally for his fusion of electronic and folk music, Hebrew, Arab and Ethiopian music and texts with some gypsy music, tango and jazz thrown in making a mix that is still easy to listen to, catchy and most of all very beautiful and melodic. Real music. He uses a lot of other vocalists on his songs making them all unique and bringing global success. As Israel is again using the talent show for their next entrant maybe he could at least the song for the winner...? After all he has written and collaborated with many other stars, including Italian superstars Mina and Adriano Celentano in Amami amami .  Listen to Po co ,   Chalomot shel acherim , Mon amour , Todas las palabras , and he also collaborated with Portuguese Eurovision opening act Ana Moura in Sabe Deus . 

IBA's plans for a national final with several singers each with two songs has been cancelled and there will be an internal selection instead. How about Idan Raichel who is currently working on his new album or Ivri Lider ? Here are some goodies from Raichel: Mima'amakin , Rov ha'shaot , Hakol over and If you go . Ivri Lider covered Rita 's fantastic Bo for the movie Yossi and Jagger (a great touching movie btw, highly recommended) and Jesse has been a big hit in gay circuits and he has also done fun covers of I kissed a girl and The man I love . IBA pick up the phone and call these guys up, they have even collaborated in the past so get them both!