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World Jewish News
Israel Comes Through to Eurovision Final
15.05.2009
The singers Achinoam Nini and Mira Awad, who represent Israel this year in the Eurovision contest, have come through to the final, which is to take place this Saturday in Moscow.
The duet presented the song "There must be another way." The girls performed it on Tuesday in three languages - English, Hebrew and Arabic. 17 other artists from different countries also participated in the concert.
The choice of the Arab-Jewish duo elicited criticism. However, all have long known that it is a kitsch show, which draws 100 million viewers annually, and is much influenced by politics. Israeli department on television and radio broadcasting opted for the well-known Israeli singer Achinoam Nini, touring the world and known under the artistic pseudonym of Noa, and the Arab actress and singer Mira Awad. Choosing the duet with the obviously politicized song proved to be correct - the girls have qualified for the final.
Awad will become the first Arab singer to represent Israel at Eurovision. Fellow countrymen have sharply criticized her for "collaboration," that is her consent to represent Israel at Eurovision. She has been accused of helping create a positive image of Israel, "misleading to the public."
Besides Israel, the following countries have also come through to the final: Turkey, Sweden, Portugal, Malta, Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Armenia, and Iceland.
Moscow is strenuously preparing to receive guests. According to well-known Moscow music observer Artur Gasparyan, without taking into account the funds of the Channel One television company, the contest budget is around 42 million dollars. Last year's Eurovision contest, which was won by Dima Bilan, cost 24 million dollars.
There will be a very large stage, but most importantly, the organizers are very proud of the biggest Euroclub, where the delegates will gather in the evening. It has a unique bar stand, 26 meters long, which can not be found anywhere else in Europe.
Russia will be represented by singer Anastasia Prikhodko, "famous" for her scandalous anti-Semitic statements. She refused to sing with the "Turetsky’s Choir," because it is a "Kike Choir." She said that Hitler was right when creating the Aryan state, and that negroes should have been in slavery until present times.
This year a new voting procedure will be introduced. In previous years, there was the so-called "joint voting." "The Balkans have stood for each other, though they had been shooting at each other very actively during the 90's. But this did not prevent them from giving each other 12 points. The Scandinavian countries, too, supported each other. Why does England always gets 0 or 1 point, whoever they adduce? Because there is nobody to vote for England. Will the French vote for England? Never ever. Impossible. You see, France and Germany have always supported Armenia and Turkey, because there is a large Armenian and the Turkish diaspora there," explained Gasparyan. "Therefore a new formula was suggested - 50% audience award, and 50% - a professional jury. Professionals from each of the countries will comprise the jury, and the voice of the professional jury will have 50% of the weight of the country’s evaluation," said Arthur Gasparyan. He expressed hope that the professionals' assessment will be based on professional criteria.
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