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It is really allowed to renew the national anthem, but this version is a bit ridiculous
"Hatikva" belongs to Omar Adam and Noa Kirl like everyone else, and they have the right to do as they please.
But their version is so meager and superficial, and respects neither them nor him.
Facing such an icon requires more than a casual featherweight improvisation, and so it sounds: Zionism as kitsch, messages in the depth of story and the anthem as an accessory
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Omer Adam
Noa Kirel
Hope
Nadav Menuhin
Friday, 28 May 2021, 07:04 Updated: 11:01
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A lot of weird things happened in 2021, but a headline that says that Omar Adam and Noa Kirl renewed "Hatikva" is still not something we expected.
Not every day two successful pop singers meet in Israel, certainly not every day a national anthem is renewed here.
But these are not ordinary days (and when were they, actually?).
It opens with what is clear: there is nothing problematic about renewing the anthem per se.
"Hope" belongs to Omar Adam just as it belongs to everyone else who lives here.
It is allowed to touch the symbols, it is allowed to renew the anthems, it is allowed to mix flags - but it should be for a good reason, and a degree of self-awareness and a basic understanding of the sensitivities of the environment is also required.
After all, it is a cheeky and megalomaniacal act, but in some circumstances it can be thought-provoking.
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To the full article
That's not how you build the anthem.
Noa Kirl and Omar Adam (Photo: PR)
So I am not at all bothered by Adam and Kiral's choice to renew "Hope." who does not. But the result is so meager and superficial, and sometimes even ridiculous, that it does not do much respect to those involved or the song itself. Facing an icon as large as the national anthem, it takes a little more than a casual featherweight improvisation, and so it sounds and looks: Zionism as kitsch, messages in the depths of a story and the anthem as an accessory.
Adam sings the anthem quickly, Killer translates the same lines freely into English, and occasionally there is also some ridiculous chorus with "We have hope for peace, 2000 years on the streets" or Waterbury. Undoubtedly, an exhaustive description of the history of the people of Israel. Then, towards the end of the song, it turns out that everything is actually part of an explanatory effort: Kiral and Adam are not ashamed that they are Israelis, because "all the colors of the rainbow" (what does that mean anyway?) And "everyone here are brothers" and especially "I know who I am and you never understand me ". As if it is not the anthem of national pride, but only a defender full of insecurity with the addition of a triple finger to the world. If "you will never understand me" is what Israeli propaganda has to offer the world, perhaps our problem is a little bigger than beautiful.
But no less, there's something a little awkward about looking at young people, pop stars, people who are supposed to be the freshest thing around - releasing to the world such a boring message, devoid of any drop of irony.
They really have nothing to say except "I do not care what they say" and "You will never understand me".
Naftali Hertz Imber can rest in the grave: it may be musical, but this is not how the anthem is built.
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