Marginal youth perform "Paint a mustache", Barbie Tel Aviv, September 2022 (lyrics: Mikiagi, music: Aran Amir, Dodi Levy, Yaakov Pietro, Mikiagi and Roi Shaked; production: Lampa; direction and editing: Daniel Aharoni; photography: Idan Cordovi , Omer Mizrahi, Argman Ventura, Yuval Cohen, Daniel Aharoni; color: Omer Mizrahi)
More than six months ago, it seemed that Michael Ben David was ending his 15 minutes of fame.
His promising performance at the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin ended with a weak response and an embarrassing elimination in the semi-finals.
The most memorable moment from that night at Eurovision is the controversial pushing of Ben David to the jury, which was accompanied by several unwanted kisses and raised eyebrows from the watching world.
Last night Ben David returned to the stage - this time smaller and more local - as the lead singer of "Noar Shulim".
For two hours, Mikiyagi's replacement tried, probably more than anyone else, to prove that this time he was not pushed.
"You don't understand how excited they are," he told the audience as he pointed to the band members behind him.
"We!", Dodi Levy shot at him, "You are part of a fringe group."
The seemingly friendly comment closed the power struggle on stage, which slightly overshadowed the festive union.
In an interview he recently gave to Walla!
Culture explained the former singer Mikiyagi why he will be absent from the union.
"It should be left 32 years behind," he claimed.
"There is magic, today it has no magic."
Throughout the show, the guitarist and actual initiator of the union Dodi Levy tried to prove that the magic in fringe youth still exists.
He led the union out of a sense of nostalgia.
He almost felt a mission towards the audience.
Ben David, however, went on stage in Tel Aviv out of holy fear.
He knew exactly what big shoes he was stepping into, and it is not certain that he is satisfied with them.
Artificial and forced feeling.
Marginal youth and Michael Ben David (Photo: Yotam and Noam Yarkoni)
It's hard for a cousin not to be himself.
He chose to go on stage with typical clothing, which is probably more appropriate for the Eurovision stage than the Penguin or Roxanne stage, as my uncle may have dreamed.
He didn't give up on the papers and the pranks, on looking the audience in the eyes, on gimmicks.
But my Uncle Levi wanted the love he received more than 30 years ago, and every time Ben David steps out of the spotlight he feels like jumping in.
To Levi's dismay, Mikiyagi was apparently right.
When nostalgia and anxiety collided on the barbie stage, fear won.
The band barely touched their previous songs and hesitated to cover them - which was mostly to the detriment of Ben David, who had to adapt to Mikiyagi's unique tones.
This led to the feeling of a tribute night rather than an authentic performance by friends who just missed playing together.
The chemistry within the band was hardly noticeable, the original musicians barely exchanged glances.
The only connection was between Michael and Dodi Levi.
Levy tried to pull in his direction, Ben David acted out of pressure - and this mainly created an artificial and forced feeling.
This feeling returned several times during the evening.
Instead of letting the adoring crowd do their thing, Ben Cousin blurts out "Where are your hands?"
and "we can't hear you" every time he lost his balance.
In the most beautiful part of the performance in my eyes, when the excited audience dreamed the chorus of "Amsterdam", Ben David and Dodi Levy insisted on waking them up bluntly and with a terrible lack of coordination.
They entered the battle, but we lost.
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Nostalgia and holy anxiety collided on the barbie stage.
Marginal youth and Michael Ben David (Photo: Yotam and Noam Yarkoni)
In general, and perhaps thanks to the power struggle, the order of the songs is cleverly interwoven.
Ben David got better at singing hits that got the whole audience jumping, and it seems that he wakes up to the audience's applause;
Dodi Levy smiled when they sang the lesser known songs, which were mainly dedicated to the first lines.
He didn't give up on "The Little Band from Holon" and "David", while his friend the singer got off the stage to change an outfit, suitable only for him.
While Ben David got lost in the band's strange cover of "video killed the radio star", Dodi Levi was seen in the clouds.
Beyond the general feeling of tension, there were several moments that only increased the embarrassment in the audience, first of all the puzzling choice to sing "Only what you love" as a tribute to Yitzhak Klepter, in a particularly jarring cover.
Levy and Ben David insisted on making excessively long introductions to uninteresting songs (such as a speech embracing women before "I will not tear your hand apart", during which most of the audience remained silent), and left most of the audience with a raised eyebrow.
Then, suddenly, night fell.
As soon as Michael Ben David took the magic words out of his mouth and informed the audience that he had a night in his bed, the heavens opened.
The crowd, which had been mostly dormant until now, screamed with delight.
After "Lila" they continued the band's excellent hit streak ("Draw me a mustache" and "Amsterdam").
At the end of some weaker moments and after many pleas from the audience, they also sang the huge cover "Leh Eita", which received an excellent arrangement that fits exactly Ben David's more delicate voice and reminded us of Dodi's huge guitar skills.
It is evident that the tension between the two was also broken, and for a moment they just enjoyed playing together - and the audience felt the power.
culture
Tags
Marginal youth
Michael Ben Ari
Mikiyagi