Excerpt from the music video for "Hurricane" by Aden Golan, Israel's song for Eurovision 2024/here 11
The opening sentence I planned for this article is "what a boring Eurovision season we have here in Israel".
But then surely your eyes would roll in their sockets, you would stop reading the rest of the column, and run straight to the comment section to type "the reporter doesn't understand anything" and make fun of me like only talkbackists can.
But really, what a boring Eurovision season we have.
I mean, what do we have this season - another news about "Eurovision sign vandalized in Malmö"?
Well, let's hope that the municipality of one of the most Palestinian cities in Europe allocates enough funds for re-signing.
More Eurovision bloggers that we glorify more than they deserve are boycotting us?
OK, so William and Devan from Wiwibloggs poor cowards, here we are letting out some nerves.
A London cinema cancels the biggest public Eurovision screening party in the British capital with rants about inclusion, equality and other keywords that the woke people have emptied of all content?
I will quote a response from a friend I worked with in the past to this kind of thing: "Moving."
You yourself know what.
For the bloggers, you can try to make an assumption that they don't have the strength to deal with the pro-Palestinian poison in the comments and reports about them.
But Israel is also excluded from the amateur rankings in the world.
Let's explain: as soon as Eurovision songs start to be published, many fans start rating the songs.
The raters like to see others interested in their opinion, and the surfers like to respond with "What? You put Malta above Austria? Your taste buds are spoiled!".
This year, most of the raters start the rating with the slide "Israel is not ranked", some add that if they had rated then Hurricane would have been placed in 37th place, and the strict add words like genocide and watermelon emojis.
I suggest you don't enter the comment section on the videos before going to bed, the level of hatred there towards Israel, without anything to do with Shir and Aden Golan, can deprive anyone of sleep.
Does this mean all is lost and the flight can be cancelled?
At the end of the week it was written on a competitor's website that this is a year to send Kobi Marimi's Home and not waste it on a hurricane.
First of all, no, no year is the year for the only song in the history of Israel to receive zero round points from all the judging teams.
Second, precisely because the song manages to touch so many people and the bass quite a few hitters, Israel absolutely has a chance to reach the final, even though the vote in the semi-final is 100% the vote of the viewers.
It is important to understand that in Eurovision itself there is no meaning for hate but only for what is loved.
A song that got 10,000 votes and 200 people said it was disgusting is worth the same as a song that got 10,000 votes and 200,000 people said it was horrible.
Only those who vote count.
If the Jewish communities in Europe and the Israelis living on the continent organize themselves and use all 20 of their votes for the Israeli song, in addition to the Israel-loving Europeans who keep quiet on social networks, there is absolutely a chance.
It's not for nothing that last year Noa Kirel received 12 points in the votes of the rest of the world in both the semi-finals and the final.
More in Walla!
Eden Golan: "I'm not naive, the reality is not happy and I know what they say in the world"
To the full article
Aden Golan at a press conference after the unveiling of the Israeli song for Eurovision, "Hurricane"/Reuven Castro
More Eurovision 2024:
"One of my top 3": the biggest fans in the world are flying for our song for Eurovision
"We have a representative for Eurovision who is so focused. She is ready for this moment"
Aden Golan: "I am not naive, the reality is not happy and I know what they say in the world "
First publication: the drama that unfolded behind the scenes at the Eurovision broadcaster
Let's go back to reaction videos.
In the second paragraph here I stung the fans, some of the Eurovision writers, and even myself with "bloggers we glorify more than they deserve".
This is the chance to check out a reaction YouTube channel with a lot more followers than the ones I wrote about last week - Jus' 2 React.
"She has a beautiful voice, her voice is so beautiful, really, it's amazing," said after the opening sentence of the song, and at the end of the first verse: "My God, her voice is amazing, I love it. The song so far is just beautiful."
At the end of the clip, the YouTuber says: "Amazing clip, amazing song, God I'm amazed. Her voice is so special."
As of this writing, this reaction video has over 55k views.
And here's an example of how gentle but polite pressure can make a difference.
Onor Oz, a Turkish YouTuber who in recent years creates reaction videos to Eurovision songs, published last week a video "To comment on Israel or not? I'm confused!".
For nearly eight minutes he philosophizes with himself on such a fateful question, contradicting himself when he says that he is not political and wants to engage only in music, but all he does is talk about politics.
The video has garnered a total of about 3,400 views, not impressive, but more than 350 comments in addition to the hundreds that Oz received privately.
As a result, on Saturday night he published a new video - with a reaction to Aden Golan.
"For me, the highest value of Eurovision is apolitical, and I came to the conclusion that if I don't respond to all the participating countries it would be hypocritical. I know it won't please everyone. I'm a musician, I love music, I love the song, and if you hate it - I have noting to do".
The new video, in which he is very enthusiastic about the song, passed 20 thousand views in less than a day and received more than 600 comments.
Katrina is another blogger who initially gave up on a reaction video for fear of the intensity of the reactions against her, but in the end decided to present one, and in the meantime got 52 thousand views in three days.
Right at the end of the song, she bursts into tears and apologizes: "It was a double standard, sorry I messed it up when I refused (to make a video) about your country. I hope you can forgive me."
And what does she think about the song itself?
"The song is absolutely beautiful... it's extraordinary," and she predicts that Aden will finish in 12-15 places in the final.
Well, we won't write here about every reaction video that comes out because there is no end to it, but if you want to see another reaction that expands the heart, here is Pedro Rivas from Spain, which in three days reached more than 84 thousand views and more than 1,500 comments.
"Even if you lived in a cave and have no idea about what is happening in Israel, this song makes you think."
At the end of the clip, Rivas says: "She looks up, to those who have gone. Qualified, it's a beautiful song, but it also has a powerful message... I fully support it and I want to send a big hug to everyone who has lost someone... Thank you for bringing this to Eurovision."
And where are we in gambling?
I opened the article with "boring" and will close it with boring.
In the six weeks leading up to the beginning of the rehearsals, the bets are quite static, something along the lines of "jumped one place" and "crashed one place", because how is it possible without intensifying the drama, but in the days that have passed since the publication of the song, Israel moves between the 7th and the 8th place, usually In eighth place, Bammet is really respectable.
If you want to help the Israeli flag fly even in places that like us less, you can enter the survey here and mark Israel as the winner of the second semi-final.
More on the same topic:
Eden Golan
Eurovision 2024