Israeli representative to Eurovision to sing in English

[Womble]

I have just lost much of my respect for Shiri Maimon.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...084966,00.html

Israeli representative in the upcoming Eurovision song contest Shiri Maimon will perform a large part of the song in English, despite her earlier pledges to stick to Hebrew only.

Maimon's producers have turned to Israel's Broadcasting Authority and asked that most of the song, "The quiet that remains," be performed in English. The Authority approved the request and relayed it to the producers of the competition, slated to take place in Ukraine this year.

Song's name to change

Traditionally, countries competing in the Eurovision contest sent songs in their native tongues, but in recent years more countries have increasingly resorted to English-language songs, which are easily understood by the audience and are perceived to have a better chance of winning.

According to the new plan, Maimon will start the song in Hebrew, but then switch to English. The song's name is also expected to be modified to "Time to say goodbye."

Notably, in recent interviews Maimon dismissed suggestions that her song will be performed in English and vowed to sing all of it in Hebrew.




And I sit here wondering: how come singing in Hebrew has not prevented Israeli performers from winning the contest three times?

[Ariksan]

The article is bullcrap.

Traditionally, countries competing in the Eurovision contest sent songs in their native tongues

It had nothing to do with tradition. It was a rule of the contest that every song had to be in country's native tongue. However, the rule was changed a couple years ago and so most acts started to perfom in English.

[Justcurious]

Finns always complained that they never succeed, because they have to perform their song in a language nobody understands. But as we have seen in recent years, English doesn't help.

[ofekslayer]

I say - whatever helps us win the Eurovision contest is welcome. She can sing in Swahili for all I care. The song is not "Eurovision material" anyway, so we don't have any chances of winning. I will be surprised to see if she won. Just to say - I think she's a great vocalist, and a good performer, but this song is nothing like other songs that won the past few years (including "Viva la Diva" that won). I guess we all have to wait and see.

[Womble]

I say - whatever helps us win the Eurovision contest is welcome. She can sing in Swahili for all I care.

But the whole point is that English lyrics WON'T help her win.

The song is not "Eurovision material" anyway, so we don't have any chances of winning. I will be surprised to see if she won. Just to say - I think she's a great vocalist, and a good performer, but this song is nothing like other songs that won the past few years (including "Viva la Diva" that won). I guess we all have to wait and see.

Very true. I don't expect her to win. I think the German performers, Juli, will have good chance this year, although they also aren't quite "Eurovision friendly". Oh and the Ukrainians are SO out to embarrass themselves. They're coming to the contest with Yuschenko's election anthem, for crying out loud.

[daveray]

All I hope is that all this controversy puts a nail in the coffin of the Eurovision. I mean c'mon, it's a collection of some of the worst singers, songs, costumes and biased voting that would make the UN look like a utopia.

The only highlight is Terry Wogan slagging it off as he presents it.

[ofekslayer]

What can you do? It's European, it's tacky...but it’ll never die. If you take that away - what are people left with? All those talks about "it's all politics", the terrible costumes...think about it. Even though we say we hate it, I believe deep down inside we really love it. (Well - me anyway)

[KettleWhistle]

What can you do?

Change the channel.

[Elin]

Yesterday Shiri Maymon was an amazing,wow what a great voice!! I really loved this half english-half hebrew verison,just waiting for tomorrow

[Ariksan]

Kudos to Shiri and her producers, the mix between Ivrit and English was nice. Good to see that we are one of the few countries who at least partly perfom in our native language.

[ofekslayer]

Well, well, well....what do ya know?
Fourth place...not so bad...I guess I'll have to eat me hat now (if I had one...)
She gave quite a good performance, and I was pretty amazed to see that she always stayed within the top five..nice. I was proud I have to say. Congratulations Shiri!

[Bluey09]

hi im new here, and i must say that i loved shiri´s performance in eurovision even though i couldnt understand a word she was saying, until she sand the second verse in english, and i though the song came out pretty well in two languanges! u guys shouldnt feel offended at all, the songs beautiful in hebrew but its just amazing in hebrew and english and it also gives the chance for silly people like me who dont know a word of hebrew to understand the song. And another silly question i see you talk a lot about religion here in this forum, does anyone know what religion shiri is? i mean is is from the jewish side or what? im just curious! and how do you guys all know english, i mean does anyone in israel speak english? sorry for my silly questions, but i would truly appreciate the fact that you guys took the time to answer them, thank you ver much! take care

[ofekslayer]

hi im new here, and i must say that i loved shiri´s performance in eurovision even though i couldnt understand a word she was saying, until she sand the second verse in english, and i though the song came out pretty well in two languanges! u guys shouldnt feel offended at all, the songs beautiful in hebrew but its just amazing in hebrew and english and it also gives the chance for silly people like me who dont know a word of hebrew to understand the song. And another silly question i see you talk a lot about religion here in this forum, does anyone know what religion shiri is? i mean is is from the jewish side or what? im just curious! and how do you guys all know english, i mean does anyone in israel speak english? sorry for my silly questions, but i would truly appreciate the fact that you guys took the time to answer them, thank you ver much! take care

Hi and welcome.
I don't think someone was offended by the fact that she sang in English. If someone was offended, it’s their problem.
Shiri is Jewish. What religion did you think she was?
About the English language - we all know English because English is a language we are taught in the early years of elementary school. Israel is a very developed country. Those who came to Tel-Aviv said it reminded them a lot of New-York (only smaller off course).
We watch the same TV shows as the rest of the world (Desperate Housewives, American Idol) so we know what's going on. It's not as if Israel is a third world country or something.
I’ll make a deal with you - you tell me all the things you know and/or heard about Israel, and I'll let you know if they are true or not. That way you'll know more (and I'm sure there's a lot TO know).
Take care.

[Bluey09]

Hi and welcome.
I don't think someone was offended by the fact that she sang in English. If someone was offended, it’s their problem.
Shiri is Jewish. What religion did you think she was?
About the English language - we all know English because English is a language we are taught in the early years of elementary school. Israel is a very developed country. Those who came to Tel-Aviv said it reminded them a lot of New-York (only smaller off course).
We watch the same TV shows as the rest of the world (Desperate Housewives, American Idol) so we know what's going on. It's not as if Israel is a third world country or something.
I’ll make a deal with you - you tell me all the things you know and/or heard about Israel, and I'll let you know if they are true or not. That way you'll know more (and I'm sure there's a lot TO know).
Take care.

hahaha, thanks for answering, and sorry for my ignorance, regarding ur question about what religion did I think she was, i must admit that i didnt have a clue what religion she could be, so i couldnt even give u an example of what i thought she was, thats totally cool that u guys learn english from a very early age, so do we here in Spain, Im half spanish by the way, but noooooooo way is the english level as good as you guys, we´re pathetic, LOL I´d love to learn things about Israel, its a country that sure grabs my interest, ive learned things due to studying history, etc etc but I never thought it would be sooooooooo modern, sorry i must admit that even though I didnt think that u were from the 3rd world, i didnt think u were so up to date, I also watch those tv shows u mentioned and they´re soooooo cool, arent they? mmm do u have msn by any chance? i would like to know someone in israel, that way u could correct me with my ignorance, if thats ok by u? my msn is Bluey09@hotmail.com, hope u add me so we can chat, take care! X

[Ben.]

Is English actually an official language in Israel? I know Hebrew and Arab is, but what about English and Yiddish?