Dana International again to represent Israel at Eurovision

Singer responsible for Israel’s last song contest win in 1998 will travel to Dusseldorf with her song "Ding Dong."

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Dana International 311 (photo credit: Creative Commons)
Dana International 311
(photo credit: Creative Commons)
According to a ratings survey released by the Israel Broadcasting Authority, there was greater viewer interest in the broadcast Tuesday night of the pre-Eurovision contest, won by Dana International with the song “Ding-Dong,” than there was in the Mabat News which preceded it.
International will thus represent Israel in the Eurovision final on May 14 in Dusseldorf. The singer was responsible for Israel’s last Eurovision win in 1998, when her song “Diva” was voted the top tune.
Peak rating at 10:25 p.m., just before the announcement of the result, was 11.5 percent. The average rating for the whole program was 10.1% representing 212,000 viewers over the age of 4. The average rating for Mabat was 7.2% representing 183,000 viewers.
“Ding-Dong” is bound to be lampooned in the international contest taking place in Germany on May 14 by several English speaking countries competing, where “ding-dong” is slang for what International relinquished when she underwent her sex-change operation.
But locally, there was less talk on Wednesday about the song or the pre- Eurovision broadcast than about the issue of Middle Eastern music, and comments published in Yediot Aharonot by celebrated singer Yoram Gaon.
Gaon called Mizrahi music “garbage” in an interview that he gave to Alon Katz, a second-year communications student at the University Center at Ariel, who reported it to Yediot. The topic was raised time and again in talk shows throughout the day.
Gaon not only criticized the noise level of the music but also the inane lyrics and the incorrect Hebrew. Gaon said that he was a proud pure Sephardi, but that he could not identify with what he called rubbish.
His views were endorsed by numerous listeners and by some other well-known entertainment personalities.


Related Tags
dana international