Celebrity Grapevine

Tzvika Hadar, the host of the show since its inception, bought himself a new suit for the final night of the sixth series of the show.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Tzvika Hadar 88 (photo credit: )
Tzvika Hadar 88
(photo credit: )
REGULAR VIEWERS of Kochav Nolad - A Star Is Born - the Israeli version of American Idol - were fairly certain that the winner would be Israel Bar-On, 19, of Beersheba. He had been in the lead as far as the judges were concerned and had also won over the general public by a wide margin, scoring 56 percent of the 750,000 viewers' votes compared to 24% accorded to Libi Biran and 20% to Carmel Ackman. The finalists were all on tenterhooks, and it now remains to be seen whether Bar-On's glory is just a temporary bolt of lightning or whether he will go on to greater things. He's taking a first step forward by moving to Tel Aviv. Tzvika Hadar, the host of the show since its inception, bought himself a new suit for the final night of the sixth series of the show; but before that, he rested up at the Ramot Holiday Village. The vacation spot was also chosen by Tamira Yardeni, the co-owner of Teddy Productions, which produces A Star Is Born, along with other productions in which Hadar is the front man; Cellcom CEO Amos Shapira; and Keshet CEO Avi Nir. Singer Rita and her daughter Meshi, who is also making a showbiz career for herself, also checked in to Ramot. THE ISRAEL Film Academy has selected veteran film director Yoel Silberg as the honoree for a Lifetime Achievement Award to be presented to him at the Ophir Awards ceremony on September 25. It is somewhat fitting that Silberg should be the recipient in the 60th anniversary year of the state, as he was the assistant director to Otto Preminger of Exodus, whose cast included silver screen immortals such as Paul Newman, Ralph Richardson, Peter Lawford and Lee J. Cobb. Born in Eretz Israel in 1927, Silberg is the son of stage actor Ben Zion Silberg. He began his own career in the world of entertainment as a pianist, and later became one of the founders of the Palmach entertainment troupe Chizbatron. Following the War of Independence, he went to England to learn how to be a theater director and, over the years, worked on productions for Habima, the Ohel Theater, the Cameri Theater and Yiddishpiel. He subsequently studied television and cinematography in the US, after which he directed a significant number of American and Israeli film productions, as well as popular Israeli TV soap operas. PEOPLE WHO like rubbing shoulders with celebrities can meet some of their favorite radio and television personalities in Haifa on September 7 - 8, where a large number of them will congregate at the Hecht convention center on Mount Carmel for the Second Radio convention. Among those who have indicated their attendance are Tal Berman and Aviad Kisus of Radio Tel Aviv; Gabi Gazit and Didi Harari of Non-Stop Radio; Rina Matzliach and Menahem Toker of Radio Jerusalem; Uri Orbach and Kobi Arieli of Army Radio; Ophira Asayag, Eyal Berkowitz, Guy Meroz and Orli Vilnai-Federbush of Radio FM99; Menahem Granit of Reshet Gimmel; Zohair Bahlol of Radio El-Shams and many others. The star attraction will be veteran broadcaster, actress and moderator Rivka Michaeli. PEACE ACTIVIST Elana Rozenman, who is involved with a myriad of organizations that are made up of people from both sides who want to get past the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and relate to each other on a human rather than a political level, went with her husband Tzvi to the opening of the Gilboa Coexistence Festival where, over a three-day period, Jewish and Arab singers and musicians came together in a harmonious musical dialogue. The opening attraction at Ein Harod was a performance by Joe Cocker, which the Rozenmans found to be "spectacular"; however, no one mounted the podium to say anything about the purpose of the event other than Cocker himself who, prior to his rendition of "With a Little Help from my Friends," declared: "We love you, Israel. Get together. Keep rockin'!" Although the event attracted thousands of people, the only Arabs the Rozenmans saw were those those from a large restaurant in Nazareth, who were doing a roaring trade in fast food at the festival. Still, there was some compensation in the fact that Arabs from Palestinian towns and villages were far more visible at the annual Sulha in Latrun, where the Rozenmans went later in the week. OCTOBER THIS year will mark the 14th anniversary since the passing of Singing Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, who seems to have attracted an even greater following after his death than he had in life. Carlebach is one of several beloved entertainers who will have a street named after him in Netanya - not necessarily this year but in the not-too-distant future. A new neighborhood that is being built in southwest Netanya will have a section dedicated to perpetuating the names of deceased entertainers, following a decision by the municipality's committee for street names. The committee has already prepared a list of potential street names to launch the memorial venture of appreciation. The names selected will be presented to the City Council at one of its meetings prior to the municipal elections in November. Names on the list include Yossi Banai, Israel Poliakov, Ofra Haza, Shoshana Damari, Uzi Hitman, Benny Berman, Ehud Manor, Arik Lavi, Shay K. Ophir, Dudu Dotan, Natan Yonatan and Shosh Atari. There are many other names of deceased people who were great success stories in the arts and the world of entertainment who are not yet listed, but the lacuna will gradually be amended. The idea is to have a large round-about to be known as the Artists of Israel Circle with streets radiating in all directions from the circle to be named after artists with all the offshoots of those streets dedicated to the same purpose. Presumably the project will also pave the way for more music festivals in Netanya each time a new street is named. ON THE subject of deceased celebrities, former justice minister Tommy Lapid, before he went into politics and again after he quit politics, was a columnist for Maariv and appeared regularly on radio and television. Excerpts from his popular weekly program on Israel Radio, "My Week," have been transcribed and put into book form under the title Amarti Lachem ( I Told You So). Lapid, who was known to enjoy good food and consistently suffered from a weight problem, said: "Even if I die tomorrow - and I have no intention of doing so - I've already triumphed over the doctors, the dieticians and the fitness instructors who've been hounding me for years with good advice about new diets and dire warnings, in the hope that I would finally understand that an overweight person such as I cannot live to an old age." When he died in June 2008 at age 76, the cause was not excess weight but cancer. However, before his death he managed to edit and update the items selected for the book, where the quote about his weight is included.