A British oleh (new immigrant) starring in Israel’s Rising Star reality TV show on Keshet 12 said that he left the UK because of antisemitism. Josh Brennan auditioned for the show and received 87% of the votes from the audience and the judges.
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“I just moved here two months ago,” he said before singing. “I just came here because I had a bit of a nasty experience in London… I had some bad antisemitism happened to me in my hometown,” Brennan said, telling the judges that “someone walked past me while I was wearing a Magen David necklace. Someone shoves me, spits to my feet and says to me, ‘you and your family belong in the [gas] chambers.’”
Brennan dramatically said that he “spent like two years learning a little bit about myself and realized that this is my home and I need to be here – so here I am.” Pop singer and the show’s first winner Ninet Tayeb told him “this is your home.”
Who is Josh Brennan?
“Josh Is a London-based singer/songwriter inspired by a wide range of musicians, from James Morrison to Brett Young, back to Justin Bieber to name just a few,” his website states. “Josh’s range of music appreciation expands further than just the pop genre he has become renowned for. You can expect Josh’s style to incorporate a ballad-type verse with a hard-hitting chorus.”
According to his official site, he has performed at the O2 Academy in Islington and Sheffield, as well as other well-recognized music venues such as Think Tank in Newcastle and the Slade Rooms in the Wolver Hampton civic hall.
He sang “Never Fall,” an English version of the hit song by singer Omer Adam, translated and performed by Eliad Nachum. Most of the judges voted for him, except for pop singer Asaf Amdursky. Tayeb, who voted for Brennan, said that he needed to work on his vocals, but also praised him for the performance.
Rising Star (HaKokhav HaBa in Hebrew), an Israeli interactive reality singing competition, is based on the Rising Star franchise created by Keshet Broadcasting and is a continuation of the former program Kokhav Nolad ("A Star is Born") which featured aspiring singers competing for a winning title.