Israel tonight held the first semi-final of Kdam 2013. Three songs qualified for the grand final on 7 March. The fourth placed song goes in to a wildcard selection show on 3 March. Two more semi-finals will be held over the next two days – 27 and 28 February respectively.
The songs –
1. Laila – Bo –
Spanish guitar and bagpipes with a Latino feel. An unusual combination but it works. Nice rhythm, a little like a female sung Bailamos by Enrique Iglesias style song.
2. Adir Getz – Ha’ikar she’ani shar –
Flutes and violin open the song and Adir’s gentle vocals begin. The melody gradually opens up with some nice strings. A positive song
3. Ortal Ofek – Tagid li lama –
Piano begins and Ortal’s vocals take over straight away. Simple song, gentle and melodic. Eventually we get some guitar a light drums.
4. Adi Cesare – We Will Never Let You Fall –
Another gentle song with strings to open. Adi sings a nice melodic song with lots of emotion. We have some Spanish type guitar. You can imagine this sitting by the beach.
5. Shany Zamir – Forever –
The song builds in to an uptempo dance song with a strong club production. Shany’s vocals have a touch of opera style too. This could go a long way.
6. Ron Vanreich – Love Is One –
Bongs drums open the song. Then we go in to an ethnic song with drums and strong rhythm. Another song in Hebrew. You can imagine this on the Eurovision stage with a strong visual performance.
7. Aderet – Victory –
Will Victory take Aderet to Victory? A dramatic opening to this song that builds in to an uptempo melodic song. This has a really nice production. Shades of Dana International.
8. Kathleen Reiter – Ad elay –
Kathleen has a strong vocal. The song is a ballad with some nice synth string effects. A beautiful song that really builds. This has a seventies ESC feel to it.
9. Judah Gavra – We’re Beautiful –
Judah begins slowly and you can feel the song rising gently and then ‘boom’ in to an uptempo dance song with strong melody and great vocals. Another great production.
10. Lihi Griner & Omri 69 Segal – Just Like Me –
The duet takes off dramatically. Big production and this is a classy club production. A dancefloor sensation for sure.
The show – The show began at 20:00 (CET) and lasted for 1 hour and a half. The interval was dedicated to the seventies with a performance by Moshe Deretz. The show produces some strong entries. A lot of people are saying this could be better than the Melodifestival this year in Sweden. Judging by the first set of songs this could be true.
The results –
The voting was a combination of televoting and expert jury who consisted of some familiar names – Mira Awad (Israel ESC 2009), Uri Paster (tv director), Moshe Datz (Israel ESC 1991), Ilanit (Israel ESC 1973, 1977) and Dafna Dekel (Israel ESC 1992
The acts to qualify to the final are –
- Kathleen Reiter
- Shany Zamir
- Ron Vanreich
Judah Gavra will have another chance in the wildcard round.
Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest –
Israel first participated at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 and have competed 35 times so far. Israel have won the contest on three occasions. In 1978 Izhar Cohen & Alphabeta with A-Ba-Ni-Bi, 1979 Milk & Honey with Hallelujah and in 1998 with Dana International and Diva.
Shir Habatlanim by comedy duo, Datner & Kurshnir, caused controversy due to it’s joke element with the Israeli Minister of Culture threatening to resign his post.
Israel have had several good results. Duo Datz finished thired in 1991 with Kan and Happy Birthday by Eden finished in fifth place in 1999. Shiri Maymon‘s big classy ballad, HaSheket SheNish’a, went all the way to fourth place.
Israel have failed to make it to final in the previous two years, 2011 and 2012.
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