Israel's selected Mei Feingold to represent them at the Eurovision Song Contest with "Same Heart". Will she skin out the competition?
Country: Israel
Song Title: "Same Heart"
Artist: Mei Feingold
Semi-Final: Second, Position 2
Last year's entry: "Rak Bishvilo" - Moran Mazor (DNQ - 14th Place, SF2)
Israel has been on a losing streak for the past few years of the Eurovision Song Contest - they haven't made it to the Grand Final since 2010. In what might have been an attempt to secure a better ranking, the IBA internally selected an artist and left only the song choice to the public. Mike's first listen of this song noted that its strong visual impact might make up for any issues with the actual song if Israel decided to stick with the lyrics as they were. Let's check in on the final submitted version of the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31-gj-v5ad0
...and Israel is sticking with the half-English/half-Hebrew thing that they send to the contest more often than not((5 out of the last 7 Eurovisions!)). Like Mike, I think that the promo clip does a great job selling the song, although I think it'd be stronger if the song was entirely in Hebrew. I really have no idea what's going on in the chorus (she's skinning me out? Is that a good thing? No? Maybe?), but the futuristic-samurai-warrior woman look that's used throughout the video has a strong visual impact, so hopefully this extends to the stage performance we see in Copenhagen.
This song comes right after Malta and has the dreaded second slot of the semi-final, a position that tends to get overlooked when it comes to who goes to the final. It should be interesting to see if Israel falls in this trap - I think the juries will ding the lyrics, but a strong stage presence may save Mei with the televoters. This is definitely one of the entries in the second semi-final I see as on the bubble (like Austria) - there aren't 10 songs that are automatic locks, so something like "Same Heart" could sneak through if it makes a big enough splash.
Voters might surprise me, but I think Mei will fight to see the Grand Final.