Will Israel's "Golden Boy" Nadav Guedj usher the country into its first Eurovision Song Contest final in 5 years?
Country: Israel
Song Title: "Golden"
Artist: Nadav Guedj
Semi-Final: Second, Position 9
Last year's entry: "Same Heart" - Mei Feingold (Did Not Qualify - 14th Place, Second Semi-Final)
Israel is in the midst of a long skid in the Eurovision Song Contest, not having qualified for the final since the 2010 event in Oslo. It isn't for lack of trying that Israel has struggled. In 2011, they sent 1998 Eurovision winner Dana International to Dusseldorf only to finish 15th in the semi-final. 2013's entry "Rak Bishvilo" tried to channel the country's last successful entry, but it was also met with indifference. Last year's entry "Same Heart" was a bracket-buster for quite a few prognosticators, failing to qualify despite a strong stage performance and a pretty good hook. There is a disconnect between Israel and the rest of the Eurovision community--will "Golden Boy" by Nadav Guedj bridge that gap?
I think Ben nailed it when he called this a "fractured entry." I have to wonder if perhaps Israel is trying to use reverse psychology by employing everything associated with doomed Eurovision entries. Here's the short list:
- Rap/Hip Pop elements (See: Montenegro 2012 and 2013)
- Name-dropping cities/countries (See: Ireland 2008((Though Dustin the Turkey is an extreme example.)) )
- Dance tracks to get the crowd going (See: Latvia 2013, France 2014)
- Explicit Eurovision references
That last one is particularly irksome. The fact that there is no way out of the song other than saying "whoops, times up" indicates a flawed structure. Granted, Montenegro is doing something similar, but why call attention to it? Perhaps the strategy is that the quadruple negative will mathematically work out into positive votes in the semi-final.
There is one more problem I have with this track, but it may be something that only affects people here in the states (i.e. Ben and Ryan):
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T2M50L3p400?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This immediately jumped to mind when I first saw Nadav Guedj's video, which can't be a good sign. Guedj seems charismatic, but Usher he is not.
Sigh. I would like Israel's skid to end, but I do not think this will be the track to do it.