Will Israel's Rising Star Hovi Star be a Eurovision star in Stockholm with "Made of Stars?" #Star
Country: Israel
Song Title: "Made of Stars"
Artist: Hovi Star
Second Semi-Final: Position #4
Last year's entry: "Golden Boy" - Nadav Guedj (9th Place)
I know I don't have much influence when it comes to revising Eurovision entries, but I do tend to feel a sense of pride when an entry gets reworked in a way that matches my suggestions. Case in point: Hovi Star revamping "Made of Stars" to make it more pop relevant and less Eurovision-y:
Although this song doesn't quite scratch my itch of being distinctly Israeli, I do find the revamped version to be less generic than what came out of Rising Star. I think this arrangement is a better showcase of Hovi Star's vocals while including whispers of Adele's aesthetic mixed with pacing reminiscent of "Molitva."((seriously: "We are maaaaade of stars" is very similar to "Moooooooliiitva")) Australia's entry comes close to achieving the same style, but perhaps this is a sea change in the Contest in terms of ballad construction.
As for the rest of the competition in the second semi-final, Israel is in a good spot. Hovi Star will follow Switzerland's Rykka and precede IVAN from Belarus, and there is a clear winner in that group when it comes to vocals.((Advantage: Israel.)) Stage presence and performance will be more of a challenge. The first two-thirds of the song doesn't lend itself to a lot of physical movement and will probably rely heavily on lighting and display effects. There will need to be clever restraint in staging to maintain a contrast with whatever, um, "creativity" Belarus has in store for us.
I could see "Made of Stars" being a favorite for the juries. Hopefully the televoters will agree that the Eurovision final should be, in part, made of Hovi Star.