Dana International will be competing for Israel at the Eurovision song contest in Dusseldorf May 10-14. She's vying to become the first two time winner of it and here's a video of the song she'll be singing called 'Ding Dong'.
Interesting choice of a song title. Hope she makes history again.
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
She's Baaack! Dana International Headed To Eurovision 2011
She's better known by her stage name of Dana International. When she won the Israeli K'dam Eurovision selection contest after finishing second in 1995, drama was stirred up by Israel's Orthodox Jewish community and Israeli conservatives who had a problem with a transperson representing the nation at Eurovision 1998. They attempted to strip her of the title but failed.
She got the last laugh on her transphobic Israeli critics when her song 'Diva' won, subsequently sold over 400,000 copies and hit the Top Ten on the music charts of five European countries. .
She also slammed her critics back home with her 'Message of Reconciliation' in the wake of her 1998 Eurovision win. "My victory proves God is on my side. I want to send my critics a message of forgiveness and say to them: try to accept me and the kind of life I lead. I am what I am and this does not mean I don't believe in God, and I am part of the Jewish Nation."
Now Dana International is headed back to the Eurovision event not as a former champion or guest, but as a repeat contestant. She won Israel's K'dam 2011 selection contest and is headed to Düsseldorf with one called 'Ding Dong'.
Seriously, that's the name of the song.
We'll also have to see not only what Jean Paul Gauthier gown she pulls out for this Eurovision event this May, can she make Eurovision history by being the first person ever to win it twice?.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Contestant No. 2
You know I love pageants and have documented on TransGriot the various transgender ones around the world that happen. We've had some fierce debates about the relevance of them and will have them again. I still line up on the side of people who see pageants as a stepping stone to a better life or for who winning them is their dream.
So with that being said, I was intrigued by an episode of PBS Wide Angle documentary series called 'Contestant No 2' which began running on PBS July 29.
It documents the story of Duah Feres, a young Arab-Israeli Druze woman who dreams of a life beyond her Galilee village. Her decision to enter the Miss Israel pageant triggers a chain of events that impact Duah, her family and her village.
It also leads us to ask the question how far can an idealistic youth trying to live her life and achieve her dreams go to challenge the conservative mores and attitudes of her people? How far will the older generation go to enforce their will and their values on her?
It was a fascinating documentary to watch. You feel for Duah, who literally put her life on the line to do it. It was filmed in 2006, so I'm wondering what Duah's life is like now.
But I don't want to spoil the Wide Angle episode for you, so I'll let y'all watch it for yourselves and comment below.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Paper Dolls
Paper Dolls is the 2005 award winning documentary film by Tomer Heymann about a group of transpinays in Israel.
After closing the border to Palestinian workers during the intifada, Israeli authorities sought to fill gaps in the job market by enticing workers from other parts of the world. Among those who answered the call were transpinays in various stages of their gender transitions who emigrated and worked as home health care workers.
On their one day off they perform at a Tel Aviv night club as a drag troupe called the Paper Dolls.
The award winning film captures their stories in terms of being away from home, being strangers in a strange land and persevering despite their ineligibility for citizenship and living precariously under the threat of visa revocation is they lose their jobs.
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