Forget college campuses, the real culture war will take place next week in Malmo, Sweden, where the Eurovision Song Contest (otherwise known as the "gay olympics") takes place. We are joined by sports journalist and Eurovision rainman Sharon Davidovitch to talk about how Israel will fare this year in the glitter soaked battlefield - even if you know nothing of what is as big as the Superbowl across the pond, this episode offers fascinating takes about the Intersection between gepolotics and culture. We talk about why Israel had to change the name of it's song this year or risk being kicked out, how Dana International blew the world's mind in 1998 as the first transgender winner (from Israel!), why the 1983 outfits of the Israeli team were a big F U to Germany, how we determine who is antisemitic based on how they vote, and a little about what it's like to play and cover sports on behalf of Israel abroad. Come for the music, stay for the weird insights into Scandanavian incestuous voting habits.
Show notes:
Israel's banger 2024 entry, Hurricane by Eden Golan (previously titled "October rain")
Israeli contestant warned to stay in her hotel room in Sweden
Israels' first win, A-Ba-Ni-Bi (Paris, 1978)
Israel's second win, Hallelujah (Jerusalem, 1979)
Israel's third win, Diva (Birminghamm 1998)
Israel's fourth win, Toy (Lisbon, 2018)
Honorary mention - "Chai" (Munich, 1983)
Spotify playlist of Israeli Eurovision entries
Sharon's Twitter
Sharon's website (Hebrew)
Joing the AAJ conversation on Susbtack! askajew.substack.com
Email us your questions askajewpod@gmail.com
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