'Feker Libi,' a song in four languages, to represent Israel at Eurovision
The song, to be sung by Israel's 2020 Eurovision contestant Eden Alene, has lyrics in Amharic, Arabic, English and Hebrew.
By HANNAH BROWNEUROVISION ENTRY Eden Alene, 19, will represent Israel at the Eurovision 2020(photo credit: RONEN AKERMAN)
The people have spoken. On Tuesday night, they chose “Feker Libi” by Doron Medalie and Idan Raichel out of the four possible songs for Eurovision 2020 contest winner Eden Alene to sing at this year’s Eurovision final in Rotterdam.The audience at home and the judges in the studio voted for this tune after Alene performed all four alternatives on The Next Song for Eurovision, complete with gyrating dancers and glittery outfits to simulate as closely as possible the actual Eurovision show.Alene is of Ethiopian descent and so that made “Feker Libi,” which has lyrics in Amharic, as well as Arabic, English and Hebrew particularly fitting for her. The title is Amharic for “My beloved” or “The love of my life.”Votes were cast by three pop stars and three radio broadcasters who were at the studio, as well as a professional committee of musicians, in addition to the votes from viewers at home.“I didn’t have a favorite,” Alene said in an interview on the news program following the broadcast on KAN 11, the government channel. The bubbly teenager, who will turn 20 during the Eurovision festivities in May, said, “It’s a song that represents the whole country, it made me emotional – and it was also fun, fun!”The other songs were a gentle ballad called "Savior in the Sound," with music and lyrics by Oren Emanuel, Ori Avni and Talia Londoner; the upbeat pop song "Roots," with lyrics by Nathan Goshen and music by Goshen and Stav Berger; and Rakata, by Gal Yosef Cohen, Ayal Yishay, Tzlil Klifi and Eran Kashi, another upbeat dance tune.The show opened with a medley of Israeli Eurovision songs going back decades, sung by finalists from this year’s Eurovision 2020 contest and Alene. Next, there were clips of Alene at every stage during the pre-Eurovision contest, and at home with her mother and friends. At the end of this segment, she was shown thumbing her passport.Looking at the passport, the Jerusalem-born Eurovision hopeful who now lives in Kiryat Gat, said, “I want to win... Help me pick a song and if we choose well, we’ll win.”The host of the show, Lucy Ayoub, asked Alene – who in spite of her poise while performing is still a soft-spoken teen – if she could have dreamed three months ago that she would be here. She laughed and said "no."
As the voting drew to a close, the Shalva Band performed a version of "Toy," the song that Netta Barzilai sang in 2018 to win that year's Eurovision. They are the official band of the Shalva organization for people with disabilities, and their performance elicited an enthusiastic response.But amid the smiles and glamour, there was more serious news. Shortly before the broadcast, KAN announced that the Israeli Eurovision delegation would skip a "meet and greet" in the Netherlands over fears of the novel coronavirus, according to a report on Ynet. It also said that the delegation canceled their flight to Rotterdam for Eurovision preparations, due to Health Ministry guidelines, which have stated that Israelis should only fly abroad if absolutely necessary.
