Category: Music

Nova massacre survivor Yuval Raphael won the “Rising Star” singing competition on Israeli TV.  She was at the Nova Festival during the massacre on Oct 7, 2023, and survived by staying at the bottom of a pile of dead bodies in an Israeli bomb shelter, being shot up by Gazans.  She waited there for 8 hours before being rescued.  

Lyrics in English, French, and Hebrew (Song of Solomon 8:7):
And even if you say goodbye
You’ll never go away
You are the rainbow of my sky
My colors in the grey
My only wish upon a star
sunshine in the day
The only song that my piano ever plays

And even if you say goodbye
you’ll always be around
To lift me up and take me high
keep my feet close to the ground
Are you proud of me tonight
dreams are coming true
I choose the light
Nothing to lose if I lose you

New day will rise
Life will go on
Everyone cries
Don’t cry alone
Darkness will fade
All the pain will go by
But we will stay
Even if You say goodbye

‏Et même si tu dis adieu
‏Tu ne partiras jamais
‏T’es l’arc-en-ciel de mon ciel bleu
‏Mes couleurs dans le gris
‏Et mon seul souhait sous un ciel d’art
‏Un rayon dans ma journée
‏La seule chanson que mon piano peut jouer

New day will rise
Life will go on
Everyone cries
Don’t cry alone
Darkness will fade
All the pain will go by
But we will stay
Even You say

New day will rise
Life will go on
Everyone cries
Don’t cry alone
Darkness will fade
All the pain will go by
But You will stay
The love of my life

מים רבים
לא יכבו
את האהבה
ונהרות לא ישטפוה

New day will rise
Everyone cries
Don’t cry alone
Darkness will fade
All the pain will go by
But we will stay
Even if You say goodbye

A new day will rise
New day will rise

Lyrics & Music: Keren Peles
Produced & Arranged: Tomer Biran
French translation :Tamir Hitman
מילים ולחן: קרן פלס
עיבוד והפקה מוסיקלית: תומר בירן
תרגום לצרפתית: תמיר חיטמן

Acoustic Guitar: Avi Singolda
Piano, Keyboards, Bass, Drums and Programming: Tomer Biran
Additional Keyboards: Keren Peles
Strings Performance and Strings Arrangement: Yoed Nir, Tomer Biran
Strings recorded at Yoed Nir Studio
Recorded at Tomer Biran Audio Artists
Recording Engineer: Jonathan Sror
Mixing and Mastering: Roee Berezowitz, Tomer Biran

Hebrew lyric:

Pray for us in Israel; consider Support.

Outside of North America, Eurovision is a global annual song contest, with this year’s slogan, “United by Music.”  Important to note that jury voters gave a ridiculously low number of points to the performance from Israel; Despite this, the public votes propelled Israel into 5th place.  The jury awarded Germany (12th place) and Luxembourg (13th place) double Israel’s 52 points.  However, the public proved their appreciation for the Israeli people, and for Israel’s songwriting and performance by awarding 323 points.

Give, and Pray for our work.

Israel’s singer Eden Golan performed the song “Hurricane,” and passed all the rules for non-political messaging.  Some of the song’s lyrics:

Someone stole the moon tonight
Took my light
Everything is black and white
Who’s the fool who told you boys don’t cry?

37 nations competed, but only 25 became qualified for the contest (Netherlands was disqualified for behavior after the semifinal).

Notable headlines:

At Eurovision, Greta Thunberg did not protest the environment for once, but protested against Israel, and got herself arrested for the news

Eurovision organizers rebuke [non-competing] performer who wore keffiyeh during first semifinal show

Eurovision jury points overwhelm the public votes to grant Switzerland first place, to a male singer wearing a skirt and lipstick

Notable Mentions:  Croatia (2nd place) with the funniest lyric: “Hey, I’m a big boy now / I’m going away and I’m selling my cow.”

Luxembourg, (13th place) with Israeli-born Tali, raised in Chile, Argentina, and Luxembourg, with the wisest lyric, “You’re not 20 anymore / You don’t have time / To act like a child / To just party”

Give, and Pray for our work.