Meet the singer dubbed the Palestinian “Lady Gaga”:
Yeah, plot twist.
His name is Bashar Murad, and he is in the news because he hopes to represent Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest in May, and “bring a Palestinian voice to the event.” But his song might just be too political for the event, like the song of Israel’s entrant Eden Golan was (I think unjustifiably) deemed to be.
However, the man dubbed the ‘Palestinian Lady Gaga‘ whose songs include ‘Intifada on the Dance Floor’ could pose a headache for the event’s organisers.
Eurovision, which draws millions of television viewers, bills itself as a non-political event and can disqualify those it considers to be in breach of this rule.
Alarm bells have already been sounded over Israel‘s entry, ‘October Rain’ sung by 20-year-old Russian-Israeli Eden Golan – after a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is reported to have informed an Israeli official that the country’s entry was overly political and in breach of impartiality rules.
Reports that the ballad was being investigated spread last week after leaked lyrics suggested that the song focused on the October 7 massacre by Hamas.
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Eurovision Song Contest organisers have resisted calls for Israel to be excluded from the competition but said last week they were scrutinising the Israeli submission.
Iceland will choose its contestant on Saturday, with Murad competing in the national final with a song co-written by Einar Stefansson of Icelandic band Hatari, known for raising a banner showing Palestinian flags during the 2019 Eurovision.
Murad, 31, has hits including ‘Intifada on the Dance Floor’ and is aiming to represent Iceland with his song ‘Wild West’, which is about an artist’s desire for freedom.
Its music video, however, suggests it could pose a problem for Eurovision organisers, as it is filled with symbols of Palestinian resistance.
In it, the pop star is seen driving through an orange grove in the West Bank, flying over the separation barrier in a plane, and looking down on Jerusalem – specifically at the golden dome of the Al-Aqsa mosque in the city’s eastern district.
Eventually, the video shows him landing in a snowy region that resembles Iceland.
He is then seen facing off against a gun-toting black-clad cowboy, while he holds a snowball – evoking an imbalanced fight between good and evil.
‘I wanted to illustrate how many obstacles as Palestinians we have to go through in order to be heard … we’re excluded from every mainstream platform,’ Murad told Reuters news agency in an interview.
To The Times, he said: ‘This is my personal experience of living in Jerusalem and being born under occupation, being separated from other Palestinians and having to pass through checkpoints to get to them, and not being able to travel to Gaza.’
Yeah there is no way this should be allowed:
Of course, what he doesn’t say is how he studied at Rimon School of Music, Israel’s largest independent professional school for advanced study of jazz, R&B, bebop, rock, and pop music.
Or how as a LGBTQ man, if he did make it to the Hamas-governed Gaza, things wouldn’t end up so well for him.
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