So, we’ve had the Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen and even the future of Israeli rock and pop strutting their stuff on the igoogledisrael.com festival stage. Now it’s time for the Kylie Minogue of the Israeli music scene (though some might argue she’s no longer the nation’s pop princess…), Ninet Tayeb.
Ahh, Ninet, Israel’s first winner of the Israeli version of A Star is Born (Kochav Nolad). The girl from the small town of Kiryat Gat, whose rise to stardom during the series saw her dubbed as Israel’s very own Cinderella. The fame and hysteria that surrounded her after her win turned her into a national icon, and there was Ninet-fever almost everywhere, for quite some time. Her long-term relationships with another Israeli teen icon, Ran Danker, and then another, Yehuda Levi (they are currently together, or maybe not, according to what celeb gossip you like to hear), didn’t do much to keep her out of the headlines.
Ninet even had a soap opera based around her life (Our Song – Shir Shelanu), in which she also starred for three seasons. Her pulling power also convinced mobile phone carrier Pelephone to splash out 1 million shekels on a controversial ad that saw Ninet shave off all her hair.
Musically, she released her debut album (Barefoot) some three years after her victory on Kochav Nolad, and it did pretty much as expected, with songs her Israeli fans were expecting. It was her second album (Communicative), released in 2009, that saw a change in her popularity. The album itself, which saw Ninet go for songs that got her labeled as a “dark rocker”, was generally loved by the critics, but ignored by the public. In fact, at the Arad festival (an annual music festival recently revived) she was booed off stage.
I admire her for her guts to go for a record that she wanted to make, rather than one her management knew would sell records and rake in the money. And there are a couple of tracks on that second album that I really like. What can I say, cute dark rockers do it for me…
So what can we expect from Ninet Tayeb in the future? Well, I predict more tabloid adventures, possibly more haircuts, and quite possibly another celeb lover or two. And we won’t be aghast if she decides to start her own “Ninet Tayeb” lingerie label…now can you see the comparison with Kylie? As for the music, well, that’s up to her. She does have one of the best voices I’ve ever heard, let’s hope she manages to harness the right songs and producers and keep us entertained for years to come…
Keep track of Ninet Tayeb over on myspace, while here’s a little reminder of what she can do (a Robbie Williams cover)…