Israel 2018: Doron Medalie’s provocative statements
The composer of this year’s Israeli participation, « Toy », Doron Medalie, revealed to the Israeli newspaper MAKO that he believes he is the real winner of this year’s Lisbon contest.
Doron, through his exclusive interview, said Netta dismissed her song at first because she wanted to compete on the Altice Arena with a song she would have composed. She also said that Netta wanted to do everything herself and she did not even want to tell anyone what she was planning to do.
Specifically he said:
« It was a wild horse and we put it in a luxurious barn, so it’s very normal for the horse to try to resist ».
The revelations from Doron did not stop here. He then reported that Netta was afraid of her participation in this year’s Competition and was concerned about Toy’s success after the end of Eurovision, as she did not know how to handle the situation.
Toy’s composer, when asked by the MAKO reporter, who is the biggest winner of the contest, he or Netta, responded to a discussion with Netta, who specifically told her he would win the contest one day and Netta wants to take part in his plans.
Doron believes that this victory was the greatest, because a dream of life was made for him, stating:
« Of course, I feel I have gained more, personally. Winning was something I had been dreaming of for many years, and Netta was thrown into it ».
Doron Medalie again participated as a composer in the Contest for the sake of Israel in 2015, with Nadav Guedj and « Golden Boy » and in 2016 with Hovi Star and « Made of Stars ».
The fact that in the last 4 years he has chosen three times his own songs has made many composers to resent.
But the answer came from the composer himself:
« Do you know that the one who works hard for Eurovision is me? The only one who understands Eurovision is me, the only one who can write songs that fit Eurovision is me. I do not deserve it? In recent years, I write the biggest hit in Israel and I suggest to bitter people to stop writing songs and doing better than getting angry with Doron Medalie ».
He also made statements about his two previous appearances, stating:
« With Golden Boy, the goal was to break the non-qualifying line in the Final and get to the final – we were not ready to win Eurovision then. After Hovi Star I had decided not to come back to Eurovision without a winning song. If I saw that the artist and the song could not win, they would not return to the contest. As soon as I saw Netta, I knew I had something ».
However, his statements were criticized by Israeli media. Through the 103FM morning show, with Leah Lev and Shai Goldstein presenters, they turned against Toy’s composer, declaring:
« The man spoke about Eurovision, as if he had not written two songs in the past two years that failed to win. No problem – say that you tried three times and achieved the third one – do not say that you are the only one who can write songs for Eurovision. When Nadav and Hovi represented Israel in the Institution, you did not say that you are responsible either for losing or for “passing through”. There is a whole group behind each song. Tamira Yardeni (director of Tedy Production) and Yoav Tzafir (producer of Rising Star) are not part of the success? It is humiliating for Netta to say that everyone could do that. He says no matter who would represent Israel, he would win anyway ».
