As Israeli pop sensation Noa Kirel is preparing for the Eurovision final this Saturday, and after having won the hearts, and votes, of fans around the world with her high-energy semi-finals performance, according to Maariv reporter Kaitz Brebner.
Brebner set out to hear what journalists from across the world had to say about her chances.
“Honestly I love the performance. I think that it’s actually the best performance in the semi-final,” Polish journalist Maria Baladzanow told Brebner, adding that she believes there’s a strong possibility that Israel might win.
“I love the dance, of course. ‘Do you want to see me dance?’ Of course, we want to see you dance, Noa,” she added, quoting the song’s lryics with a laugh. “It’s one of your [Israel’s] best entries to Eurovision, and I think one of the best entries this year.”
Max Van Den Broek from the Netherlands also voiced his approval for Noa’s song “Unicorn,” although for different reasons than Baladzanow.
“Noa, I think, has a very happy song,” he said. “She’s really sexy. So I think she’s really memorable for the viewers at home. I think a lot of men will vote for her, I guess.”
And Kirel hasn’t just impressed new fans of her work, either, but has lived up to the expectations of those who are familiar with her older discography, including British journalist Anoushka Berberian.
“I’ve been following Noa for a while, fully seeing all her old stuff,” she told Brebner. “I was told to look at her old stuff, and I fell in love with her, and how different her music is.
“Every single song is different – it’s unique and refreshing. So you’re never bored with her music, but also, she’s just such a good performer, at such a young age.”
‘Unicorn’ is not one-size fits all
However, not every artist will be to everyone’s taste, and Sweden’s Torbjörn Ek pointed this out, saying that while “she knows what she’s doing and she has the confidence to do it, and that’s really reassuring,” others may not be so enthusiastic.
“Something that might be on the minor side is that she can have a bit of a ‘mean girl’ feeling to her on stage,” he explained. “Some people can really like that and feel that it’s powerful, but others can feel a little intimidated by it, I think.”
One journalist not sold on Kirel’s performance was Norway’s Morten Thomasson, who explained that while he liked the song and the artist, he wasn’t a fan of her dance performance mid-song.
“I think there was a little bit too much dance in this performance,” he said. “This is not a dance contest, it’s a song contest, so I wasn’t so satisfied with it. It’s too much dance and too much [performing] and not enough singing.”
