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Liza Minnelli in Israel?

Now it's official: The Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv has confirmed that diva Liza Minnelli will arrive in Israel to honor the Israeli version of the musical 'Cabaret' that premiered in the theater October 28.

Minnelli's arrival was confirmed on The Cameri's Facebook page, but the exact day of her arrival is yet to be revealed. Rumors are that the legendary actress will show up at the red carpet premiere of the musical, on November 11.

This is the second time that 'Cabaret' actually gets a Hebrew remake. The lead actress is Miki Kam, and she is joined by co-stars Aki Avni (whose resume includes guest starring in the hit American TV shows '24' and 'JAG') and model-turned-actor Itay Tiran.

The Cameri's statement that the date of Minnelli's arrival will be published soon comes in contradiction to Minnelli's official website, which states that "Contrary to media reports Liza Minnelli has no current plans to be in Israel this November. Her management team was not contacted by any Israeli promoters and has no knowledge whatsoever regarding any appearances in that country. "

Israeli Celebrity Assi Azar to Lead an Israeli Consulate Campaign in America

Assi Azar, a very well known TV host and celebrity in Israel, was invited by the Israeli consulate in Boston to lead a campaign that promotes gay rights in Israel.

Azar, an official out-of-the-closet figure, has produced a documentary that describes what's going through the mind of parents who discover that their son or daughter is gay. The documentary features other Israeli celebrities such as famous hair & make up designer and TV personality Miki Buganim, filmmaker Gal Ochovsky, and singer Rona Keynan. The documentary, entitled 'Mom, Dad, I've Something to Tell You,' will be screened at Boston's LGBT film festival and officially kickstart Azar's important mission in the US on November 4th.

Rita Releases a Farsi Album

Rita Yahan-Farouz, probably the most successful female vocalist in Israel over the past 3 decades, has always embraced her Persian descent. Now, for her first time in her career, she goes back to her roots and releases an album which is based on the sound she absorbed in her childhood. It includes famous Persian songs which were translated to Hebrew, alongside songs she actually sings in Persian.

The first single from the album was 'Shan'e' ('The Comb'), and for the backing vocals, Rita has invited her family, her mom who used to sing back in Teheran, and her sisters, to sing with her. "I still keep the original version of the song Shan'e in a bag full of vinyl records that my mom brought with her from Teheran when we moved to Israel," Rita says in the press release. "The singer performs this song with a very soft and indulging voice over a very graceful music arrangement, and sings about a man who tells a woman to please use the comb as little as possible because every time the teeth of the comb go through your hair, they injure my heart which built a home there, and now it bleeds."

The full album is expected to be released in Israel on December 2, 2011.

Los Angeles Kabbalah Center’s New Radio Show in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv radio Station 'Radio Lelo Hafsaka 103FM' hosts a weekly show by the Kabbalah Center in Israel, in cooperation with Keren Berg and the Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles. The show will be aired every Thursday, between 9PM-11PM (Israel time) and will talk about everyday life issues, and the Kabbalah's point of view on them, as well as give advice to listeners.

Rabbi Yehuda Berg, the famous Kabbalah Rabbi, some of whose famous students are Madonna, Ashton Kutcher and Donna Karan, will be a regular guest on the show, and may well interview some of his famous students on air.

Berg had recently visited Israel and among his other businesses he also closed the deal with 103FM, and he is now back in LA and preparing for his next lecture in the Beverly Hills Kabbalah center on November 7.

Adam Cohen is on His Way to Israel

Two and a half years after Leonard Cohen performed in Israel, his son, Adam, will perform for the first time in Tel Aviv, as a part of his world tour which promotes his new album, 'Like A Man.'

Adam Cohen was born in 1972 to a house full of music, but after his parents got divorced he moved with his mom Suzanne to live in Paris, and later on he lived in Greece and even though at the beginning he wasn't sure he wanted to follow his father and have a career in music, he taught himself to play guitar, drums and piano by age 12.

In 1996 Adam moved to Los Angeles in order to officially kick start his career. His first album was released in 1998, and since then he's released 3 more albums, and also wrote songs for other people (like the song "Lullaby in Blue" from Bette Midler's Bathhouse Betty album).

In an interview that Adam Cohen gave this week to the UK Daily Telegraph, he commented on his childhood in the shadow of his father and said: "And just the other day I woke up before my son, and was at the kitchen table in my underwear playing guitar, and I saw him watching me from the couch. And I know exactly what effect that has. I know exactly what it feels like to say 'daddy's going to work', and what that means in the child's mind is 'daddy's going to make music and sing and commune with people.'"

‘Danny Hollywood’ Goes to Hollywood

The CW network bought the rights to the Israeli TV musical ‘Danny Hollywood,’ which was aired in Israel in 2008, long before the hit Fox TV series Glee opened up a whole new door for musical television in America.

The Israeli show, which featured 197 episodes, revolves around Daniela, a documentary movies director, who follows the career of Danny Hollywood, a 1960’s superstar who lived in Tel Aviv and died a mysterious death in 1968. The show starred Ran Danker as Danny Hollywood and featured 60’s period hit songs. Show’s creators are Tmira Yardeni and Yoav Tzafir (who are also in charge for ‘Kochav Nolad,’ the Israeli Idol show) and Yoav Gross.

According to reports, the CW has started to work on the American adaptation with top Hollywood producer Eric Tannenbaum (‘Two and a Half Men,’ ‘You Again’) and actor Mark Harmon (‘NCIS’) who’ll co-produce the show.

“It’s a huge happiness that an Israeli production gains this support and belief from an American network like the CW,” Tmira Yardeni told an Israeli industry blog, “the development team is really impressive and we’re proud of that.”

The Hit List: This Week’s Hottest Entertainment in Israel (Week 44, 2011)

The airplay charts in Israel are starting to refresh themselves with some new hot tunes. In the international music airplay there may not be change at the top (‘Maroon 5’ holds the top spot for the 5th week running). But pay attention to Coldplay, and their first single from their ‘Mylo Xyloto’ album (which is also out in America this week). You can see them performing this song on David Letterman, below.

In the Hebrew songs airplay chart there are also no changes at the top. Yossi Azulay still holds the biggest hit in Israel, but there are two new entries this week, the romantic Mediterranean vocalist Regev Hod sings about the woman of his life (‘Eshet Chayil’) and the critically acclaimed indie artist Natan Goshen released a new song after the High Holidays, which make a nice entry at number 5.

In the blockbuster chart in Israel, the movie ‘The Debt,’ which is an Israeli movie that received an American adaptation (starring ‘Avatar’s Sam Worthington, picture above), expectedly makes a high new entry at #2, but doesn’t exceed the British comedy ‘Johnny English Reborn’ which remains at #1 and grosses another $200K+.

Music: Airplay Chart – International

1. Maroon 5 Feat. Christina Aguilera – Moves Like Jagger
2. The Wanted – Glad You Came
3. Adele – Set Fire to the Rain
4. Coldplay – Paradise

5. LMFAO – Sexy and I Know It

Music: Airplay Chart – Domestic (Israeli)

1. Yossi Azulay – Bizchutech (‘Thanks to You’)
2. Idan Amedi – Elayich (‘To You’)
3. Regev Hod – Eshet Chayil (‘Wonder Woman’)
4. Harel Skaat – Hameah Ha-21 (‘21st Century)
5. Natan Goshen – Gvulot Higayion (‘Logic Boundaries’)

Movies: Box Office Chart

1. Johnny English ReBorn ($214,436)
2. The Debt ($88,332)

3. The Change Up ($84,328)
4. Real Steel ($64,458)
5. What’s Your Number? ($51,974)

(Music Charts provided by Media Forest, Box Office chart is powered by Box Office Mojo)

‘Gossip Girl’ Ad Mocks Lack of Jewish Characters

This week's episode of the CW hit show 'Gossip Girl' was partially happening during Yom Kippur, and the show's characters celebrating it in their own irrepressible style. Granted, the High Holiday was a couple weeks ago, but naturally the socialite crowd is fashionably late. Check out the exclusive Jewish promo for the show on ET.com, and watch the full episode (entitled 'The Fasting and the Furious') here. Here's the regular promo for this episode:

NBA Star to Play in Israel

According to multiple reports, J.J. Hickson now the Kings' big man, has signed to play in Israel for Bnei Hasharon. He replaces Washington Wizards forward Trevor Booker, who suffered an undisclosed injury and is returning to the U.S. to recover.

Apparently Hickson already left for Israel last weekend. His contract with Bnei Hasharon includes an NBA opt-out clause in the event the league and player's union reach a new labor deal. Bnei Hasharon plays in the Israel-Premier League and its season concludes next March.

When Hickson was traded to the Kings in June, he told reporters his plans were to train at Impact's Las Vegas facility until the lockout was resolved. The lack of movement on a new labor deal appears to have changed his mind. More recently, Hickson tweeted he would play in Donté Greene's Goon Squad Classic. However, his departure from the States likely nixes his participation.

Wikimedia are Adding an Israeli Developer to their Stuff

Last week, the Wikimedia Foundation, owners of the famous Wikipedia, announced the addition of Amir Aharoni, an Israeli developer who specializes in right-to-left written language development (of course, Hebrew is one of them).

Aharoni was born in Russia but grew up in Jerusalem, where he received his B.A. in Structural Linguistics and Hebrew Language from HUJ (Hebrew University in Jerusalem) and M.A. in Romance linguistics. He is fluent in Russian, Hebrew, English and nearly fluent in Catalan, but can also speak some Italian, Spanish, French, Lithuanian, Latin, Arabic, Yiddish, Amharic, Polish, Czech, Belarusian and Malayalam (Wow!).

"The biggest languages that are written right-to-left are Arabic, Urdu, Pashto, Persian, Sindhi, Kashmiri, Azeri ," says Aharoni, "all written with different varieties of the Arabic alphabet; Hebrew and Yiddish, written with the Hebrew alphabet; and Mandinka and Dyula, written with the N'Ko alphabet. (Other right-to-left languages are Syriac and Divehi, but they have relatively few speakers.) If you sum up the number of speakers of all these languages, you'll arrive at about 400 million people. That's a large number, but it's also a very, very rough estimation."

The Wikimedia Foundation Inc. is a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free, multilingual content, and to providing the full content of these Wiki-based projects to the public free of charge.

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