The Hit List: This Week’s Hottest Entertainment in Israel (Week 43, 2011)

This week was the week of the rest of the Sukkot holiday in Israel, but it was also marked as ‘Gilad Schalit Day' because the Israeli soldier who was captured over five years ago was finally released. His release also affected the domestic airplay charts, when a totally new song performed by Israel’s music royalty Arik Einstein, was released and peaked at #2. ‘Now that You’re Here’ refers to Schalit’s first day at home. One of Einstein’s biggest hits, ‘Kama Tov She’Bata Habayita’ (“How Good that You Came Home”), originally from the 70’s, found its way back to the top 20 this week, due to the returning captured soldier. That made Einstein’s the most played artist on the radio this week, for the first week since the beginning of ratings 5 years ago.

In movies, we can finally say that ‘The Smurfs’ is out of the top 5 blockbuster list, after 11 weeks and making an amazing $6 million (which is A LOT for such a small country). There are two new entries this week: at #1 we have the British comedy starring Rowan ‘Mr. Bean’Atkinson, ‘Johnny English Reborn,’ and Hugh Jackman’s ‘Real Steel’ is in at #3 grossing a nice $106K this week.

In Television we bring you this week the top 5 most popular American shows in Israel, as was provided by Hot Cable Television. Simon Cowell’s (picture above) The X-Factor, which is broadcast in Israel 3 days after it's shown in America, has been the most popular show during the holiday season in Israel, followed by the 7th season of ‘House.’ Surprisingly at #3 it’s ‘Pretty Little Liars,’ the fabulous ABC Family teenage drama, that was described in America as ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ meets ‘Desperate Housewives.’

Music: Airplay Chart – International

1. Maroon 5 Feat. Christina Aguilera – Moves Like Jagger

2. The Wanted – Glad You Came
3. Milk And Sugar Feat. Miriam Makeba And Jungle Brother - Hi-A Ma (Pata Pata)
4. Adele – Set Fire to the Rain
5. Bruno Mars – Marry You

Music: Airplay Chart – Domestic (Israeli)

1. Yossi Azulay – Bizchutech (‘Thanks to You’)
2. Arik Einstein – Achshav KsheAta Kan (‘Now that You’re Here’)

3. Idan Amedi – Elayich (‘To You’)
4. Harel Skaat – Hameah Ha-21 (‘21st Century)
5. Chen Aharoni – Mami (‘Honey’)

Movies: Box Office Chart

1. Johnny English ReBorn ($309,185)

2. The Change Up ($124,229)
3. Real Steel ($106,992)
4. What’s Your Number? ($82,156)
5. Crazy, Stupid, Love ($81,856)

TV: Series Popularity Chart

1. The X-Factor (Fox)
2. House MD (Fox)
3. Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family)

4. The Big C (Showtime)
5. Shameless (Showtime)

Listen to David Broza’s New Album in Full! (and Go See Him Live!)

You can call it a ‘Simchat Tora’ present, but Israeli singer David Broza, who sings in Hebrew, English and Spanish, has uploaded his new album, ‘Safa Shlishit’ (‘Third Language’), for everyone to hear, anytime, on the web.

This is Broza’s first studio album in Hebrew in 9 years, and it includes 15 new songs, to which Broza wrote the music and lyrics. The album was released just a few weeks before David kicks off his tour in South America, which starts tomorrow (October 20) in Brazil. Here’s the full tour schedule, and below is David’s new and special album player.

David Broza Live in Brazil
October 20, 2011
Teatro do Hospital Pedro II, Recife, Brazil (map)
Doors Open: 19:30, Show Starts 20:00

David Broza Live in Brazil
October 23, 2011
Nova Sede Da Shalom, Rua das Fiandeiras 295, Itaim Bibi Sao Paulo, Brazil (map)
Doors Open: 17:30, Show Starts 18:00

David Broza Live in Brazil
October 25, 2011
Teatro Oi Casa Grande (map)
Doors Open: 19:30, Show Starts 20:00

David Broza Live in Uruguay
October 26, 2011
Teatro el Galpón, Montevideo, Uruguay (map)
Doors Open: 19:30, Show Starts 20:00

Miri Mesika Has Announced First USA Tour

Miri Mesika is one of Israel's brightest singing stars, voted as Israel's 2011 Singer of the Year for the third time in her six year recording career. Miri has released five albums and a DVD since 2005 and has appeared in numerous theater and film projects. In April 2011, she became a judge on the mega-popular TV show, "A Star is Born", Israel's version of American Idol.

Last year marked her first performance in America, when she took the stage alongside Rami Kleinstein, in a special concert dedicated to Jerusalem that was held by dancing group Keshet Chayim at the Ford Theater in Los Angeles. The responses to Miri's performance were so good that she decided to embark on her first mini tour, including 4 cities in 6 days: New York, San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

You can check out Miri's tour dates below, and also on our Abbanibi Calendar. You can listen to Miri's music and read more about her in her Artist's Page.

Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 8pm
New York City
BB King Blues Club
Tickets: Hani (718) 997-9848
Buy Tickets

Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 7:30pm
San Diego
Joan B. Kroc Theatre
Tickets: 858 793-1605
www.acultureofpeace.org

Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 8pm
Los Angeles
Wilshire Ebell Theatre
Tickets: 81 986-7332
www.kcdancers.org

Saturday, November 12, 2011
San Francisco
San Francisco JCC
Tickets: Vered (408) 530-8243

Gilad Shalit Returns : The Tweets

Freed Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has arrived in his northern Israeli hometown a few minutes ago (picture above: Gilad meets his parents), his first day of freedom after more than five years in captivity. Israeli celebrities also joined the celebration on Facebook and Twitter, here are some of the quotes:

 @NoaTishby : #GiladShalit IS HOME.  And now, give him time, space and respect.

 @BarRefaeli : Gilad Shalit is HOME after 5 and a half years!! An historical day. Exciting. Proude to b israeli! http://yfrog.com/h6h4tkwj

 @IdanRaichel1 : This is a very special night for us, In these hours, after 5 and half year, Soldier Gilad Shalit is being sent to... http://fb.me/I1OmdOMz

 @Casspi18 : Waiting for good news #GiladShalit

 Yardena Arazi : "I sit in front of the television and tears are rolling down. I prayed for this moment to arrive" (Facebook)

 Shiri Maimon : "Can't stop the tears. Gilad's home" (Facebook)

 

 

 

 

Meital Dohan is Looking for Yummy Boys

US audiences were first to be introduced to Meital Dohan as Yael Hoffman on Showtime's TV hit 'Weeds,' and as a guest star in 'The Sopranos,' and since then she's added to her resume the TV series 'Woke Up Dead,' TV movie 'Monogomay' with co-stars Rashida Jones ('Parks and Rec.') and Chris Messina ('Damages')and more.

On stage, Meital recently co-starred as Abby with John Ventimiglia (The Sopranos) in the Off-Broadway and LA productions of Anthony Neilson's play "Stitching," which is now being developed into a feature film directed by Bernard Rose (Candy Man). Meital was described as "Extremely Gorgeous..." by the New York Times and "breathtaking" by Variety Magazine. Meital (pronounced "Mey-tål") was born Meital Dohan in Tel Aviv.

Now the actress is turning pop singer, as she caught the attention of mega hip-hop producer Che Pope (Lauren Hill, Eminem, Dr. Dre) and they began to record her debut album "I'm In Hate With Love", including such tracks as "Get to the Point" and "Nobody's Got Time for Love". Meital's first release is the single "Yummy Boyz". The track has been described as a "sexy, sassy electro-pop romp" along with the recently completed video that can best be described as... well, see for yourself."

This week, Meital will be taking a step forward and will go on stage for the first time as a popstar. She'll perform her debut single, 'Yummy Boyz' at the West Hollywood bar 'Eleven.' The performance is a special collaboration with Grindr, one of the biggest gay dating websites/apps, which is using Meital's song as their theme song for a month. Doors for Fresh Fridays open at 10pm and they have a $5 cover.

Is it Disneyland? No, It’s Moscow.

Bar Refaeli continues her international 'tour' even during the High Holidays, and over the past week she's been in Moscow for some work on Escada's new fragrance launch. This being her first time in Moscow, Refaeli visited the iconic sites in town, posting pictures to her twitter account and saying: "Looks like Disneyland... But NO. Moscow :)"

During her Moscow visit, Refaeli also paid attention to her duties, and attended the launch of Escada's new fragrance called 'Especially Escada.'

In other Bar Refaeli news, the famous American gossip blog Just Jared reports that Bar was photographed to 'Arrow's new ad campaign alongside Hollywood hunk Josh Duhamel (and also tweeted about that), and the Jewish Chronicle has published other Bar tweets, reffering to Gilad Shalit release from captivity tomorrow.

Israeli Conductor Named Music Director of Milan’s Famous Opera House

Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, a recipient of numerous prizes for both his musical accomplishments and his political activism, is to serve as the new music director of Milan's La Scala opera house. Barenboim will start in the coming December and wiford the job for the next five years.

The conductor, who was nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, is known for his Palestinian rights activism, and made waves in February when he performed a concert in Gaza, enlisting musicians from across Europe in the endeavor. Daniel also co-founded the West-Eastern Divan Workshop, a cooperative of young Israeli and Palestinian musicians, which performed a piece by Richard Wagner, an anti-Semitic 19th-century musician known to be a favorite of Adolph Hitler, at an Israeli music festival, and performed a few concerts in the Palestinian territory, which gave him (and he has accepted, Palestinian citizenship).

Daniel Barenboim was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and moved to Israel with his family at the age of 10. Now he's going to spend at least 4 months a year in Milan, as he will help prepare operas, concerts and tours at the glitzy opera house. The 233-year old 'La Scala' institution has not had a music director since Riccardo Muti's exit in 2005.

The Hit List: This Week’s Hottest Entertainment in Israel (Week 42, 2011)

Another week has passed, and in Israel it was the holiday of Sukkot week, which means basically that everyone should be with their families and not go out watching movies, so this is exactly what the box office chart looks like. There's almost no change in the top five, except a new entry in at #4 for Anna Farris and Chris Evans' 'What's Your Number?' which made a respectable $28K+ over the holiday weekend. 'Abbanibi's own Yanir Dekel sat down with Anna and Chris for Israeli top website Ynet, so you can check out the special interview.

In the music business there's not much change either. During the Yom Kippur and Sukkot Holidays there is an unwritten rule that basically says that no singles are being released, which means that the 'balance of power' stays exactly the way it was last week, giving Maroon 5 (in the international chart) and Yossi Azulay (in the Domestic Hebrew Chart, Photo above) another week at the top of the radio airplays charts in Israel.

Music: Airplay Chart – International

1. Maroon 5 Feat. Christina Aguilera – Moves Like Jagger
2. The Wanted – Glad You Came
3. Milk And Sugar Feat. Miriam Makeba And Jungle Brother - Hi-A Ma (Pata Pata)

4. Sak Noel - Loca People
5. Bruno Mars – Marry You

Music: Airplay Chart – Domestic (Israeli)

1. Yossi Azulay – Bizchutech (‘Thanks to You’)

2. Chen Aharoni – Mami (‘Honey’)
3. Harel Skaat – Hameah Ha-21 (‘21st Century)
4. Idan Amedi – Elayich (‘To You’)
5. Shlomi Shabat – Geshem Ahava (‘Rain of Love’)

Movies: Box Office Chart

1. The Change Up ($53,367)


2. Crazy, Stupid, Love ($39,619)
3. Final Destination 5 ($28,718)
4. What’s Your Number? ($28,399)
5. The Smurfs ($21,641)

Israeli Writer in the Finalists List for Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting

Ehud Lavski from Tel Aviv, Israel is among seven individual writers and three writing teams who have been selected as finalists for the 26th annual Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which provides the Oscars every year.

Lavski's script, "Parasite," will now be read and judged by the Academy's Nicholl Committee, which may award as many as five of the prestigious $30,000 fellowships.

The finalists were selected from a record 6,730 scripts submitted for this year's competition. The competition is open to any individual who has not sold or optioned a screenplay or teleplay for more than $5,000, or received a fellowship or prize that includes a "first look" clause, an option, or any other quid pro quo involving the writer's work.

The 2011 Nicholl Fellowships will be presented on Thursday, November 3, at a ceremony held at the Beverly Wilshire, in Beverly Hills.

If he wins, this won't be Lavski's first achievement in screenwriting competetions. In 2007 he got the Bronze Prize at the Page International Screenwriting Awards, for his comedy "Star."

The Hit List: This Week’s Hottest Entertainment in Israel (Week 41, 2011)

The Yom Kippur week has passed and clearly there isn't too much change on the entertainment charts in Israel. In movies, 'The Change Up,' the new comedy with Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds and Olivia Wilde (photo above), is ruling the box office chart (after some fabulous PR the movie had in the Israeli entertainment magazine 'Pnai Plus'), pushing 'Crazy Stupid Love' out of the top spot after two weeks.

In the Hebrew music airplays there's a small change (the #4 and #5 songs switched places), but on the international artists' airplay, even though Adam Levine and his group Maroon 5 are enjoying another Jewish Holiday week at the top spot, there's also a dramatic new entry; the British boyband 'The Wanted' are in at #2, enjoying their first hit in Israel. Congratulations!

Music: Airplay Chart – International

1. Maroon 5 Feat. Christina Aguilera – Moves Like Jagger
2. The Wanted – Glad You Came

3. Sak Noel - Loca People
4. Milk And Sugar Feat. Miriam Makeba And Jungle Brother - Hi-A Ma (Pata Pata)
5. Bruno Mars – Marry You

Music: Airplay Chart – Domestic (Israeli)

1. Yossi Azulay – Bizchutech (‘Thanks to You’)

2. Idan Amedi – Elayich (‘To You’)
3. Harel Skaat – Hameah Ha-21 (‘21st Century)
4. Moshik Afya – Haser Deaga Milibcha Israel (‘Remove the Worry from Your Heart Israel’)
5. Shlomi Shabat – Geshem Ahava (‘Rain of Love’)

Movies: Box Office Chart

1. The Change Up ($160,613)

2. Crazy, Stupid, Love ($1218,239)
3. The Smurfs ($101,565)
4. Final Destination 5 ($88,423)
5. Friends with Benefits ($83,406)

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