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Pop-Dylan: The Raw Men Empire First Ever US Tour

The Raw Men Empire is an acclaimed freak-folk band based in Israel, whose music was recommended as one of the current Israeli projects you have to listen to. They celebrated their 3rd anniversary over the weekend with a very special show in Tel Aviv. But this autumn they will face a bigger challenge, as the band is about to tour the USA for the first time.

Jokingly referring to their style as "Pop Dylan", The Raw Men Empire's subtitle to their show is "Happy music for sad people and vice versa." Their live shows are always happy and kicking events, so it's no wonder that they have already been selected for leading US showcase festivals CMJ 2011 in New York and SXSW 2012 in Texas.

The Raw Men are Tsvika Frosh, Yonatan Miller (vocals, guitars), Nadav Lazar (Bass) and Itai Kaufman (drums). So far they have released two EPs, The Rise and Fall of (2009) and Elodie (2010), which got rave reviews both in Israel and abroad ("A promising Israeli freak-folk band... cute and inventive... well worth your attention," Time Out magazine wrote). Although they are mainly acoustic, they always manage to create a rocking experience thanks to their highly original arrangements and unique interaction with the audience.

16-19/10/2012 NY New York CMJ Festival - TBA
20/10/2012 MD Washington D.C Big Bear Cafe (acoustic show)
21/10/2012 NC Greensboro Green Bean
24/10/2012 TX Houston Super Happy Fun Land
25/10/2012 TX Austin Spider House
26/10/2012 TX Austin Sahara Lounge
29/10/2012 MO Springfield Lindbergs Bar
31/10/2012 PA Pittsburgh TBA
01/11/2012 NY New York Gizzi's
02/11/2012 VT Middlebury 51 Main at the Bridge

Gal Gadot: Back in Hollywood

Israeli actress Gal Gadot is in final preparations to leave Israel for a few months' trip to London and Los Angeles, where the 6th installment of 'Fast and Furious' is being shot.

Gadot will step yet again into the role of Gisele Harabo, the role that made her famous all over the world, but she begins her journey in London next week, for training for some of the stunts and action sequences. This time around, Gadot revealed that her request to do more stunts than ever before was answered, even though she's going to get a stunt double for the real tough ones. Gal is currently working on learning the script, so she'll be able to perform it perfectly when the time comes.

Gal can't stand staying away from her 8 months old baby Alma, so she's taking her to be on set. Her husband Yaron is also going to come, and another relative, who will serve as Alma's nanny for the trip.

On her way to Hollywood she stopped at Castro, the famous Israeli clothing brand, for the winter collection catalogue photo shoot, and is expected to be back in Israel in August, for a short visit that will also include a runway show of Castro's winter collection.

Touch Her: Samantha Fox in Israel

You might have forgotten all about the 80’s bombshell Samantha Fox, but the Israelis haven’t. Her 1986 hit ‘Touch Me’ was so big in Israel, that it’s eventually became one of the biggest hits of the decade, and Sam Fox has enjoyed it from then ‘till now.

It's her 3rd time in Israel already. Fox arrived earlier this morning at Ben Gurion airport, as she was invited to perform at the finale of the Israeli 'Dancing with the Stars.' "I came only to sing," she laughed when a paparazzi photographer asked her if she has any intention of also demonstrating a move or two.

Here's an interview with Samantha Fox for the Israeli Channel 2 news from 2010, the last time she was here. "Only my boobies give me away," she laughs about not always being recognizable nowadays.

Alon Aboutboul at ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Premiere

'The Dark Knight Rises,' (AKA 'The New Batman Movie') was celebrated by a very glamorous premiere in New York on Monday, and Israeli actor Alon Aboutboul was spotted among the stars of the movie who arrived at the premiere.

Aboutboul, whose character kick-started the viral campaign for the movie back in December 2011, attended the premiere with his wife Shir and reconnected with the stars of the movie, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon Levitt, and of course 'Batman' himself - Christian Bale.

Although he's developing a very successful Hollywood career, Alon has expressed in a recent interview, a desire to go back and work also in Israel. "I miss Israel," he said. "It is my home, my place, and where my friends are. But I do enjoy the change here in America. Either life is going to be the same until you die or you can take a curve like I did."

‘The Expendables 2’ World Premiere- In Israel!

Today it has been confirmed by the Israeli media that the stars of 'The Expendables 2,' including Bruce Willis, Jean Claude Van-Damme (again!), Dolph Lundgren and Jason Statham are expected to land in Israel for the premiere of the movie on August 8th at the Cinema City G movie theater in Rishon Le'zion (20 minutes from Tel Aviv). Actor , writer and producer Sylvester Stallone is also scheduled to arrive, but for now his arrival is questionable, after his son's tragic death this past weekend.

'The Expendables 2' is scheduled to open in the US on August 17, more than a week after the Israeli premiere. The Israeli premiere will be the first premiere of the movie outside the US, and is scheduled for only 5 days after the LA premiere on August 3rd. The cast will stay in Israel for 24 hours, and will give interviews to the local media.

The list of the producers of 'The Expendables 2' includes 2 former Israeli producers: Avi Lerner, who's a long time friend of Stallone and was actually the first one who brought him to Israel back in the 80's to shoot Rambo 3, and Boaz Davidson. The first installment in the 'Expendables' franchise was released in 2010 and made more than $100 million.

People Magazine Praises ‘Monkey Mind’

Jewish author Daniel Smith was probably very happy to open the latest issue of People magazine, because his new book, 'Monkey Mind,' a memoir based on his own problems with anxiety, topped all other books this week and became this week's 'People Pick', earning four stars.

"In this unforgettable, surprisingly hilarious memoir, journalist and professor Smith chronicles his head-clanging, flop-sweating battle with acute anxiety," the magazine states in the review.

"He's clear-eyed and funny about his condition's painful absurdities: the bitten nails that make his hands look like they've been "manicured with an immersion blender," the copious perspiration to which he devotes an entire chapter... So has this little reality check: 'Well-educated, upper-middle-class Jews,' he reminds himself, 'seldom end up sleeping in the dumpster."

Smith's new book might deal with anxiety which is not an easy subject, but he recently admitted to Abbanibi.com that he's gotten much better at dealing with it "I am able to control my anxiety attacks today," Daniel revealed, "That doesn't mean I don't still have them. I do. But I have certain tools that help to tamp my anxiety down, and even to train my mind to work in a more salutary way."

Roni Duani Brings ‘Call Me Maybe’ YouTube Sensation to Israel

Carly Rae Japsen's hit song 'Call Me Maybe' caused a YouTube frenzy in America, having captured not only every teenage girl in the country who uploaded a lip-syncing- video of the song, but also celebrities like Justin Bieber and even the Harvard baseball team were caught in the act.

Now the 'Call Me Maybe' fever spreads around the world and lands in Israel, where pop singing sensation Roni "Superstar' Duani , who currently serves as the head presenter on the Israel Children's Channel, filmed herself with fellow channel hostess Dawn Lenny-Gabay. The starlets posted a video today, of themselves having fun at a pool with a little girl, lipsyncing the words of the famous song. The video also features Duani's husband, Chen Moncaz.

We'll call you definitely, Roni!

Alona Tal Talks About Serving in the Israeli Army at 2012 comic Con

We are very excited for Israeli actress Alona Tal, who's been through so much since her break -out role in the children's TV show 'The Pajamas' on the Children's Channel ("Arutz Ha'Yeladim") in Israel. After we had seen her in 'Veronica Mars' and 'Supernatural', Tal was cast as one of the lead roles in a new CW show 'Cult,' where she co-stars opposite Matthew Davis from the hit TV show 'The Vampire Diaries.'

Last Friday Alona Tal attended Comic-Con, the annual "nerds" conference in San Diego, and was interviewed by anyone who just asked, playing it nice but also uncovering true glamorous star qualities, exposing her fluent accent-less English, not to mention looking great. If this show becomes a hit, Alona might well be transformed into the biggest TV actress ever to come from Israel, the "Bar Refaeli of television."

Many interviews of Alona Tal were published by fans and reporters attending the conference. Most of them wanted to know about her recurring role in the hit TV show 'Supernatural' to which she gave credit for her success. "I used to go to a lot of the fan conventions for 'Supernatural'," Alona revealed. "I got the privilege to be in 10 episodes of that show and that was enough for me to get appreciation from fans and followers. I see the relationships that come out of these conventions. That to me is unbelieveable. This show touches on this new era where fans have such a direct line with the show's creators and this world, because they used to be so disconnected."

Alona also doesn't hide the fact that she's not American, even though she is cast for the role of an American girl. "...I'm also dyslectic, and [English] is my second language," she revealed in another interview and then talked about her accent. "I moved to the US 8 years ago and I just didn't have an accent when I moved," she says. "I don't know why."

"The transition wasn't a good one, I'm not gonna lie. It was weird and I was lonely at times, but now I'm married and life brought me to do what I'm able to do. It's exciting to be able to work here. Not to be from here and be able to work here."

Last but not least, Tal talked about her IDF service and said "It's one of the things I'm most proud of, my 2 years of service in the Israeli army. It's a humbling and very maturing experience."

Below is a photo of Alona at the 'Entertainment Weekly' special Comic Con party. Good luck with the new show!

All You Didn’t Want to Know About Jewish Porn Star James Deen

(or, “Well, it could’ve been worse. At least my son’s not a banker!”)

James Deen must be the most controversial Jewish personality of 2012, and probably ever. The rising porn star who doesn’t hide his Jewish identity claimed that his “nerdy” appearance is what made him a star. “I’m like a guy a chick might actually meet in a bar,” he tries to explain.

In a very candid interview in the current issue of GQ magazine, Deen, whose real name is Bryan Sevilla, let us peek into his “awesome” life (as he describes it). “I had a great childhood,” Deen says. “My parents and I get along. I just like sex and I like porn, and I think it’s fun.”

Deen grew up in Pasadena, California. His father is a mechanical engineer for NASA. His mother does data analysis for the space agency. His relations with his parents are reasonably cordial, despite their divorce.

Contrary to our notion of porn stars as survivors of sexual trauma, Deen doesn’t recall any sexual abuse, yet growing up, he could hardly have been called the good boy next door. He lost his virginity at age 12 during a sleepover at a Jewish camp. In junior high school he made enemies of the football team by having sex with a player’s sister in the school pool during gym. He had some home escapades in junior high. He spent a couple of years in outpatient rehab. At age 15, he left highschool and moved out, spending two years more or less homeless, until he moved back to live with his father while working at Starbucks and taking classes at community college.

Now he’s making more than $1,000 a scene, working, according to him, “about 360 days a year,” (no porn on Yom Kippur?) and in the GQ interview he describes in uncomfortable details how much fan-mail he gets from women, especially from 16 and 17 year old girls.

“I’m always terrified that someday I’m going to come to the realization that I’ve got some deep dark secret,” Deen says, “some terrifying horrible experience where I’m going to be like ‘I’m actually not normal. I’m a crazy person!’ but it just doesn’t seem to be the case.”

Los Angeles Magazine Praises ‘The Young Professionals’

In their latest issue out yesterday, the Los Angeles popular magazine 'Frontiers in LA' has published an extremely positive review on Israel's 'The Young Professionals' new album, that is now in stores in America as well, distributed by Casablanca Records.

"If there's a more perfectly crafted (and aptly titled) invitation to command the dance floor, I've yet to find it," writes the magazine's music reviewer, Paul V. about the hit single 'D.I.S.C.O'. "Openly gay (and super handsome) singer Ivri Lider will also charm you with his prowess, and TYP are about as clever and cunning as pop electro can sound in 2012."

The new deluxe American release of TYP's debut album '9AM to 5PM, 5PM to Whenever' also includes their Lana Del Ray 'Video Games' cover and two essential remixes of 'D.I.S.C.O.'

Parallel to their American exposure, 'The Young Professional' continue their rise to stardom in France, and this month they are on the cover of the acclaimed magzaine Modzik