Doron Medalie – Eurovision starmaker

NICOLA MILTZ

Had they still been alive today, they would have been at his side in Lisbon, Portugal, for the grand final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest when his song, Toy, took first place.

The 41-year-old Israeli-born songwriter, composer and artistic director co-wrote the song with composer Stav Berger. The song has thrust its lead singer, the flamboyant, Netta Barzilai, into superstardom overnight. Described by many as an anthem of female empowerment, Doron said Toy was inspired by the #MeToo movement and has an important message of female power and social justice.

In her acceptance speech, Netta, 25, thanked the crowds for “choosing different”. She said Toy represented “an amazing time when women are finding their voices”.

Doron’s father, Ilan Medalie, told the SA Jewish Report this week: “My parents would have been very proud.”

Ilan told how his parents, Dr Jack and June Medalie, kleibed naches when Doron, who showed enormous musical talent from a young age, performed for them.

“He used to play the organ and later the piano,” said Ilan, adding that it made Doron happy that his grandparents took the time to be at his concerts.

“My parents always watched him at concerts and plays,” Ilan said this week from Israel. Doron appreciated their support and would listen to them tell him stories about their life in South Africa.

Jack, who was a renowned pioneer in the field of family and preventative medicine, studied at the University of the Witwatersrand where he received his medical degree. While he was still a medical student, he served in WWII in the South African army.

Jack and his wife were among the first to leave South Africa for Israel in 1948, filled with a youthful passion for the Holy Land.

Jack joined the Israeli army for Israel’s War of Independence as a physician of a unit of the Palmach. He and June began the settlement, Moshav Habonim, in Israel where Jack was a rural doctor for several years.

According to Ilan, his son Doron “shared a close bond” with his grandparents.

Ilan, who joined the supporting crowds in Portugal, said he too was very proud of his son’s achievements.

Doron, who is one of three Medalie brothers, was sitting next to Netta as the results of the song contest were read out. Millions watched on TV as she received the iconic glass microphone from last year’s Eurovision winner, Salvador Sobral of Portugal.

This was Israel’s fourth Eurovision win, now in its 63rd year. The last time it won was in 1998.

Doron has a long history with Eurovision, having grown up watching the competition and relishing each country’s original songs from a young age, and having written a number of songs for the competition.

Doron directed the Israeli entry three times: in 2008 with Boaz Ma’uda, in 2010 with Harel Skaat and in 2013 with Moran Mazor. He also wrote and composed the Israeli entries in 2015 and 2016. In 2015, his song Golden Boy, sung by Nadav Guedi, came ninth; and in 2016, his song Made of Stars, sung by Hoyi Star, came 14th.

Doron and Stav were at Netta’s side throughout the song contest and during all press conferences.

Netta said of Toy: “I think it is an empowerment song in general. It’s for everybody who has been struggling being themselves – they’re told they’re not good enough, not skinny enough, not pretty enough… I am very different and different is often not accepted. I was fat, I am fat. I’ve been told to change a lot…”

Netta has wowed international audiences with her Asian-pop style and is breaking traditional stereotypes with her trademark unconventional pop-star look.

She auditioned for season five of Israel’s HaKokhav HaBa L’Eurovizion, Israel’s national selection competition for Eurovision. In that competition she won first place and the right to represent her country at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Doron was smitten with Netta when he saw her audition, calling her unique and special. His intention with Toy was to to create something different, light-hearted, joyous and catchy.

Doron told The Times of Israel (TOI) that once he and Stav had found their beat for Toy, they began working with the toy theme. “That’s a bingo for me,” he said. “And when Netta looks and behaves the way she does, so it turns toys into ‘I’m not your toy, don’t play with me.’ Let’s use toys to say something different about the #MeToo movement.”

Doron explained to TOI that since it was two men writing the song – he bemoaned the current lack of female songwriters, after a wealth of women in the 1980s – they had to relay the right message about female power and the male role. He said he wanted to make it a little funnier and less dramatic, while still relaying the message that this woman, Netta Barzilai, was okay without a man.

For Doron, every song has to have layers, “mounds of layers in every single word”, he told TOI.

Doron’s favourite line is: “Look at me, I’m a beautiful creature/I don’t care about your modern-time preacher,” referring to himself and to Netta, a curvaceous woman who dresses with great character and panache. Doron said he was fed up with seeing only one kind of look on the streets, and was seeking a different kind of face.

“When I saw Netta in her first audition, I knew she should win,” he said. “She was very special and unique, and I couldn’t take my eyes off that girl. I’m a star hunter, that’s what I do – and every few years comes someone special.”

Doron, who was raised in Ramat HaSharon, learnt how to play the keyboard and piano as a young boy.

Ilan told the SA Jewish Report this week that it has been an absolute whirlwind following the Eurovision contest. Netta and the musical team have had back-to-back stage performances, press conferences and television interviews since arriving back home to an ecstatic crowd in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square.

He said that while his son had never been to South Africa, he was well aware of his family’s historical connection to the country and of his adoring grandparents’ close ties to the country.

One of his cousins, Darren Cohn of Johannesburg, who last saw the musical hitmaker when they went out for a family dinner in Tel Aviv in July 2016, said his cousin was “very creative” and a “great guy”.

Doron is one of Israel’s most successful composers and lyricists. He has written well over 250 songs, ballads, pop songs, children’s songs, soundtracks and theme songs for TV.

He wrote the official anthem of Tel Aviv Gay Pride 2013, Tel Aviv Ya Habibi Tel Aviv, has co-ordinated the theme songs and soundtracks for many TV shows, and has worked with some of Israel’s top performers.

His big breakthrough was as artistic manager of the talent show, A Star is Born. For more than 10 years, he directed the Israeli Music Awards and the national Memorial Day ceremony.

No doubt, when he realises he has a growing fan base in South Africa, Doron will fly over for a visit.

• Additional reporting from The Times of Israel