Interview: Mei Finegold (Israel 2014) talks to ESC+Plus!

ESC+Plus have had the chance to catch up next Israeli’s Eurovision representative Mei Finegold who pleased told us what her upcoming plans before heading to Copenhagen are. Find out below by reading what she answered to our questions!

ESC+Plus: Congratulations on winning the ticket which will lead you to the Eurovision Song Contest representing Israel, at the 2nd semifinal on the 8th of May and thanks for giving us the chance to have a little talk with you.

As we all know, IBA decided to pick internally this year, how did the proccess work in order to choose the bidding songs for
the Israeli audience? Is Same Heart your favourite among all 3 tracks?

Mei: After being chosen by IBA to be the representative for Israel at ESC this year, the public was offered to send songs to IBA, and among hundreds of songs, a professional committee and myself chose three songs which we all agreed were good and suited me as an artist. I loved working on each and every one of them in the studio and when they were finished I was very proud of every one of them, but there was one song called “same heart” that we all had a strong gut feeling about for this years competition and eventually, the public had the right to choose the representative song, and then I discovered my feelings were right and I was extremely happy with the choice the public made for Same heart.

ESC+Plus: What was the first thing that came off to your mind when IBA proposed you representing Israel? Who was the first person that congratulated you when you just accepted?

Mei: I was eating dinner at home with my husband, Lior and my daughter, Emily, when my phone started ringing. I said to Lior, “I don’t want to answer it..”, but he convinced me to. When I answered the phone, it was the head of the professional committee, congratulating me for being chosen to represent Israel at ESC. At first I thought it was a joke, but very quickly I realized it wasn’t. Then I started tearing up and Lior was looking at me, trying to figure out what’s going on. When the conversation ended, I hung up the phone, looked at Lior and quietly said to him: “I was chosen to represent Israel at the Eurovision..”. There was a moment of silence. Then Lior and I bursted in laughter. We kissed and hugged and even my two year old daughter was thrilled, even though she didn’t understand what the excitement was about. I was happy to share this moment with my family. They are the most important thing in my life.

ESC+Plus: You got to film 3 clips for each of the bidding entries, what’s the most funny thing you remember happening when doing it?

Mei: I don’t know about funny, but the entire proccess of shooting was extremely unique. We were given one week to shoot three video clips, which means, no sleep and no time for anything else but shooting. The fun thing was that the director and photographer of the three videos was my husband, Lior Nordman. He is one of the most talented photographers in Israel and an amazing director and the fact that my husband was with me all the time was a gift from heaven. This project gave us the opportunity to work together, which we nearly never do. It was the most amazing fun.

ESC+Plus: Have you already met any previous Israeli Eurovision representative? Moran Mazor, perhaps? What did they told you?

Mei: No. I know a lot of them personally, but since my election, I didn’t have the chance.

ESC+Plus: Now that you’re determined to attend the contest in May, how will you be preparing your way to Copenhagen?

Mei: My mind is mostly preoccupied with the live show. I start my days with exercise and then usually I rehearse the choreography of “Same heart”. At noon, I take my daughter from kindergarten and in the evenings, I perform at the Camri theatre or have a live show with my band Limozina express.. That’s the way my days look until Eurovision, more or less.

ESC+Plus: As for the performance, are you going to add any element or are you appearing alone on stage?

Mei: At the moment, at the live performance, I will be on stage with two amazing female dancers. The same way we shot the video clip for the song. I believe in woman empowering. There is a lot of strength in woman. It is something that is important for me to show. I love the way it looks and feels in rehearsals.

ESC+Plus: Promotion before the contest has always been really important, are you planning to visit any other countries in order to let the contest fans listen to Same Heart? Maybe Eurovision In Concert, which will be held in Mekwelg in Amsterdam next April?

Mei: I would love to visit every country. Not only to promote the song, but even just for my passion of traveling and a specially Europe. In my life I visited in many European countries such as France, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Spain, Turkey, Cyprus, Czech Republic and I even lived in Ireland for six months and owned an English bar for years in Israel. The bad news for me are that because of my extremely busy schedule, I won’t have much time to promote my song in Europe before the contest. But the good news are that it is because my life is filled with an amazing non stopped work and I am extremely blessed for that.

ESC+Plus: What should Israel do to win the contest? Who is your favourite Israeli act ever at the competition?

Mei: If anyone knows what should Israel do to win the contest, please give me a ring.. Ha ha.. All I can do is the one thing I do since I remember myself. Staying true to who I am. As a person and as an artist. I can only do the best I can do and what I believe in. If the audience connects to it, it is a dream come true. If not, at least you didn’t let yourself down. I love many Israeli acts from the past. Many of them are good friends of mine.

ESC+Plus: 170 million people or even more will be watching you, how does that make an impact on you?

Mei: It is overwhelming, obviously. The funny thing about it is that all of them are “sitting” behind the camera lance. It could have been amazing to have them all sitting in the audience.

ESC+Plus: Who are the singers do you feel the most inspired by? What kind of music do you the most listen to?

Mei: I love every kind of music that has a lot of soul in it. Doesn’t matter what the style is. Anything that kicks you in the stomach when you hear it. I’m influenced by so many artists, from Beyoncé to Led zeppelin.

ESC+Plus: If you got to pick a singer from Israel to represent the country at the contest, who would it be? 

Mei: If the choice was mine, I would have probably choosen Vladi Blayberg. He is a good friend of mine since we’ve been together in the tv show “A Star is Born”. He is an amazing singer and performer. I think we will see him on the ESC stage very soon. Hopefully.

ESC+Plus: Apart from coming 1st, 15th or 26th or not reaching the final, would you make a come-back to the contest?

Mei: I am still going thru my first experience with the contest. Haven’t even started thinking of what is more to come.

ESC+Plus: What could Mei contribute to the contest and what will the contest give to you?

Mei: I can only give the contest what every one else gives it. A good song and a good performance. That’s what I love so much about the ESC. Every one is amazingly good. I think that if you are a part of a competition, it should be a good competition. I can only contribute myself. I’m a strong and hard working woman, a wife and mother. I try to bring the same energy as an artist. I love the stage and the contest is giving me a once in a lifetime opportunity to perform on one of the most impressive stages and in front of all Europe. One thing is for sure, I will have the best time of my life.

ESC+Plus: Have you listened to any contender yet? Who is currently your favourite?

Mei: I haven’t had the chance to listen to all songs, but from what I heard so far, the competition is going to be hard. They are all the best of the best. I wish every one the best of luck and as I always say: “Mei the best song win”. Ha ha.. Love to all.

ESC+Plus: Thanks for your time and see you in Copenhagen, good luck Mei! 🙂