In an interview on Army Radio with Israel's Eurovision song contest representative Netta Barzilai before the final, respected journalist Ilana Dayan said she was "afraid that someone will take you and promise you a wonderful career, and you'll follow the same path as everyone else – the first thing you'll do will be to lose weight."
Barzilai, who is clearly obese, surprised listeners with her quick answer: "I don't owe anything to anyone, and if I go on a diet it will happen, and I'll change."
Those words sum up the personality of the singer who won the competition on Saturday night, scoring Israel's first victory in 20 years and its fourth since it first entered the contest in 1973.
Netta is a real-life Wonder Woman. Without metal bracelets and without imaginary superpowers, she is much stronger and more inspiring than the fictional character. As of Saturday, she is also invincible.
Her story should not be made into the Cinderella story we all love. Hers is the story of a girl who was socially rejected and bullied, but didn't give up and stayed true to herself. Netta defies labels. If she feels she wants to stay fat, she will, and if she feels like holding a marshmallow in her hand as she gives a press conference, that's what she'll do. More precisely, that's what she did this week in Lisbon.
Netta sees herself as the most popular girl in school, no matter what others think. And that makes her the real Wonder Woman.
