Yet alongside applause for this extraordinary achievement during such challenging times, Raphael faced a barrage of accusations about "vote rigging" and "manipulations" from various countries criticizing the public voting system. Then, like an unexpected character in a drama about the entertainment world, Scooter Braun stepped into the spotlight.

Braun (43), a Jewish-American who orchestrated the careers of megastars like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Demi Lovato, wasn't previously known as a vocal supporter of Israel. However, since October 7, he underwent a transformation, evolving from someone who typically remained behind the scenes into an Israeli advocacy champion armed with Instagram and an uncompromising sense of justice.

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On Tuesday, Braun uploaded a video to his Instagram that expressed his unwavering support for Yuval and her remarkable musical achievement, "I want to talk about Eurovision because I was just reading that there are people having an issue with this young woman, Yuval, taking second place at Eurovision," he began before immediately confronting anyone questioning Raphael's success.

Braun offered no halfhearted defense. He underscored that the Eurovision manager had definitively stated that there is no evidence of vote manipulation or irregularities. His message was clear: stop inventing conspiracies because they simply aren't real.

Braun continued by exposing what he sees as the music industry's hypocrisy – an industry that claims to champion new talent but often shuts out those who don't conform to expectations. "Yuval won the audience vote. Have any of you ever made a huge superstar globally? I don't think so," he said and added, "So what makes you think that you know what the public wants?"

Yuval Raphael's narrative, Braun emphasized, transcends the typical pop star story. She survived the Nova massacre and, despite her trauma, chooses to sing messages of hope, love, and peace. "Here's a girl who survived the Nova massacre, who had her life almost taken away while she was celebrating in a music festival. And she has the courage to go on stage and sing a song about overcoming those odds and a song about there being another day to live and live in love and peace, and a video that represents that. And you're questioning why the public loved this song and loved her," he continued.

While major producers and cultural critics persist in their skepticism, Braun concluded his message with unmistakable clarity, "She was number one in the public vote and number two overall in the competition. And I would just say being number one by the public is the most important thing," he clarified, "So stop questioning her and question your own taste. Because the public spoke and you should listen to them. And a new day will rise."

The post 'The public has spoken': Scooter Braun defends Israeli Eurovision star appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Singer Sia made an emotional return to the spotlight at an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) event in Washington, dedicating a song to survivors of the October 7 Nova festival attack. The event, hosted by Jewish-American actor Ben Stiller, featured the National Philharmonic Orchestra of the United States, Israeli Eurovision star Eden Golan, and Jewish producer Scooter Braun.

Stunning performance from @Sia who brought the house down. Honored to have her powerful voice here with us tonight and with us in the larger fight against antisemitism and hate. #ConcertAgainstHate pic.twitter.com/bqJfJi6Yok

— ADL (@ADL) November 19, 2024

Sia performed her hit "Titanium," which she originally recorded with producer David Guetta, dedicating it to Nova festival survivors who joined her on stage afterward. The singer, who had last performed in Israel in 2016 and had not previously commented on the war, declared, "We will dance again" before performing the song.

The singer and creator Eden Golan @Edengolan appeared this evening at the @ADL #ConcertAgainstHate produced by @scooterbraun

Scooter Braun invited Eden to participate in the show.
We love you Scooter 🩷

In the show hosted by the Hollywood actor Ben Stiller, the… pic.twitter.com/HuU4HgSujU

— Iris (@streetwize) November 19, 2024

 Golan performed the original version of the song she was meant to represent Israel with at Eurovision, but whose lyrics were rejected and rewritten for containing political messages. She performed "Hurricane" under its original title, "October Rain," with its original lyrics.

Eden Golan is getting ready to take the stage tonight and we can't wait! But her performance isn't just about music—it's about using her voice to stand up for what's right. Eden is here to amplify the fight against hate as she has bravely done many times this past year.… pic.twitter.com/wlq3DYjP4Z

— ADL (@ADL) November 19, 2024

When introducing her to the stage, Stiller said: "The lyrics of the song were rewritten, and they even changed its name. Eden represented Israel even though she was booed. Since then, she has been performing 'October Rain' for many." Following the performance, Sia met Eden backstage and complimented her on her performance.

The post Sia dedicates song to Nova survivors, Eden Golan performs 'October Rain' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The Nova: Oct. 7 6:29 am – The Moment Music Stood Still: The Nova Music Festival Exhibition has come to Culver City, California, and will run until October 8, a day after the one-year anniversary of the deadly Hamas attack on the festival.

On October 7, 2023, 370 attendees were murdered by Hamas, and 44 taken hostage into Gaza. The exhibit includes the Nova stage and bar setup, tents, clothing, burned cars, and phone recordings left behind by survivors and victims. Survivors and families of victims and hostages have been present at the exhibit and engage with the visitors.

According to the website, "The Nova Exhibition is an in-depth remembrance of the brutal massacre at The Nova Music Festival on October 7. The installation sets out to recreate a festival dedicated to peace and love that was savagely cut short by a terrorist attack on that fateful day. The attack at The Nova Music Festival was the largest massacre in music history."

Ashley Kermani Anderson, a Los Angeles resident with Persian heritage, shared her impressions of the exhibit: "It felt like you were actually at the festival. They play a video of what the Nova festival is about – peace and love – and then there are all these screams from the attack. I thought I knew the extent, but going made me realize how much worse it really was."

She recalled first becoming aware of the attack on social media following Sukkot: "We were all on our phones and saw the videos, but it was censored, and here it was not, and you felt the chaos of the situation." The uncensored footage at the exhibit was so intense that it caused her to vomit. During the October 7 attack, Anderson's parents were visiting relatives in Israel and frantically sought a way to leave the country immediately. She remembered her mother saying, "She felt like she was back in Iran and fleeing."

Anderson encouraged non-Jews to visit the exhibit, explaining: "It's facts; it's real. It can't be biased or political. It made me sad that there were only Jewish people there. We already know." She described how the events of October 7 changed her own life in the United States: "I don't wear any Jewish anything because I don't want to attract any attention." She even mentioned reconsidering her vote in November, leaning towards a candidate who demonstrated stronger support for Israel.

The exhibit has already occurred in New York and has hosted hundreds of thousands of visitors. Moran Stella Yanai, a former Israeli hostage kidnapped from the Nova Festival and later released in a prisoner exchange deal, visited the New York exhibit and found her own shoes among the "lost and found" exhibit made from collected belongings at the Nova site.

Yagil Simony, Ofir Amir, and Omri Sari originally organized and displayed the exhibit in Israel. American music producer Scooter Braun went to Israel, saw the exhibit, and decided to collaborate with them to bring the display to the United States. "I see the tents, and I see the porta potties, and I see everything, and I immediately go, 'I need to bring this to New York and LA. People need to see this,'" he told The Hollywood Reporter. "It's a massacre at a music festival that should have never happened," he said. "Music is a universal language, and music has to remain a safe place."

"You see the testimonies from survivors. You see videos from their phones. You see the video that Hamas took and put all online to understand what happened that day," Braun described the exhibit. "You'll see it is a music festival. You'll see Coachella. You'll see Stagecoach ... And that's all we want people to see, that you should be able to have empathy for all people."

The post When music died: California Oct. 7 Nova exhibit awes visitors appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Some of the biggest names in the music industry come to mind when you hear the name Scooter Braun, and rightfully so, with clients like Ariana Grande, Black Eyed Peas, and Justin Bieber under his management. However, one of Braun's most significant recent projects relating to music is the Nova: Oct. 7 6:29 am — The Moment Music Stood Still: The Nova Music Festival Exhibition. 

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"I went over to Israel in December," he told The Hollywood Reporter, following the deadly Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 killing more than 1200 people, of which almost 400 were in the Nova Festival.  "I needed to see the Nova side. I needed to see the kibbutz. I needed to see all of it for myself – and not because I needed to believe it. With Holocaust-surviving grandparents, the attack on Manchester's AO Arena with Ariana Grande, I know this kind of evil exists." 

The exhibit was originally organized and displayed in Israel by Yagil Simony, Ofir Amir, and Omri Sari. "I see the tents, and I see the porta potties, and I see everything. And I immediately go, 'I need to bring this to New York and L.A. People need to see this,'" Braun recounted. After experiencing it there, he decided to collaborate with them to bring the exhibit to the United States. "It's just about a massacre at a music festival that should have never happened," he said. "But music is a universal language and music has to remain a safe place," dedicated to providing widespread access to Nova, as he believes the project rises above politics. 

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A post shared by The Nova Music Festival Exhibition (@novaexhibition)

The exhibit, taking place at 35 Wall Street in New York City, has already hosted over 100,000 visitors and has been extended through June 22, with plans to bring it to Los Angeles in the fall or late summer. Moran Stella Yanai, a former Israeli hostage kidnapped from the Nova Festival and later released in a prisoner exchange deal, visited the exhibit and found her own shoes among the belongings retrieved from the Nova site on display.

"You see the testimonies from survivors. You see videos from their phones. You see the video that Hamas took and put all online to understand what happened that day," Braun explained. "You don't walk in and see flags. You'll see it is a music festival. You'll see Coachella. You'll see Stagecoach... And that's all we want people to see, that you should be able to have empathy for all people."

The post 'With Holocaust-surviving grandparents, I know this kind of evil exists' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.