TEL AVIV: With a multicolored kimono, clucking sounds and chicken-like dance moves, Israeli singer Netta Barzilai won over audiences with a hit inspired by the #MeToo movement to claim the Eurovision Song Contest.
Now as she sets off on her first European tour the pop star has told AFP in an interview that she aims to pass on a message of empowerment after overcoming her own self doubts.
Her winning song “Toy” became an anthem for others who, like her, have been bullied or made to feel like an outcast.
She has said her childhood was marked by teasing over her body and bouts of bulimia.
“We’re made to feel small in all kinds of situations. I don’t want to feel small anymore,” the 25-year-old said Saturday at her publicist’s apartment in Israel’s economic capital Tel Aviv.
“I want to empower and love, to be empowered and empower others. Because when we send out good energy, it comes back at us and makes the world a better place.”
Her upcoming tour, which begins on November 12, includes venues in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Britain, as well as a November 17 show at the Salle Wagram in Paris.
Articulate and intense, Barzilai said she applied for a spot representing Israel in 2018’s Eurovision in Lisbon because she was failing to make ends meet as an experimental musician.
“I knew nothing about Eurovision,” she confessed.
Before the contest shook up her life, Barzilai said, she and her band would “be paid in beer and basically jam.”
“I’d get drunk, sing on the tables, eat French fries off people’s plates and sing about them,” she recounted.
“I tried to get a job in music but was too unique to stand behind someone as a backing vocal or to sing in weddings.”
Barzilai’s mother pushed her to leave Tel Aviv and return to their home in central Israeli city Hod Hasharon and her father suggested she learn agronomy and join him in the family business.
In despair, she turned to an Israeli reality singing show, the winner of which would represent the country at Eurovision.
She never expected anything would come of the local exposure beyond maybe “getting gigs.”
But she eventually made it through and took her eccentric look and show to Lisbon, where her victory earned Israel the right to hold the 2019 Eurovision, which will take place in Tel Aviv.
Basking in the “superman powers” she received after her win, Barzilai can now return to Europe as a star with a repertoire blending her Eurovision fame and avant-garde roots.
There have been calls for artists to boycott next year’s Eurovision in Tel Aviv over Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, but Barzilai doesn’t think a boycott will solve anything.
“Instead of boycotting we should think how we can help, how to improve the situation,” she said.
“Tell me where to sing to solve the world’s problems and I’ll go.”
Unconcerned that the calls to stay away could harm next year’s event, she added: “I think it will be very happy here and those voices are small ones.”
Israel’s Eurovision champ heads to Europe with empowerment message
Israel’s Eurovision champ heads to Europe with empowerment message
- Her winning song “Toy” became an anthem for others who, like her, have been bullied or made to feel like an outcast
- Her upcoming tour, which begins on November 12, includes venues in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Britain, as well as a November 17 show at the Salle Wagram in Paris
Fuel surcharge, airspace disruptions push up airfares for Pakistani travelers
- Airlines add $20–100 fuel surcharge per leg amid global oil supply disruptions due to the Middle East conflict
- Travel agents say around 80 daily flights to Gulf countries are being canceled, increasing the demand further
ISLAMABAD: Airlines operating in Pakistan have imposed additional fuel surcharges on tickets as jet fuel prices rise and regional airspace disruptions reduce availability of flights, industry officials said on Wednesday.
Jet fuel this month surged in Pakistan from ₨188.93 to ₨342.32 per liter, according to local media reports. It followed global oil and airspace disruptions amid ongoing United States-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s counterattacks in the Gulf.
Aviation fuel typically accounts for 30–40 percent of an airline’s operating expenses, which means the recent price surge has significantly affected the cost for Pakistani carriers, according to industry experts.
Abdullah Hafeez, a spokesman for the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), said air carriers have not formally increased base ticket prices but have introduced a fuel surcharge to offset the impact of higher aviation fuel costs.
“Airlines have imposed a fuel surcharge to the tune of $20 to $100 per leg on domestic and international flights to mitigate the effects of jet fuel price increase, which means a two-way ticket will be expensive by $40 to $200, depending on distance and route,” he said.
The decision was taken on Monday following a rise in jet fuel prices in Pakistan, according to Hafeez.
For flights to Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah and Madinah, airlines have imposed a fuel surcharge of $50 per leg, meaning $100 for a return ticket, while $75 dollar per leg charges have been imposed on flights to London.
Travel agents say the impact is already being felt by passengers as ticket prices climb and flight options shrink.
Muhammad Sajjad Bashir, a representative of Aroma Travels in Karachi, said fares across airlines have risen since the Middle East crisis disrupted several regional air routes.
“The fuel price has gone up while the seats are also not available due to increased demands on some open routes,” he said.
Nearly 80 flights from Pakistan to Gulf countries, particularly the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, are being canceled daily due to airspace disruptions, Bashir said.
“This airspace issue has left passengers with fewer options and the increasing demand is hiking ticket prices,” he added.
Fares on some UK-bound flights have jumped from around Rs250,000 ($891) to as high as Rs1 million ($3565), while ticket prices between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have increased from Rs125,000 ($445) to around Rs200,000 ($713), according to Bashir.
Airlines have raised fares by Rs10,000 ($35) to Rs28,000 ($99) per ticket depending on the destination, with flights to the Middle East and Central Asia seeing increases of about Rs15,000 ($53). Long-haul routes like Pakistan to Toronto and Manchester have recorded the highest hikes, with ticket prices rising by up to Rs28,000 per passenger.
A marketing official at a Saudi airline also said airlines have not officially raised base fares but are selling seats across different booking classes, meaning passengers booking late have to buy more expensive tickets once cheaper fare categories are sold out.
One-way fares from Pakistan to some Saudi destinations currently range between Rs87,000 and Rs88,000 ($310-313), while return tickets cost around Rs160,000 to Rs165,000 ($570-588), the official added.
