Dana International - Diva

This weekend the BBC aired a 60th anniversary Eurovision celebration concert where previous champions performed their winning entries. Transgender pop star Dana International sang her 1998 winner, Diva. You'll note that audience appears to be overwhelmingly male. Ahem. The full show is here, but may not last long.

RELATED:  There was a minor gay rights skirmish during the show when host Graham Norton had to reintroduce Russia's 2008 winner due to strong booing from the crowd.

The jeers from the crowd were aimed at Russia’s encroaching anti-gay laws rather than Dima Bilan, who has voiced his opposition to legislation and previously signed an open letter condemning the government’s actions. “There was indeed a lot of booing from the crowd when Graham and Petra initially introduced the Russian act Dima Bilan,” a BBC spokesperson told Pink News. The spokesperson explained that Graham had talked directly to the audience and told them the concert was “not a competition” and said “we are here to support all the acts, so be nice”. “Once Graham had addressed the crowd the introduction was re-shot, Dima was cheered and welcomed to the stage, got a great reception and put in a top performance which was broadcast [on the] night.” The Independent’s music critic, who was also at the concert, noted that Graham told the audience, “You can boo in Vienna [this year's host city], you can boo at home, but not here.”

The BBC edited out the first introduction.

ISRAEL: Trans Pop Star Dana International Causes Stir With Gay Pride Video

Transgender pop star and 1998 Eurovision winner Dana International has caused a furor in Israel with a video that promoted Tel Aviv Pride, which was yesterday. Via the Times Of Israel:

A video promoting Tel Aviv’s Gay Pride Parade featuring Israeli transsexual star Dana International dancing suggestively in a synagogue in front of children has been taken offline after the parents of one of the youngsters claimed they did not provide consent to participate. The family, believing the video to be part of an “innocent” tourism campaign, complained after seeing it on national TV. The two-minute clip featuring Dana’s new single, “Kids Are Much Fun,” had the singer, decked out in a blond wig and long black dress, posing suggestively as a boy meant to be her son reads from the Torah during his bar mitzvah, a holy Jewish rite of passage. The video was filmed in a Tel Aviv synagogue, using 15 boys who were recruited from a religious school in a nearby suburb. The video’s director, Omer Tobi, said the students were picked by a nephew of Dana’s manager who is the main character in the video. While Tobi said the theme of the video was clear from the outset, the parents of one of the boys said they were misled.

The lyrics of the track, which is in Hebrew, appear to condemn the Israeli government for encouraging families to have as many children as possible. Sample verse: "Procreate twelve, why not eighteen, procreate two scores of kids, God will take care, so will the welfare." The clip below is a mirror of the original and may not last on YouTube.

(Tipped by JMG reader Eric)

Eurovision: Israel's Dana International

Transgender Israeli pop star Dana International won Eurovision 1998 with her single Diva, which went on to become a worldwide smash. This year she represents Israel again with the self-penned Ding Dong.

Dana International - Alay

Here's the new single from Israeli rapper Subliminal and 1998 Eurovision winner (and the world's most famous transsexual) Dana International. OK song, but how do you say "auto-tune" in Hebrew?

(Via JMG reader Sheepy)