# data[].attributes.body
focused on language
emotional
dramatic
negativity -
Scale
Intensity
Conflict
perspective: anti-Madonna
values: conflict, power
rhetoric: contrasting phrases, use of humour
focus: on people's reactions and not the event itself

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Björn Seeling

Für viele Fans sollte Madonnas Gastaufauftritt das Highlight der ESC-Show sein. Doch was dann folgte, war der Tiefpunkt.

Es war ein Fernsehmoment, den die meisten wohl lange nicht vergessen werden: die tragische Performance von Superstar Madonna beim Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv. Viele Fans des Gesangswettbewerbs warteten im Vorfeld mit Spannung auf ihren Gastauftritt bei der Veranstaltung, die dieses Jahr eher mittelmäßige Beiträge bot. Für nicht wenige Zuschauer sollte Madonna sogar der Höhepunkt sein und war es dann wohl auch - im negativen Sinn.

Zickerei mit dem Moderator

Zunächst gab es während der Übertragung des Wettbewerbs ein kurzes Interview mit der Sängerin, die den armen - und sichtlich aufgeregten - Moderator nach seinen harmlosen Fragen anzickte. Sahen die Kostüme einiger ESC-Teilnehmer schon so aus, als seien die Designer auf Ecstasy gewesen, so toppte Madonnas Outfit noch das Ganze: Augenklappe, Julia-Timoschenko-Zöpfe, eine Art Gladiatoren-Rüstung, die mit funkelnden Accessoires auf Bling-Bling getrimmt war.

Später dann jedoch, bei ihrem Gesangsauftritt, als die Queen of Pop noch eine funkelnde Krone dazu trug, spielte die Interview-Zickerei keine Rolle mehr, sondern vielmehr andere Misstöne. Bei einer Interpretation ihres eigene Songs „Like A Prayer" traf Madonna die Töne nicht. Sie verpasste Einsätze, sang merkwürdig kurzatmig - und das bei einem Song, der seit genau 30 Jahren zu ihrem Standardrepertoire gehört. Dazu stakste die 60-Jährige ziemlich wackelig die Showtreppe hinunter. Während ihr Outfit glitzerte, glänzte ihr Können durch Abwesenheit.

Diskussion in sozialen Netzwerken

Weltweit dürfte nicht nur ihren Fans der Atem bei der schrägen Performance gestockt haben. Noch bevor die Sängerin ihren neuen Song vorstellen konnte, den sie zusammen mit dem 28-jährigen Rapper Quavo aufgenommen hatte, füllten sich die sozialen Netzwerke mit Kommentaren. Die Reaktionen reichten von Entsetzen bis zu Häme.

Immerhin sei ein Beitrag noch schlechter gewesen als jener des deutschen Duos Sisters, hieß es vielfach. ARD-Moderator Peter Urban, der die Übertragung aus Tel Aviv kommentierte, sagte nach dem Auftritt trocken: „Sie haben es gehört hier, hier wird live gesungen.

Ärger verursachte dann noch ein politisches Statement der Sängerin. Einer ihrer Tänzer trug eine Israel-Flagge auf dem Rücken und schritt Hand in Hand mit einer Kollegin durchs Bühnenbild, deren Rückseite eine Palästinenserfahne zierte. Dieses Element der Show sei nicht Teil der Proben gewesen, die im Vorfeld genehmigt worden seien, hieß es bei den ESC-Veranstaltern. "Der ESC ist unpolitisch und das hatte man Madonna auch im Vorfeld klargemacht."

Die Sängerin selbst kommentierte ihre wenig anbetungswürdige "Like-A-Prayer"-Performance übrigens nicht, sondern twitterte lediglich ein Video, das den Ausschnitt mit den neuen Song "Future" zeigt. "Ich bin dankbar für die Gelegenheit, die Botschaft von Frieden und Einheit in die Welt senden zu können", schrieb sie dazu.

Sylvan Adams zahlte mehr als eine Million Euro

Gesponsert hat die Riesen-Blamage - die Sängerin reiste mit 135 Leuten an - der israelisch-kanadische Unternehmer Sylvan Adams. Er soll angeblich bis zu 1,3 Millionen Euro für die Show der "einäugigen, unmusikalischen Drag-Queen-Robocop-Madonna" (Kommentar eines Twitter-Nutzers) bezahlt haben. Verschmerzen kann es Adams vermutlich. Er ist Milliardär.
Den Live-Blog vom ESC zum Nachlesen finden Sie unter diesem Link
„Trau dich zu träumen" lautet des Motto des 2019er ESC. Im Fall von Madonna war es eindeutig ein Albtraum.

Mehr zum Thema

Der ESC 2019 im Blog Die Niederlande siegen, Madonna blamiert sich

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Björn Seeling Für viele Fans sollte Madonnas Gastaufauftritt das Highlight der ESC-Show sein. Doch was dann folgte, war der Tiefpunkt. Es war ein Fernsehmoment, den die meisten wohl lange nicht vergessen werden: die tragische Performance von Superstar Madonna beim Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv.

# data[].attributes.body
1. neutral - more Palastine, anti Madonna
2. recency, conflict, power, personalization, unexpectedness, negativity, cultural relevance
3. focus on flags, "ESC = un-political", nothing about Madonna's performance

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CLOSE

Madonna made a statement at the 2019 Eurovision song contest finals in Tel Aviv.

The Queen of Pop, 60, got political during her highly anticipated performance at the annual European competition Saturday, which was held in Israel after the country won last year's contest.

Despite calls to boycott the event over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Madonna performed her 1989 hit "Like A Prayer" in a black eye patch and tiara. She also sang her new single "Future," with Migos rapper Quavo.

The duo performed in front of a black screen that displayed the words, "WAKE UP." The set also featured two dancers walking arm in arm, wearing the flags of Israel and the Palestinians on their backs.

Madonna stirred the Eurovision crowd with a political statement while performing "Like A Prayer." (Photo: Michael Campanella, Getty Images)

"Madame X is a freedom fighter ... I am grateful," Madonna captioned a clip of the performance on Instagram. "For the opportunity to spread the message of peace and unity with the world."
'Madame X':Madonna teases new album and mysterious alter ego
The European Broadcasting Union, which co-produced the singing competition, denounced Madonna's political statement, adding that it was not approved.

"The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and Madonna had been made aware of this," the EBU said a statement to USA TODAY.

Two of Madonna's dancers perform arm in arm with Israeli and Palestinian flags on their backs during her Eurovision performance in an apparent call for unity. (Photo: ORIT PNINI/KAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Madonna faced calls from a Palestinian-led campaign to avoid performing at the event in Israel. But the pop star rejected that motion, saying she will "never stop playing music to suit someone's political agenda."

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) responded, calling her performance "immoral" on Twitter earlier this week.

"Dear Madonna, Artwashing Israel's brutal oppression of Palestinians for a million dollars must be among the most immoral political agendas," the organization tweeted.

Ahead of her performance at Eurovision, Madonna told the audience, "Let's never underestimate the power of music to bring people together."
Contributing: The Associated Press
Madonna's 14th studio album, "Madame X," is expected out next month. It will feature singles "Future" and "Medellín," a bilingual collaboration with Colombian singer Maluma.

More: Madonna gets sexy on new single 'Medellin' with Maluma

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2019/05/19/madonna-sparks-eurovision-controversy-flag-display/3732772002/

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Madonna sparks controversy at 'non-political' Eurovision with her flag display

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CLOSE Madonna made a statement at the 2019 Eurovision song contest finals in Tel Aviv. The Queen of Pop, 60, got political during her highly anticipated performance at the annual European competition Saturday, which was held in Israel after the country won last year's contest.

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Language: emotional, e.g. "what happened last Saturday is very tragic"

2. Conflict, Cultural Relevance
exaggerated
Refers to the past of Jewish people

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Shalom. Hope you had a great time in Israel.

My name is Nathan Lopes Cardozo. I was born in Holland in 1946 and was raised in a half-Jewish, totally secular family, which for decades watched the Eurovision Song Contest with great joy. We were always very proud when our country won the contest, as it did last Saturday night. Today, I live in Jerusalem with my family.

After many years, I discovered Judaism and threw in my lot with this unusual nation. Although I observe Shabbat and many other Jewish precepts, I'm not sure I have the right to call myself fully religious. I still have a long way to go.

Many of my readers know that I cannot be accused of falling in line with the religious establishment. I have suggested that moving this beautiful country forward sometimes requires the violation of Jewish law, which itself would actually encourage this.

This brings me to you and last Saturday night's song festival. I heard on Israel Radio, and have read in newspapers, that you observe Shabbat and that you refused to rehearse last Saturday in honor of this holy day. I hope it's true; if so, more honor to you!

In fact, I am also very proud of the extraordinary Shalva Band, which I have been told would probably have won the contest but refused to come to the rehearsal last Shabbat because its members believe that one needs to live a principle-centered life. For them, as for me, that includes the need to preserve the holiness of Shabbat.

The same is true for South African-born businessman Kivi Bernhard, who has become a world-famous, sought-after speaker and was invited by Microsoft some years ago to deliver the opening address at an international conference, which was to take place on a Saturday. Bernhard refused, as it would require him to violate Shabbat. Microsoft offered him enormous sums of money, but he did not budge. He told them that no money in the world would entice him to violate Shabbat. Finally, Microsoft gave up and moved the conference to Sunday. When Bill Gates heard about this, he remarked: I can buy any airplane, yacht, or building that I want. I can even buy outstandingly talented people. But I cannot buy one Shabbat of an observant Jew.

It is for this reason, Madonna, that I turn to you with a request.

As history has proven over and over again, we Jews are not a conventional people. Our long history is by definition one of existential oddity. We are nearly 4,000 years old and have outlived all of our enemies, from the Egyptians to the Nazis. Even today, our enemies have no way to destroy us. As sociologist Milton Himmelfarb stated, "The number of Jews in the world is smaller than a small statistical error in the Chinese census. Yet we remain bigger than our numbers" (Jews and Gentiles, 2007, p. 141).

No other nation has overturned the destiny of all humanity as much as the Jewish people has. It gave the world the Bible and the greatest prophets. Its spiritual and moral laws still hold sway over all of humankind, influencing entire civilizations. It gave birth to Christianity, Islam and many secular moral teachings. It provided humankind with a messianic hope for the future and endowed human beings with dignity and responsibility.

In his work The Gifts of the Jews, non-Jewish author Thomas Cahill said: "We [gentiles] can hardly get up in the morning or cross the street without being Jewish. We dream Jewish dreams and hope Jewish hopes. Most of our best words, in fact - new, adventure, surprise; unique, individual, person, vocation; time, history, future; freedom, progress, spirit; faith, hope, justice - are the gifts of the Jews" (1999, p. 241).

After 2,000 years of exile, and after the inconceivable cruelty of the Holocaust, we returned to our homeland.

The Jew must pay a high price just to remain a Jew. And history has constantly asked us why we are still prepared to do so. After all, being a Jew seems to be an utterly heartrending experience. The only answer is expressed by Abraham Joshua Heschel: "Our existence is either superfluous or indispensable to the world" (God in Search of Man, 1976, p. 421). And we need to decide on which side we want to be.

Since the days when God called on Abraham, the first Jew, it became clear that we took on ourselves a holy mission - to be a "light to the nations" and to promote a way of living through which all of humankind would be blessed. And so we became indispensable and God's stake in history.

That gave us the power to overcome all our suffering. We believed in ourselves and, against all odds, considered ourselves privileged to serve mankind.

We should therefore never forget that we finally came home to our country, not as Israelis but as Jews. Otherwise, there is no land to return to.

There's little doubt that one of the main reasons we became an eternal people was the institution of Shabbat. The oft-quoted statement "More than Jews have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jews" remains as true as ever. Once we give up on its holiness, we are guilty of self-destruction. Modern Jewish history has proven this over and over again. Jewish assimilation began the same day that Jews forgot their Shabbat.

It is the day on which we are asked to put aside all the profanity of clattering commerce and the fury of greed; of trying to convince ourselves that we are the absolute owners of this world. It is a day of protest against all the external pomp, glitter and power. Its purpose is to turn the world into an island of tranquility in the stormy sea of worldliness, for one day each week.

But it is not only Jews who need Shabbat. All of humankind should have the merit to celebrate this holy day. Without it, the world collapses under its own weight. And it is the task of all of us, Jews and non-Jews, to ensure that this doesn't happen.

What happened last Saturday is very tragic. I'm happy for my people to have all the fun in the world, but never at the expense of their Shabbat, their mission, integrity and pride. It worries me terribly when a large number of our citizens, who are otherwise fine and proud people - some of them even religious - seem to be so mesmerized by so much dazzle and glitz, which sometimes lack the basics of all modesty and inner human beauty.

What is perhaps even more tragic is the fact that there wasn't even the slightest manifestation of anything Jewish. How great it would have been if a special havdalah ceremony had been sung in front of millions and millions of viewers throughout the entire world. It would have embodied such Jewish pride!

So here is my request to you. Perhaps you, together with the Shalva Band, Bernhard and Gates, could do what we traditional and religious Jews and our rabbis are seemingly unable to do: Convince our fellow Jews of the privilege of observing Shabbat; of how unique it is to be Jewish.

After all, the road to the sacred often runs through the secular.
The writer is the dean of Jerusalem's David Cardozo Academy and is the author of many books, including the best-seller Jewish Law as Rebellion. An international lecturer, his views are discussed on many media outlets. Find his weekly thoughts at www.cardozoacademy.org
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Dear Reader, As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall.

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After watching the Madonna's performance:
- heavily edited ("autotune")
- gas masks + flowers
- non-authentic
- Madonna centered
- "pushing"
- lyrics:
-> People from the past won't make it to the future
-> hint at German past?! -> victims of the Holocaust, Germans won't make it?