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Diva (Dana International song)

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"Diva"
Single by Dana International
from the album Free
LanguageHebrew
Released25 May 1998 (1998-05-25)[1]
Genre
Length3:02
LabelCNR Music, Dance Pool
Composer(s)Tzvika Pick
Lyricist(s)Yoav Ginai
Producer(s)Offer Nissim, Arrangements by Alon Levin
Dana International singles chronology
"Diva"
(1998) 		"Makat hom (i la dirla da da)"
(2002)
Eurovision Song Contest 1998 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Yoav Ginai
Finals performance
Final result
1st
Final points
172[a]
Entry chronology
◄ "Amen" (1995)
"Yom Huledet (Happy Birthday)" (1999) ►

"Diva" (Hebrew: דיווה) is a song recorded by Israeli singer Dana International with music composed by Tzvika Pick and lyrics written by Yoav Ginai. It represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 held in Birmingham, resulting in the country's third win in the contest. Her win is considered influential in making trans identity mainstream.

Background

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Conception

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The music of "Diva" was composed by Svika Pick, with lyrics written by Yoav Ginai [he]. The song was produced by Offer Nissim with music arrangements by Alon Levin[3] It was recorded by Dana International in Hebrew and English and was included on her fifth album, Free released in 1999.

The song is a moderately uptempo number. It is an ode to powerful women of history and mythology: Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory or Queen Victoria, Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty and love, and the Greek queen Cleopatra are named.[4]

Eurovision

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The Israeli Broadcasting Authority (IBA) internally selected "Diva" as its song for the 43rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, becoming the Israeli entry –and Dana International the performer– for the contest.[5]

On 9 May 1998, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham hosted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and broadcast live throughout the continent. The selection of Dana International's song caused so much controversy amongst conservative groups in Israel that on her arrival in Britain, police escorts and security were required continuously. She performed "Diva" in Hebrew eighth on the evening, following Poland's "To takie proste" by Sixteen and preceding Germany's "Guildo hat euch lieb!" by Guildo Horn. She wore a silver blue dress designed by Israeli designer Galit Levi [he] and was backed by four other female singers wearing black. It involved no dancing and no live orchestral accompaniment.[6]

At the close of voting, the song had received 172 points,[a] placing first in a field of twenty-five, and winning the contest.[7] After the results were announced, Dana International caused a stir by arriving to the presentation late after a long delay, because she changed into an extravagant costume designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier adorned with bird feathers before performing the reprise. This was Israel's third victory in the contest and, as they had not entered the previous year's contest, they achieved the unusual distinction of having won a contest the year after not competing.

The song became the last entry entirely in a language other than English to win the contest until 2007. As the song did not have any live orchestral accompaniment, the interval act was the last time live music from an orchestra was used in the contest, as the 1999 contest lacked the necessary budget and was held in a venue not large enough to hold one.[8] The song was succeeded in 1999 as contest winner by "Take Me to Your Heaven" by Charlotte Nilsson for Sweden. It was succeeded as Israeli representative at the 1999 contest by "Yom Huledet (Happy Birthday)" by Eden.

Aftermath

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Dana International's win is considered influential in making trans identity mainstream.[9]

"Diva" was one of fourteen songs chosen by Eurovision fans and a European Broadcasting Union (EBU) reference group, from among the 992 songs that had ever participated in the contest, to participate in the fiftieth anniversary competition Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest held on 22 October 2005 in Copenhagen.[10] It was re-enacted by Dana International along with six dancers equipped with giant feathered fans and a live orchestra as the original footage was shown in the background. It came 13th in the final voting.[11]

Dana International would go on to participate in the 2011 contest with "Ding Dong" placing 15th in the second semi-final and not competing in the grand final.[12] On 31 March 2015, she performed "Diva" in the Eurovision sixtieth anniversary show Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits held in London.[13][14] On 18 May 2019, she performed it as part of the opening act of the 2019 contest grand final held in Tel Aviv.[15]

Track listings

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Digital release

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Despite its legacy as a well remembered Eurovision winner, as of 2018, the song was unavailable on digital music platforms (with the sole exception of Scandinavia). Efforts were made to get the rights holders to release the song digitally;[22][23] the efforts finally paid off, as on 11 April 2019 the English version of the song was released, with the Hebrew version following the week after.[24]

Chart history

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Belgium (BEA)[44] Gold 25,000*
Sweden (GLF)[45] Gold 15,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b After the broadcast it was announced that Televisión Española wrongly tallied the Spanish votes and Germany should have got the top mark – 12 points – instead of being snubbed, as it happened. The mistake was corrected and so Germany was placed seventh over Norway. Israel and Norway both received two points less than originally and Croatia, Malta, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Estonia and Turkey all received one point less than indicated during the broadcast. Originally Estonia, Cyprus and Portugal had tied for 11th place with 37 points but because Portugal and Estonia received one point less than indicated during the broadcast, Cyprus was placed 11th over Estonia and Portugal.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Dana International – Diva" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  2. ^ Stevenson, Jack (2001). "Eurovision: The Candy-Coated Song Factory". In Cooper, Kim; Smay, David (eds.). Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth. Los Angeles: Feral House. pp. 173–176. In 1998, an Israeli transsexual, Dana International, triumphed over a Maltese farm girl (Chiara) in the last round of voting with a catchy disco tune.
  3. ^ ACUM Website
  4. ^ "Diva - lyrics". The Diggiloo Thrush.
  5. ^ "National Selections: 1998". Eurovisionworld.
  6. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1998". Eurovision Song Contest. 9 May 1998. BBC / EBU.
  7. ^ "Official Eurovision Song Contest 1998 scoreboard". Eurovision Song Contest.
  8. ^ "History - Eurovision Song Contest 1999". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  9. ^ Barlow, Eve (10 May 2018). "Viva la diva! How Eurovision's Dana International made trans identity mainstream". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  10. ^ Bakker, Sietse (16 June 2005). "The 14 songs for Copenhagen". ESCtoday.
  11. ^ "Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision Song Contest. 22 October 2005. DR / EBU.
  12. ^ ""Ding Dong" at the Official Eurovision Song Contest 2011". Eurovision Song Contest.
  13. ^ "Diva" on YouTube at Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits
  14. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits". Eurovision Song Contest. 3 April 2015. BBC / EBU.
  15. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2019 grand final". Eurovision Song Contest. 18 May 2019. IPBC / EBU.
  16. ^ Diva (UK & Australian CD1 liner notes). Dana International. Dance Pool. 1998. DANA1CD, 666145 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  17. ^ Diva (UK & Australian CD2 liner notes). Dana International. Dance Pool. 1998. DANA1CDX, 666145 5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ^ Diva (UK cassette single eleeve). Dana International. Dance Pool. 1998. DANA1MC.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  19. ^ Diva (European CD single liner notes). Dana International. CNR Music. 1998. 5300294.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ^ Diva (European remixes CD single liner notes). Dana International. CNR Music. 1998. 5300306.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. ^ Diva (French remixes 12-inch single sleeve). Dana International. CNR Music France. 1998. 3041086.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  22. ^ @Pop_Activism (26 January 2018). "Still trying to find out who owns the rights to Diva by Dana International with no luck. It's online but only in Scandinavia" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. ^ @Pop_Activism (6 February 2018). "So who the f*** does own Diva by Dana International?" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. ^ @Pop_Activism (11 April 2019). "Pop Activism Alert!🚨🚨We've got Diva, Dana International's 1998 #Eurovision winner onto @Spotify & @AppleMusic 🇮🇱🇪🇺Thanks @SonyUK for handling our request & putting on in time for #esc2019 in the countries they hold rights* Hebrew version next week!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  26. ^ "Dana International – Diva" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  27. ^ "Dana International – Diva" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  28. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 15, no. 27. 4 July 1998. p. 10. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  29. ^ "Dana International: Diva" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat.
  30. ^ "Dana International – Diva" (in French). Les classement single.
  31. ^ "Dana International – Diva" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  32. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (03.07.1998 – 10.07.1998)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 3 July 1998. p. 13. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  33. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Diva". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  34. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Dana International" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  35. ^ "Dana International – Diva" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  36. ^ "Dana International – Diva". VG-lista.
  37. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  38. ^ "Dana International – Diva". Singles Top 100.
  39. ^ "Dana International – Diva". Swiss Singles Chart.
  40. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  41. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1998" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  42. ^ "Rapports annuels 1998" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  43. ^ "Årslista Singlar, 1998" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  44. ^ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – singles 1998". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  45. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
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Preceded by Eurovision Song Contest winners
1998 		Succeeded by
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