Doron Medalie

Doron Medalie דורון מדלי
Background information
Born	(1977-12-05) 5 December 1977 (age 43) Ramat Hasharon, Israel
Genres	Pop, Mizrahi
Years active	2001–present

Doron Medalie (Hebrew: דורון מדלי‎; born 5 December 1977)^[1] is an Israeli songwriter, composer and artistic director. His song “Toy” won the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.

Biography[]

Doron Medalie was raised in Ramat Hasharon. As a child he studied music and keyboards at the music school, theatre at the Habima national theatre and Alon performing- art high-school.^{[citation needed]} Later on, he studied screen-acting at the Sharon Alexander studio, Flamenco dancing at the Compass dance company, and Gaga lessons at the Batsheva Dance Company with Ohad Naharin.^{[citation needed]}

Music career[]

Medalie has written over 250 songs, ballads, Middle Eastern pop songs, children songs, soundtracks and theme songs for TV. He wrote "Tel Aviv Ya Habibi Tel Aviv" - the official anthem of Tel Aviv Gay Pride 2013.^[2] He has worked with Israeli singers including Eyal Golan, Shlomi Shabat, Omer Adam, Lior Narkis, and Harel Skaat. His solo album, Abyss, was released in 2008.^[3]

Medalie has coordinated the theme songs and soundtracks for many TV shows, among them Goalstar, The Unit, Bolywood. Royal Chef, The Bachelor, Split. Zagury Empire, Disney Israel, Summer Break Stories, North Star and Shavit Ventura Show.^{[citation needed]}

Television and stage career[]

As an artistic director, he started his career in 2000, as an assistant director of Yaron Meiri's Orpan Group. Together they were in charge of more than 100 commercial-stage-shows. His breakthrough was as artistic manager of the talent shows A Star is Born and Eyal Golan Is Calling You.^{[citation needed]} For more than ten years, he directed the Israeli Music Awards (ACUM) and the national Memorial Day ceremony.^{[citation needed]}

Views and opinions[]

In 2018, Medalie was critical of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for claiming that "everyone hates us."^[4] He said that the lyrics of the 2018 Eurovision-winning song "Toy" were inspired by the #MeToo movement, and that the song carries a message about "the awakening of female power and social justice".^[5]

Eurovision Song Contest[]

Medalie directed the Israeli entry for the Eurovision three times (Boaz Ma'uda - 2008, Harel Skaat - 2010, Moran Mazor - 2013).^[6]

He wrote and composed the Israeli entries for Eurovision 2015 and Eurovision 2016 - "Golden Boy" (Nadav Guedj),^[7] which ended 3rd in the semi-finals and was awarded a spot in the final on May 23, 2015, where he ended 9th with 97 points, and "Made of Stars" (Hovi Star),^[8] which ended 7th in the semi-finals and was awarded a spot in the final on May 14, 2016, where he ended 14th with 135 points.

Doron collaborated with Zvika Pick; together they wrote "Sing My Song" for Sofia Nizharadze (Eurovision pre-selection Georgia, 2010).^{[citation needed]}

For the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon (Portugal), he composed the music and wrote the lyrics together with composer Stav Beger for the winning song “Toy”, sung by Netta Barzilai.^[6]

In 2020, he wrote with Idan Raichel the song "Feker Libi" by Eden Alene, which would have represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, but it was canceled due to concerns regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

Notable songs[]

• Shlomi Shabat – "Aba", "Bereshit Olam"
• Eyal Golan – "Im yesh gan eden"
• Omer Adam – "Tel Aviv", "Why li", "Baniti allayich", "Names mimech"
• Lior Narkis – "Shaga'at-Tarefet", "Mahapecha shel simcha", "Amalia"
• Harel Skaat – "21st century"
• Maya Buskila – "Nishmati"
• Nadav Guedj – "Golden Boy"
• Hovi Star – "Made of Stars"
• Eleni Foureira – "Sto Theo me paei" (Cover of Golden Boy), "Ti koitas", "Come Tiki Tam", "Caramela", "Temperatura"^[9]
• Netta Barzilai – "Toy"
• Indira Levak – "You Will Never Break My Heart"

See also[]

• Music of Israel
• Television in Israel

References[]