Golden gradeGolden grade

Back to books for Eurovision also-ran

Nadav Guedj, back from 9th-place finish at contest, can’t escape the responsibilities of a 16-year-old

Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center

Nadav Guedj, Israel's Eurovision 2015 star, at rehearsals last week (Courtesy Nadav Guedj Instagram)
Nadav Guedj, Israel's Eurovision 2015 star, at rehearsals last week (Courtesy Nadav Guedj Instagram)

It was a rude return to reality for 16-year-old Nadav Guedj, whose song “Golden Boy” won Israel a creditable ninth place at this year’s Eurovision contest.

Interviewed by “Good Evening with Guy Pines” upon his return to Israel, Guedj said that performing at the annual song contest was great, but he now had to go home and study.

“I have my matriculation exam in Bible on Thursday,” he said.

Israel had missed out on the Eurovision finals for five years before this weekend’s contest. Guedj’s ninth place out of 27 competing nations marked something of a return to form for Israel, which has won the contest three times in the past.

In a revealing Instagram post, Guedj wrote that what he’s gone through since winning the second season of the reality show “The Next Star” has been like being “in another world that is new, sometimes strange, sometimes tiring, serious, requiring hard work, perseverance, focus and many other things.”

The pop singer’s career is just getting started. Guedj will perform on June 6 in Shuni Binyamina with local singer Harel Skaat, who sang at the Eurovision in 2010. Skaat is to open for American pop band One Republic at Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park on Thursday night.

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