Sia forgot to look ‘alive’ onstage in Tel Aviv
Aussie singer relied on recordings in barely hour-long gig, according to disappointed fans who are going to court over it
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Sia fans were angry and disappointed with the Aussie singer’s performance last Thursday night, August 11, in Tel Aviv, and now they’re taking legal action.
A group of fans are filing a lawsuit against Sia and Tandi Productions – the promotion group that brought her to Israel – reportedly requesting a nearly NIS 8 million ($2 million) sum to be paid to all of the concert’s ticket holders.
The show was short — just over an hour — and included background music that was recorded, not live, and archival video clips of her shows, rather than broadcasts of the action on the stage.
“We felt cheated,” said Or Hirshfeld, one of the fans who paid nearly $100 for a ticket to the show. “The live show was an imitation of the recorded show and included actors and dancers who never set foot in Israel.”
3A Productions, the company that produced the concert, concurred with Hirshfeld’s depiction of the concert.
“Managing an artist is a tough job, especially when it’s a diva,” said a company spokesperson, who blamed promoter Ilan Elkayam and his company, Tandi Productions. “Tandi is a young company and beginners can make this kind of mistakes but we were definitely surprised since Ilan Elkayam has a consistent experience in this industry.”
According to Hirshfeld, he suspected that Sia wasn’t singing because her voice sounded “too perfect.” There was also a delay between the song and the movement of the singer’s lips.
“It sounded exactly like what you hear on YouTube or the radio,” he said.
There were also no new songs performed by Sia, or alterations made to any of her bigger hits, as singers tend to do while on tour.
It was a disappointment for fans, said Hirshfeld, who had come to expect visiting performers to speak to the audience and play around with their music, creating a different and unique sound.
“There was no connection to the audience or any energy onstage,” he said. “She just stood there during the whole performance, toward the back of the stage and didn’t say anything other than ‘Thank You’ when the show was over.”
