Don't stop me nowDon't stop me now

When Queen comes to town, show goes on with local singers

Russian Israeli Arkadi Duchin and ‘The Voice’ winner Leena Makhoul thrilled to open September 12 concert

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

Members of the band Queen with Adam Lambert (in gold lame), standing in for the beloved and deceased Freddie Mercury (Courtesy Queen)
Members of the band Queen with Adam Lambert (in gold lame), standing in for the beloved and deceased Freddie Mercury (Courtesy Queen)

With about a month before the members of legendary rock band Queen — with Adam Lambert standing in for the late, great Freddie Mercury — arrive for their first Israel concert on September 12, local promoters announced that Israeli singers Arkadi Duchin and Leena Makhoul will open the show at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park.

Duchin, a Russian-born Israeli pop and rock singer, said it is a huge honor to open for Queen.

“I first heard Queen in 1977 when I was a 13-year-old boy in Russia,” said Duchin, who first sang with fellow musician Micha Shitrit in the popular 1990s rock band, The Friends of Natasha. “This is a closing of a circle for me that wraps my heart, body and soul.”

Makhoul, an Arab Christian born in the US and raised in Acre, said she also grew up listening to Queen, and was bowled over by the thought of opening for them. The young singer won the second season of the Israeli version of reality music show “The Voice.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEBhpiT-V4g

“I have a million butterflies in my stomach,” said Makhoul.

Russian-Israeli rock singer Arkadi Duchin will open for Queen at their September 12, 2016 concert in Tel Aviv (Courtesy Arkadi Duchin)
Russian-Israeli rock singer Arkadi Duchin will open for Queen at their September 12, 2016 concert in Tel Aviv (Courtesy Arkadi Duchin)

Makhoul has something in common with Lambert, Queen’s current lead singer, who was a runner up on “American Idol” (for which he auditioned singing Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”).

Lambert has been filling the flamboyant shoes of the band’s beloved lead singer for the last two years.

Tickets for the September 12 concert range from NIS 890 and NIS 640 to NIS 340 for lawn seats.

 

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