So, I just listened to Israel's eurovision song entry

[rockymountaindem]

I'd post this in the I/P forum, but it's not based on a recent article so I really can't do that. Leaving the political overtones of the song aside, as well as the bad clothing stylings of the band and the fact that I think it's kinda a cheesy song, one thing struck me about the way the singer sounded.

For starters, I'm a sucker for accents. I'm facinated by them, I always notice them, and my friends say I'm good at imitating non-American accents in English. I'd say my favorite non-American accents in our language are Russian, Irish and South African (Afrikkans). On the other side, I've frequently said that the Hebrew accent in English is one of the worst sounding ones I've ever heard. I think it's because Hebrew speakers try to use their throat way too much in a language which comes primarily from the mouth. But anyway...

The singer in that song had the trademark "I can't say the letter 'r'" Hebrew accent. Then he went into French. As someone who's taken several years of French classes, I could immediately tell that he had a very, very good French accent, which makes complete sense because the two languages treat the letter 'r' as a letter for the back of the throat, not the front of the throat like we do. Of all the things in that song, *that's* what jumped out at me. Interesting, eh?

[leftynyc]

1. I'm not familiar with this contest

Can you tell me more about it and what kind of song Israel entered. Thanks in advance.

[question everything]

3. The Eurovision

http://www.eurovision.tv/

and the words of the Israeli song

http://eurovil.iba.org.il/

[question everything]

2. Since Israel is a country of many immigrants

Hebrew would sound differently by Israelis with European roots or with Middle Eastern roots - where the r is more guttural - and by second and third generation Israelis.

[UndertheOcean]

4. I think the Hebrew accents where they pronounce the "kh" sound (as it should be )! are cool

By the way , who won this year ?

And BTW , my favorite Hebrew songs are the wons composed and sung by mizrahi artists ..