Tweet
ISRAELI "CELINE DION," PERSIAN SENSATION ANDY AND A SONG OF UNITY
The Jewish Journal of Greater L.A.
http://www.jewishjournal.com/bloggish/item/israeli_celine_dion_persian_sensation_andy_and_a_s ong_of_unity_20120806/
Aug 6 2012
Performing at the Greek Theatre last weekend, 23-year-old Israeli
singer and philanthropist Liel Kolet joined Iranian-Armenian pop star
Andy for a song of peace.
The power ballad, "We Hear Your Voice," brought together Andy and
Kolet and musicians from across the world, including exiled Afghan
singer Ehsan Aman; "Korea's Got Talent" star and South Korean opera
singer Sung Bong Choi and American singer Shani Rigsbee, Andy's wife.
"Coming from Israel," it was particularly meaningful for Kolet to
take part in the performance, she said, onstage.
"I'm really happy to be here and take part in this beautiful thing...to
promote peace is something that I love and to let all the people all
over the world know we hear your voice," she said.
Made up of thousands of people in attendance at the Aug. 4 concert,
the crowd swooned, including Oren Nadav, 28, a general contractor who
was born in Tel Aviv and lives in Sherman Oaks and attended with his
Armenian girlfriend, who is a big Andy fan. Nadav didn't know who
Kolet was prior to the show-and he didn't know that she'd be coming
out to perform - but given his personal connection to Israel and
Israel's ongoing conflict with Iran, he was happy to see Kolet and
Andy perform together.
"I love it. I actually think it's great," he said. "We need peace in
the world, and in Israel it's not so easy to have peace."
"I love it," he said one more time, dancing with his girlfriend.
A popular vocalist in Persian and Armenian communities who has
performed all over the world and released more than one dozen albums,
Andy (real name: Andranik Madadian) headlined the two-and-half hour
performance on Saturday night. He performed with a 12-piece band and
blended dance music, Middle Eastern rhythms, pop vocals and Farsi
lyrics. Born in Tehran and currently living in Los Angeles, Andy is
internationally known. But his music is banned in Iran.
On Saturday, thousands of Armenians and Iranians of all ages -
including couples, groups of friends and families-attended his concert.
"Put your hands together and clap!" Andy yelled in Farsi between
songs. The audience abided.
Relentlessly high energy throughout the evening, and reveling in
the adoration, Andy invited Kolet onstage to perform one song with
him around 90 minutes into the concert, which began at 8:30 p.m. and
lasted until 11 p.m.
Born on a kibbutz in northern Israel, Kolet's participation in charity
events has put her onstage with artists such as Elton John, U2's Bono
and Andrea Boccelli and she has even sung with Bill Clinton. She has
tried to establish herself as an international Celine Dion.
"We Hear Your Voice," the song that Kolet performed with Andy and
the others, was written by Rigsbee as part of a charity project to
improve children's welfare throughout the world.
Andy's brother and manager, Varouj Madadian, said that the concert's
message was a "message of unity. The only message we have tonight."
"Every human in the world is the same, and the message is only unity,"
he said.
Varouj also said that Andy has performed in Israel as recently as
last year.
Also among the crowd: 20-year-old Israeli student and Beverly Hills
resident Avital Hasid. Attending with her Middle Eastern friends,
Hasid is half-Persian and said she grew up with Andy's music.
"I was just very proud of it. I didn't expect an Israeli person to
be here. I thought it was going to be a Middle Eastern thing, but I
was glad to see her represent," she said of Golet appearing.
If there were other Israelis in the crowd, they were scarce, but
even non-Israelis appreciated the gesture of Kolet and Andy appearing
together.
The collaboration sent the right message," said 33-year-old Baha'i
Persian P.J. Hak. "The Iranian and Israeli governments [are] not
good together, [but] at least if we're doing something like this,
[it] brings all the people together," Hek said. "It shows we don't
care what the government does." Hak had traveled from Atlanta for the
show, and the wallpaper on his cell phone is a photo of him and Andy.
Hak also spoke of his connection to Israel. He has visited Haifa,
where there is a place of worship for the Baha'i community, he said.
His life involves border-less connections between cultures, much like
the evening's concert.
From: A. Papazian
The Jewish Journal of Greater L.A.
http://www.jewishjournal.com/bloggish/item/israeli_celine_dion_persian_sensation_andy_and_a_s ong_of_unity_20120806/
Aug 6 2012
Performing at the Greek Theatre last weekend, 23-year-old Israeli
singer and philanthropist Liel Kolet joined Iranian-Armenian pop star
Andy for a song of peace.
The power ballad, "We Hear Your Voice," brought together Andy and
Kolet and musicians from across the world, including exiled Afghan
singer Ehsan Aman; "Korea's Got Talent" star and South Korean opera
singer Sung Bong Choi and American singer Shani Rigsbee, Andy's wife.
"Coming from Israel," it was particularly meaningful for Kolet to
take part in the performance, she said, onstage.
"I'm really happy to be here and take part in this beautiful thing...to
promote peace is something that I love and to let all the people all
over the world know we hear your voice," she said.
Made up of thousands of people in attendance at the Aug. 4 concert,
the crowd swooned, including Oren Nadav, 28, a general contractor who
was born in Tel Aviv and lives in Sherman Oaks and attended with his
Armenian girlfriend, who is a big Andy fan. Nadav didn't know who
Kolet was prior to the show-and he didn't know that she'd be coming
out to perform - but given his personal connection to Israel and
Israel's ongoing conflict with Iran, he was happy to see Kolet and
Andy perform together.
"I love it. I actually think it's great," he said. "We need peace in
the world, and in Israel it's not so easy to have peace."
"I love it," he said one more time, dancing with his girlfriend.
A popular vocalist in Persian and Armenian communities who has
performed all over the world and released more than one dozen albums,
Andy (real name: Andranik Madadian) headlined the two-and-half hour
performance on Saturday night. He performed with a 12-piece band and
blended dance music, Middle Eastern rhythms, pop vocals and Farsi
lyrics. Born in Tehran and currently living in Los Angeles, Andy is
internationally known. But his music is banned in Iran.
On Saturday, thousands of Armenians and Iranians of all ages -
including couples, groups of friends and families-attended his concert.
"Put your hands together and clap!" Andy yelled in Farsi between
songs. The audience abided.
Relentlessly high energy throughout the evening, and reveling in
the adoration, Andy invited Kolet onstage to perform one song with
him around 90 minutes into the concert, which began at 8:30 p.m. and
lasted until 11 p.m.
Born on a kibbutz in northern Israel, Kolet's participation in charity
events has put her onstage with artists such as Elton John, U2's Bono
and Andrea Boccelli and she has even sung with Bill Clinton. She has
tried to establish herself as an international Celine Dion.
"We Hear Your Voice," the song that Kolet performed with Andy and
the others, was written by Rigsbee as part of a charity project to
improve children's welfare throughout the world.
Andy's brother and manager, Varouj Madadian, said that the concert's
message was a "message of unity. The only message we have tonight."
"Every human in the world is the same, and the message is only unity,"
he said.
Varouj also said that Andy has performed in Israel as recently as
last year.
Also among the crowd: 20-year-old Israeli student and Beverly Hills
resident Avital Hasid. Attending with her Middle Eastern friends,
Hasid is half-Persian and said she grew up with Andy's music.
"I was just very proud of it. I didn't expect an Israeli person to
be here. I thought it was going to be a Middle Eastern thing, but I
was glad to see her represent," she said of Golet appearing.
If there were other Israelis in the crowd, they were scarce, but
even non-Israelis appreciated the gesture of Kolet and Andy appearing
together.
The collaboration sent the right message," said 33-year-old Baha'i
Persian P.J. Hak. "The Iranian and Israeli governments [are] not
good together, [but] at least if we're doing something like this,
[it] brings all the people together," Hek said. "It shows we don't
care what the government does." Hak had traveled from Atlanta for the
show, and the wallpaper on his cell phone is a photo of him and Andy.
Hak also spoke of his connection to Israel. He has visited Haifa,
where there is a place of worship for the Baha'i community, he said.
His life involves border-less connections between cultures, much like
the evening's concert.
From: A. Papazian