My kids listen to a lot of pop music, both Israeli and international. They like to look at youtube videos of music, and occasionally I learn about singers from them. The other day my son was looking at videos of “Music School”, which is an Israeli reality show where kids audition, and if they are “accepted” they get a famous singer to tutor them, and then they perform.
All of the kids had good voices, of course. Some were precocious to the extreme (one nine year old actually turned my stomach). Then I heard Michel Cohen, and I knew I had to put up the videos of him singing, at both his audition and his subsequent performance onstage.
Part of the charm of the show is showing the child with his family at home. Michel is from a traditional home and lives in Dimona, and he learned to sing while in the synagogue. The following video is a combination of his audition and the home visit. At the end of the audition he has two stars fighting with each other to be his teacher, and eventually Yehoram Gaon wins. (Sorry, all of this is in Hebrew, but the charm comes through even without translation).
He performs “Barcelona” on television, and I get goosebumps listening to him. Michel’s father is shown backstage, and at the end of the performance, when he greets his son after his big triumph. The real kicker, for me at least, is that they interview Michel’s father for a few seconds after the performance, and he says that “thanks to G-d Michel is a good kid, and he learns Torah and prays nicely.” I got nachas from this father, who is proud of his kid for all of the right reasons.
West Bank Mama 
Dec 25, 2011 @ 22:36:15
Absolutely wonderful. Did you know that Yoram Gaon is from a very religious family? He’s telling the truth when he said that Michel reminds him of his own youth.