'Hava Nagila' enters race for Christmas No. 1 in Britain

 

Hava Nagila' enters race for Christmas No. 1 in Britain

By  Sara Miller, Haaretz Correspondent
 


British  singer Lauren Rose has released a modern version of traditional Jewish song  "Hava Nagila," and gambling pundits have even given odds on the song to take  the top spot in the U.K. Christmas pop charts.



According  the British newspaper The Sun, bookmaker William Hill has given 17-year-old  Lauren Rose a 16-1 shot at having Britain's best-selling song on December  25.



The  Sun also reports that Lauren's father, Mark Goldberg, has quit his job as boss  of Bromley Football Club to manage his daughter's music career.



Lauren's  version of "Hava Nagila" is not the first by contemporary acts from both the  pop and classical worlds. The list of musicians to perform the song includes  Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Harry Belafonte, Julie Andrews, Ben Folds and  violinist and conductor Andre Rieu.



The  song, whose title translates as "Let Us Rejoice," is de rigueur at Jewish  celebrations, and is widely attributed to Abraham Zvi Idelsohn, who is  believed to have penned the song at the close of World War One.



Watch  Lauren Rose's performance of "Hava Nagila":


click on  below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgdHjWPuCrI&eurl=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=935420