The first international real album of our diva in English. And that's the trouble: she'd better take English lessons - accent and pronunciation. Her accent is antiseptic everywhere on this record. Good for a straight audience. Dana's madness is over, even though until now she has been possessed by the demon of ethno dance! All the surprises promised to us by Dana herself in exclusive interviews are gone: no duet with Boy George, no crazy track, no 'Mister President' - the long awaited anti-Monica Lewinsky song. It features only eurodance with a Dutch feel (Bolland brothers) and Swedish (C&N) remixes of 'Woman in love' and 'Free'. A good album all in all - if you don't think about all we were expecting. Our heart beats for 'Dror yikra', which she sang in the last Eurovision, and the only original track is 'Ani ohevet' in which she returns to her roots. 'Glamourous' sounds like Modern Talking!! As a gift, the "queen of shabbat" gives us a dance remix of her hit 'Diva'.

 

It's fairly unusual to read the whole booklet and never see the name of the artist the record is named after pop up. Accordingly, in Free's case we're dealing with a clear producer botch job where real instruments have been used on and off to combine European pop rhythms with an ethnic sound. The lyrics have been written by different songwriters, and the famous Stevie Wonder must see 'Free' go through the producer's meat grinder twice, finally that's what the album is called. Dana International, the Eurovision Song Contest winner who has lived as a man under the name Yaron, steers through the dance-popsongs with only her voice, and even this is sadly also - singingwise - not too impressive. The sole exception is the song 'If you don't love me the way I am' reminding us a little of earlier Madonna-songs with its quiet feel. This song is unfortunately not representative for the whole album. Taking only one look at the music (unavoidable in Dana International's case), you'll find a modern Jeanne D'Arc in the singer, who has done a lot for sexual tolerance with her mere presence. An ambivalent matter.
Highlight: 'If you don't love me the way I am' (track 7)

 

She won the Eurovision this year, and for us she came from nowhere. The fact is that Dana International has done quite a lot in her life. By Arild Rønsen, Puls.

It's maybe not that strange that most people haven't heard of an Israeli dance artist? Probably not, but she is rumoured to have sold some 1 million records in the Arab world, and her first single 'My name is not Sa'ida' (built on Whitney Houston's 'My name is not Susan') actually went to the top of the club dance chart in California. It was released in 1992, and since then she has released an album and an EP - in addition to her victory in the Eurovision.

Here is a collection of her musical achievements to this day, some of them remixed - and it's not difficult to grasp that this is a hit on the dance floors. Dana International represents heavy disco. All is electronic, of course, but miles away from the European disco sound à la Aqua. And - with a noticeable Middle Eastern finish.

Watch out for this record. If you like Dana International after her victory in the Eurovision Song Contest with VIVA LA DIVA then do her a favour - boycot this trash. This is NOT her new album, but a sad hotchpotch of demo tapes and discarded recordings. Now Polygram has bought the rights to these pathetic techno tracks and try to foist the rubbish on her fans. This does NOT sound like VIVA LA DIVA, which of course isn't even included. Wait for Dana's own record instead. AT

 

Seldom have zealous Jews and Arabs been more united: the Israeli singer Dana International, once a man, is a scandal. In May the twenty-six-year-old singer won the European song competition. The winning song "Diva" is unfortunately not included in her first Europe-released "Album"-- for copyright reasons. Therefore there are House songs up to five years old, from the time when Dana used to appear in Israeli discos as an aspiring starlet. It would have been better not to warm over these stale dance titles. For an international pop career the glamorous Dana urgently needs a breakthrough hit.

 

Since her fantastic victory with 'Diva' in the Eurovision Song Contest in Birmingham, her name has become a household name: Dana International has managed to bring a bit more glamour into the dusty competition. Now the Lady of Israeli Pop presents 'The Album' - a collection of what she was up to before the Birmingham. There Dana, who is known as Sharon Cohen in private, makes use of southern rhythms. In 'Dana International', there are clear influences of Hebrew music, 'Don Quixote' is Flamenco-pop whereas the Italo-house track 'Cinque milla' goes in a clearly European direction. 'The Album' is great pop, easy to listen to - however: Dana is more interesting for her political impact (as a transsexual in Israel) than for musical individuality. (RM)