Rita Makes a Cameo on a Thursday Night

Last Thursday instead of unwinding after a long week in front of the TV or at the gym, I found myself standing in a crowded club at 3 in the morning watching a “surprise” performance by an Israeli singer named Rita. Rita is a well known and well liked Israeli singer who has been around for decades. Some even liken her to Madonna. Israel is a small country and the music scene is proportional. Rita is a musical icon whose career is worth a spot on Israeli E news. To spare you all of the grueling details, after divorcing another well known musician, Rami Kleinstein, and being off the radar for a few years, Rita is back…and trying to show the world that she is better than ever.

So where do I fit into this gossip column, you may be asking yourselves? A good friend of mine just happens to be Rita’s new guitarist and that night I was having dinner with him and some others. Around 11 pm when I was ready to call it a night, he mentioned that he had to get back to the club soon and asked the rest of us if we wanted to come along. Who was I to pass up the opportunity?

Rita has many admirers, but none as avid as the homosexual community. And so that night for the first time I saw what it was like to see a roomful of men go crazy to see their most revered female icon show up unexpectedly and sing a few songs. As we walked into the gay club we of course knew what was going on so we strategically situated ourselves in front of the stage. As Rita took her place we found it difficult to hold our ground as the men pushed us forward and got in front of us, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves and not get trampled. When the show was over and the guys started dancing again we pushed our way back out. We then jumped in a cab and I was home by 4.

The longer I live in Tel Aviv the more I can see why people compare it to New York. It may be much smaller but it is certainly not a boring city and there is most definitely something for everyone.