He’s the Israeli stud known for his gym-honed body and sun-kissed skin. And on Wednesday Imri Ziv made the most of it during a skin-tillating performance of his song “I Feel Alive” inside the International Exhibition Centre.

The performance starts off dimly lit, with Imri standing before a grey-and-white circular display. We soon see a large image of him in a tank top on the LED and, as he says he breaks into pieces, the image does just that before the stage explodes with light. At times it’s a sizzling red-orange — with lots of pyro sparks. But when he goes quiet and enters the slower verses, the lights dim again and he’s surrounded by Sanna Nielsen “Undo” like lighting. Shards of glass seem to shatter behind him.

Showing off his biceps in a black vest and a pair of matching spray-on trousers, he’s ready for the club. So naturally he’s joined by two dancers who perform energetic choreography. During the bridge of the song his backing vocalists emerge from the shadows and join in on the fun, performing simple moves in unison in a bid to get the audience moving along with them.

And what’s a guy’s best accessory at the club? Swagger and attitude, honey. Imri serves both in spades, playing to the camera with his smouldering eyes and cheeky grin. He knows he’s got it — and he’s not afraid to flaunt it.

Vocally this has improved significantly, owing to Imri’s new-found confidence and quality backing vocalists. There are, of course, some difficult notes in this, and at times he did falter. But with this strong rehearsal behind him, the only way is up.

IMRI — “I Feel Alive”: Reviews and Reactions

Israel: First rehearsal at Eurovision 2017

Israel: First press conference 2017

Read all of our Eurovision rehearsal reviews

Read all of our Israeli Eurovision news here

Photo: Eurovision.tv (EBU)

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C1
C1
6 years ago

Love it so much!!! 12 points to ISRAEL!

Hemiltonn
Hemiltonn
6 years ago

Perfect.

escphbelgium
escphbelgium
6 years ago

Not related to this subject or anything but which two contestants do you ship in this year’s Eurovision?

ks
ks
6 years ago
Reply to  escphbelgium

Are Belarus married with each other???
I ship
– Demy+Salvador
– Levina + Joci
– Claudia Faniello + Imri
– Kasia + Alex Florea
– Francesco + Omar

loren
loren
6 years ago

Yesss go imri , go israel..
Love it 🙂

Darren
Darren
6 years ago

I love Israel’s entry this year, its growing more and more each day. Also I’m in love with Imri Ziv. He’ll qualify for sure, might just scrape into the top 15, but I am in love with the song.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
6 years ago

I feel bad because this song was starting to grow on me a bit. Definitely does not have Golden Boy staging going for it. I was really disappointed.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
6 years ago

Well, good to know his looks will distract everyone from the lackluster song. I’m afraid the stage feels kinda empty for this type of song though?

Ern
Ern
6 years ago

This is not as good as Golden Boy.

He’ll likely qualify, but I see this just shy of the top 10.

Nike
Nike
6 years ago

Why he is damn hot.Never wanted somebody luke him

Americanvision
Americanvision
6 years ago

At least he’s hot. Ah a pregnant woman can dream!

Anyway, along with Switzerland, I was a little disappointed. I expected something different, not Golden Boy 2.0 with self-indulgent LED images of him on screen.

Héctor
Héctor
6 years ago

Another country with its contestant in the LED…

Denisse
Denisse
6 years ago
Reply to  Héctor

I thought the same, but now Internet think this is a distraction and at the semi finals ande final web will see the real background, maybe not with Israel but with Australia and some others, if not, it will be really boring

Paysbart
Paysbart
6 years ago
Reply to  Denisse

Oh no… of course it’s not a distraction. After the first viewing some countries will chance some things on the Led for sure.. but I think the countries with the big faces behind them on the wall already made those images at home… so i’m sure we will see a lot of them next week…. a bit too much i’m afraid

Gio
Gio
6 years ago

This song doesn`t bring anything new to this contest. It is a formula that has been repeated over the last few years. Many similarities to the “Golden Boy” style, but with less impact.

Concheetah
Concheetah
6 years ago

Yummy!!

Nicole
Nicole
6 years ago

I like him so much, he’s so cute and sweet, and humble… He seems so nice, always smiling… I love his party song, this has to qualify! Go IMRI!

Joe
Joe
6 years ago

Tbh, very weak performance. He should train his vocals more than his muscles.

M_K
M_K
6 years ago

In the snippet, his arm movement seem to be offbeat. I also think this is the staging that features the performer in the backdrops that makes the least sense. Everything looks a little cheap, it seems like it’s all about his looks…

M_K
M_K
6 years ago
Reply to  M_K

*movements

AngieP
AngieP
6 years ago

I like the colours and the whole staging with the dancers etc! Imri should work on his dance routine! Overall, it was a good performance!

However, I need to say this: What is happening with the faces on the LED? I’ve really lost the number!

Australia, Montenegro and Moldova in the 1st semi!
Malta, Croatia, Estonia and Israel in the 2nd semi!
I don’t know if I missed someone! I mean…7 countries! Come on!

However, I have to say Moldova and Estonia had it since their NF so it’s ok! It fits!

Pablo
Pablo
6 years ago

Dunno if the lack of pictures is due to the swiftness to post the rehearsal articles or so to not spoil details for bypassers of the blog, but I really appreciate it! I often like to be surprised come the semifinals.

But sometimes, you know the curiosity hits, and I repeat, you all are sleeping on Israel! Can’t wait to see this on the big stage and exceed all expectations.

ks
ks
6 years ago
Reply to  Pablo

The lack of pictures is to prevent the blog from crashing, because are many readers during this time of the year.