The Beit Berl English Times 4th Issue 2012 - 2013 School of Education English Department Is Israel Becoming a Pop Empire? Yael Magner It seems that Israel is becoming a very popular stop for the biggest music stars. Barbra Streisand is coming to Israel to give a special concert at President Shimon Peres' 90th birthday celebration. The Jewish singing legend will perform for the president the opening night of the Israeli Presidential Conference on June 18th in Jerusalem. Streisand, who had visited Israel in the past, will hold a concert in Israel for the first time. Streisand will hold two more concerts on June 20th and on June 22nd. All the tickets were sold within an hour, despite the price starting at 400 NIS. In the recent years top musicians have come from around the world to give concerts in Israel. Queen of Pop, Madonna, started her world tour last year with a concert in Israel. Madonna’s concert took place in Ramat Gan on May 31st, 2012. Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Depeche Mode are some of the great names who have given concerts in Israel. Quite a few top international musicians have upcoming concerts in Israel, for example, Megastar Rihanna is returning to Israel to give a summer concert on October 22, 2013. Rihanna is the biggest pop star in the world nowadays. Now, all that is left for Israeli music lovers is for The Rolling Stones to also decide to come to Israel to perform. Megastar - Rihanna These pop stars who come to Israel give us a unique chance to add to our English lessons. Not only are many students fans, but the lyrics can be used for teaching purposes. Lessons could be made about either the stars themselves or their music. These can be used in close passages, unseens, or in order to practice writing or grammar. For example, this song by the Beatles uses simple present, and so, if the simple present verbs from the lyrics are left out and the song is played, the kids could fill in the words (either with or without a word bank): http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da-lyrics-The- Beatles/237A8B46AD3DB07448256BC200213116 The Beit Berl English Times 4th Issue 2012 - 2013 School of Education English Department Barbra Streisand .