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| Rose Fostanes |
During
the annual Philippine International Jazz Festival, the Embassy of Israel
usually brings to the country music acts from Israel
enabling Filipinos hear their own brand of jazz music. But for this year, a
truly special music act was brought instead: X Factor Israel
winner Rose Fostanes, the former caregiver who emerged triumphant in the
televised reality talent competition.
RoseFostanes headlining the concert is even made more significant as the Embassy of
Israel, in line with the 70th anniversary of the liberation of
Manila, is embarking on a Thank You,
Philippines campaign to express gratitude to the Philippines in opening her
doors to Jewish refugees during the time of President Quezon and also to the
country’s vote in UN Resolution 181 that established the State of Israel. So
what better way to celebrate a great friendship between the two nations than a
concert featuring a Filipina who made it big in Israel ?
Opening
the show with her X-Factor Israel audition piece, This is My Life, Rose belted out You and I, Purple Rain, The Best, Beautiful, Valerie, I (Who Have Nothing), and Born this Way, that captured the hearts
of the competition judges and the Israeli public paving the way for her to
advance to the show’s succeeding rounds. Backed up by the Sesame Band, Fostanes
also performed If I Ain’t Got You,
the Freddie Aguilar classic Anak, and
Schma Israel which she sang in
Hebrew.
Special
guest Arthur Manuntag joined Rose in a duet of Endless Love before singing a medley of standards. Pinoy Dream
Academy 2 winner Laarni Lozada breezed through a Whitney Houston medley as the
concert’s opening act.
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| Israeli Ambassador Effie Ben Matityau and Rose Fostanes |
In
between songs, Rose recalled and shared moments of her life to the audience. She
confessed that she was bullied as a child, came from a broken family, and had
to work at an early age. And through it all, she found solace in singing. She
then narrated her stint as a caregiver in Egypt
and Lebanon
before ending up in Israel .
It was in Israel
where she resumed her singing and this eventually led her to join that country's X Factor. And
the rest as we all know is history.
Rose
wrapped up the concert with her winning song My Way. This song may be notorious as the cause of brawls (even
deaths) during drunken videoke sessions but for Rose, this song sealed her
victory instead. She admitted that since winning the competition, she hasn’t
done anything major yet in the country until this concert at the Music Museum .
After
the concert, Israeli Ambassador Effie Ben Matityau presented Rose with a certificate
naming her as an Ambassador of Goodwill.
