Sheara Wilensky . com

In celebration of Israel’s 60th birthday, a fabulous display of celebrities, politicians and musicians entertained a sold-out audience last night at Radio City Music Hall in Rockefeller Center.

The night began with speeches from various political figures, including Israeli ambassadors and consuls, Governor David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. We even heard video messages from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and President George Bush, which was actually pretty cool. Natalie Portman then came on stage, as she was introduced as the host of the evening…what a cutie! Never heard her speak Hebrew before.

Rami Kleinstein and his orchestra opened the musical portion of the show, followed by a beat-boxing Matisyahu, who sang his hits “I Will Be Light” and “Jerusalem”. Matisyahu was surprisingly mellow, he usually jumps around like a Chasid and I expected him to be more crazy in celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut. He became a bit more lively upon joining Idan Raichel for a duet. Idan Raichel gave a great performance, as usual. When David Broza came on (I love him - amazing guitarist) he made the right choice performing his two most well-known songs, “Banu Lechan Mitachat LaShamayim” and “Yihieh Tov”.

David Broza was followed by Paul Shaffer of David Letterman fame, who came on together with Richard Belzer, aka “Munch” from Law and Order SVU. They did some sort of odd Yiddish musical shtick, not quite sure what that was…it was strange humor which maybe we could have done without, but hey, more Jewish celebs showing their support of Israel we’ll take.

The highlight of the evening for me was Yael Naim. You probably know her song “New Soul” from the MacBook Air commercial. She has a stunning voice and can really perform! Yael sat down at the piano, and gave a rendition of Britney Spears’ Toxic. It was awesome, a slow, sensual version of the song. I guess she was making fun of Britney (?) but her version was pretty excellent. Very unexpected from a poor-English speaking Israeli Frenchwoman. Hopefully someone was able to record that performance. I did however catch the second half of “New Soul”, check it out.

I’m sure all you foodies out there caught the season premiere of Top Chef last night.

Check out this fabulous review by my sister, Chef Monsta.

Blind Melon gave the second performance of their 5-month nationwide tour last night, March 1, 2008, at the sold out Hiro Ballroom at the Maritime Hotel in Chelsea. Shannon Hoon’s replacement, lead vocalist Travis Warren, surprisingly rocked the audience. I was unsure how they would perform with the new lead, given Shannon’s unique and easily distinguishable voice, but they did a great job. The sounds were familiar, the hits were all there. Many songs were dedicated to Shannon, such as “Change” Shannon’s favorite (and mine). The playlist included Soup, Galaxie, Toes Across the Floor, and of course No Rain. They also played new songs from their new album which will be out on April 22nd. Travis’ mother came out to join the vocals on Cheatem Street.

The sound quality was fantastic and the venue was small and intimate, only 250-300 tickets were sold. A lot of true fans were in the house. I was able to get pretty close to the stage. Check out a clip of No Rain.

For those of you who remember, the original Paradise Hotel aired on Fox in June 2003. What a fabulous show. A group of great-looking single men and women frolicking around a Caribbean hotel in bathing suits and cocktail dresses, with the ultimate goal of hooking up for a chance to win a large cash prize. I was completely hooked. I was addicted to that show like I was addicted to Melrose Place in the 90’s. I was sad to learn that Paradise Hotel was canceled after just one season.

The best part of the show was Dave Kerpen. He had a huge crush on the young dumb girl Charla. She didn’t want to hook up with him, but he used his brains to outwit everyone and made it to the final four. Check out Dave Kerpen’s blog. Apparently he is running for New York City Council in 2009. Hey, if he could outsmart the Paradise Hotel gang, he has my vote.

Another notable cast member was Toni Ferrari. Notable for me, because besides having a memorable personality on the show, I was very excited when I saw her that summer (while visiting Chicago) at a restaurant on Division (she didn’t see me!).

Now nearly 5 years later (desperate from the writer’s strike?), the reality television producers finally did something right. They created Paradise Hotel 2.

The show is not quite what it was 5 years ago. Maybe it’s because I’m older, maybe the cast is not as hot, or maybe because they replaced the catchy ‘Take Me Back to Paradise, I’m Gonna Pack My Bags and Leave Tonight’ theme song. But regardless, the formula is still the same and host Amanda Byram is still fabulous. Check it out Monday nights at 9 on UPN9.

I hope they bring back Dave as a surprise guest.