Yiddish song mystifies, then wows judges on Ukrainian version of ‘The Voice’
A Forverts reader has informed us that two former Ukrainian pop stars, known as The Alibi Sisters, recently performed the Yiddish song “Chiribim-Chiribom” at the blind auditions on the Ukrainian version of “The Voice.”
In the video, the judges, presumably none of them Jewish, initially appear mystified by the act – some sporting a slightly mocking grin, and then, one by one, each begins swaying to the beat, hand wavering over the button, resulting in an astonishing four-chair turn.
The clip has already garnered more than 950,000 views.
The duet, whose real names are Anna and Angelina Zavalskia, note on their YouTube channel, that their grandmother used to sing them the Yiddish folk song, Vu iz dos gesele? [Where is my street?] – and that record albums of The Barry Sisters, the popular American Yiddish duo from the 1940s to the 1970s, were a staple in their home.
Listening to them sing “Chiribim-Chiribom” – a Barry Sisters classic – is like listening to the iconic duo reincarnated.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rukhl Schaechter, Yiddish Editor