Former Israeli Eurovision winner Neta Barzilai stirred up quite a few reactions among viewers who judged her appearance back in 2017 during her breakthrough.
But it seems that nowadays, more than ever Barzilai stands strong against the criticism and is aware of the importance of her presence on the screen and on stage.
Barzilai was in Los Angeles recently, for a three-week writing camp where she worked with the producer who accompanied Rihanna at the start of her career, and shares that instead of a hotel she "insists on renting an Airbnb."
"I prefer Airbnb, and to do my own grocery shopping," She says. In a hotel you have to eat their food for 3 weeks straight, I can't do it."
Barzilai says that for her, the food she choses to eat balances the energies in her body, before a concert. "I like to be energetic and light, although I'm a big girl by all accounts, I like to feel strong and have a lot of energy to perform," she says.
"I don't eat about six hours before a concert. I like to feel light. I'm satisfied with water and if I'm really, really hungry then something that the body can digest easily - things that are rich with water like a cucumber or a watermelon."
According to Barzilai, the criticism of her weight is not what drives her. "I don't know if I took on this representation upon myself by choice, I always say that the things I do, I do to take care of myself," she says.
"For instance, my song 'CEO', means I lose control of my life, and I need to regain it. And in another song where there is a huge rhino, it means I have to be in peace with myself and understand that I won't be some little blond girl," she says.
"I write songs because they express the things I feel inside, and when other people relate, it feels like therapy because we are not alone. I always say that energy is never one-sided, it always rotates. That's why it's cool to make music and channel it to others."