Bieber and Lady Gaga Not Interested in Dead Sea Campaign

Galim Productions Company, located in Tel Aviv, contacted celebrities all over the world on behalf of the State of Israel, asking for help attracting votes for the Dead Sea as part of the New7Wonders of Nature initiative.

According to Calcalist, an Israeli business newspaper, Israel’s Tourism Ministry specifically targeted Canada’s Justin Bieber and American pop singer, Lady Gaga to take part in a one-minute clip. The video would call on their fans to vote for the Dead Sea. Russian opera conductor, Valery Gergiev was also asked to participate.

New7Wonders of Nature is an initiative that began in 2007. The public is asked to vote through a global poll in order to create a list of seven natural wonders. The initiative is led by Canadian-Swiss, Bernard Weber and organized by the New7Wonders Foundation, which is Swiss-based and government-controlled.

There are 28 finalists competing, including Canada’s Bay of Fundy, located in between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and America’s Grand Canyon. The winning sites will be announced in November.

Bieber and Gergiev eventually turned down Israel’s offer while Lady Gaga never responded. The plan of the Tourism Ministry was to have the clips of the celebrities posted on YouTube, social networks and the celebrities’ own websites in order to promote the Dead Sea. Instead, the organizers replaced Bieber and Gaga with the stars of the Argentinean soap opera “Casi Ángeles,” a program that is popular among teenagers. The soap stars accepted the challenge in exchange for hundreds of thousands of shekels.

The Israeli government would really like to win the competition due to its great touristic potential. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Dead Sea several weeks ago to examine the potential overflow of the lake, which may put some hotels in danger. He urged Israeli citizens to vote for the site, which is the lowest place on earth.

Last week, the Knesset’s Finance Committee allotted the Tourism Ministry a budget of NIS 4.5 million ($1.24 million Canadian) for its efforts to promote the Dead Sea in the contest. Some of these funds will be directed towards the production of the clip starring the Argentinean soap stars.