NY Mirror

Comments (0) By Michael Musto Tuesday, Dec 9 2003

How about trannie marriage? Well, the world's best Israeli transsexual dance singer, Dana International, tells me she's not the marrying kind. (Yep, she's her own wife—and husband.) "Actually, I had a big love," Dana said by phone last week, "but we were separated by his parents. It's too complicated, with the transsexuality, not having children, and the families. Frankly, if there was a man who wanted to marry me, I believe he couldn't be so normal." "But you're normal," I insisted. "Define normal," she replied. She had me there.

Dana's story is certainly unique enough to merit a Jefferson Mays show or at least a free necklace. The chanteuse—who's performing at the Beacon on December 13, with an after-party at Escuelita—was once Yaron Cohen, an Israeli youth with ribboned hair and a dream. She officially became a woman 10 years ago and ended up winning the Eurovision song contest, thereby spinning provincial minds on several continents. "It was very hard to change people's heads," Dana said. "People hate things they don't know and can't explain. But without the high heels and wig, you explain yourself calmly and people accept it. It was beyond my dreams!"

photo: Ron Kedmi

Define Normal: Israeli dance diva Dana International

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Dana's stage act is exotic yet accessible—Shakira with a twist—and, to add to the gender diversity, she's got six male backup dancers and two female ones. "My manager added the girls," Dana explained, "to look softer or there'd maybe be too much connotation of homosexuality onstage." Define too much homosexuality.

I'll leave you with the definition of the two worst invites of the year. First was the Big Fish premiere bash at the Hammerstein Ballroom, where the abusive doorman looked at my invite and barked, "That's not a ticket! Move to the side!" (I moved to a side street and got a cab home.) Worse was the one for the same flick's "V.I.P. after-party" at some new dive called One. After I RSVP'd, I got an e-mail saying, "To guarantee immediate entry, we ask you to reserve a table for bottle service. Bottle prices at One range from $225 to $375." Oh, really? Well—brace yourselves for trenchant wit—you can suck my dick for free, honey!

musto@villagevoice.com