Netta celebrating after her Eurovision win
(Picture: AFP/Getty Images)Eurovision star Netta has called demonstrating for LGBT rights at Pride a “matter of life and death” as she told how her winning in 2018 helped a trans fan to come out.
The pop star is among the headline acts at Pride in London as the event marks its 50th anniversary on Saturday.
Speaking to the Standard beforehand, she said she was most proud of her 2018 contest winning performance with the track Toy, for the way it inspired others, including a young LGBT fan.
“She came to me and told me how she didn’t even understand what I was saying,” she said.
“But the energy of what she saw in the video, and the energy of the song and the voice, made her believe that she can be whoever she wants to be.
“And this is what was big … to change someone’s life or to make it a tiny bit better. It’s something that I didn’t know how I got the chance and privilege of doing.”
The singer, 29, said she was “excited” to be performing in front of hundreds of thousands of people, adding “the atmosphere in the air is very festive”.
“I can say what I feel when I am singing. It’s the best way for me to explain and to share energy and to lead other people to a happy frequency,” she said.
But she added that Pride was even more important this year than ever before because of “very dark” events - saying “you can never be loud enough about injustice” in the world.
“If we stop celebrating Pride, then it scares me to say that, rights can go away,” she said.
“If we sleep on this, it can run away from us. And I feel that is so important this protest is so much alive, it’s crucial to who we are as people. It’s a matter of life and death.”
Asked about her significant LGBT fan base, she said: “I always say I am very straight girl with a very gay story.”
The Israeli artist told how she was bullied as a child, and made to feel like she didn’t fit in.
“I believed everything they told me. I believed that I am not worthy of love, I am not worthy of friends,” she said.
“Because when you are rejected, then you believe that something is wrong with you. And it took a very long time to take this out.
“When I reached the age of 18 I realised: nothing is wrong with me. Life is what you make it.”
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets of the capital to take part in the parade or to be spectators.
The event marks the 50th anniversary since the first UK Pride in 1972 and is the first in-person event for two years.
Other stars set to perform alongside Netta across four stages, including in Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square, include stars Emeli Sandé, and Ava Max.
