As the finale of ‘The Ambassador’ nears, two female contestants prove that they are forces to be reckoned with
… Impressing people has been something Efrat Oppenheimer has always strived to do. “All my life I’ve hung around people who were older than me, having to prove to them what I’ve got.” explains Efrat in a separate interview.
At 22, Efrat, regarded as Melody’s biggest competition, is the youngest of three children after her brother Gal, 31, and her sister Adi, 28. “I’ve always been the youngest,” she comments, “and now on the show I’m the youngest contestant.”
The Oppenheimer children were raised in Jerusalem and, although Efrat now lives in Tel Aviv, she still goes home once a week to see her parents and pets. Efrat’s parents immigrated to Israel over 35 years ago—her father from South Africa and her mother from New Zealand.
“I grew up in an Anglo-Saxon family where my parents spoke English and the kids answered in a sort of mixture, like ‘Imah, can you please pass me the salat?’”
“I went to the High School for the Arts in Jerusalem, where I studied theater and loved it,” says Efrat. “I’m sure that’s part of the reason that I was drawn to the show…I love the tasks too. They improve your skills, but it’s also a bit of a game—there’s some acting involved.”
At the age of 15, Efrat joined the international youth organization “Seeds of Peace” which brings together young Israelis and Palestinians committed to building a more peaceful future. She is still an active member today.
“It was the best thing I’ve ever done. It opened many doors for me and made me the person I am today…at the age of 15, it made me feel like I mattered, like I was doing something significant,” she beams.
A first-year university student, Efrat began her studies last October at Tel Aviv University in the political science department. Finding it too dry for her taste, and perhaps too heavy a course load to handle while shooting a reality show, she decided to switch to Women’s and Gender Studies. In part, her change of course is due to her experience a few years ago as a reporter for Army Radio, covering the Vicki Knafo story [as she led protests for the rights of single mothers].
“I marched with her the last few kilometers to Jerusalem. It was very emotional,” recalls Efrat. She camped with single mothers and their children outside the Knesset after all the other journalists had quit for the day. She remained with them and continued with live coverage throughout the night. Efrat started out as a reporter assigned to education for the station, and later became its welfare correspondent.
“At 19, I got a chance to interview Bibi [Netanyahu], and I was at the ceremony when the bodies of the Hizbullah hostages were returned to Israel. I was a part of that, a small part of history.”
Last year Efrat worked for the Kol Ha’ir newspaper in Jerusalem. “I barely watched the first season [of The Ambassador], she admits, “because it was on Wednesdays, which was when we had to finish the week’s edition.”
And with respect to her tasks on the show, Efrat affirms that Zionism is an essential focus. “Zionism is really not that sexy. I think The Ambassador made Zionism as sexy as it can be, which is important. In order to market the new Israel it has to be young and sexy.
“On the show we approach Israel on two levels. We have to show the world that it is not simply good guys versus bad guys; that the situation is complicated and many decisions are made out of necessity.
“And on another level, Israel is not only about the conflict. There are amazing things here [that we have to share with the world]. Our hi-tech industry, our agriculture, nightlife, beaches, our beautiful women and men.”
For Efrat, the best experience on the show so far was the trip to Uganda early in the season.
“I loved being in Uganda. It’s an absolutely beautiful place…We met with reporters from all over Africa, from Chad, Rwanda, Libya, Morocco. Sometimes I ask myself, how can this be? We’re such a small country with a reality show and yet we met with the president of Uganda, we met with Gorbachev! It’s quite an honor.”
One of the most shocking turn of events also happened early in the season, when Efrat felt sabotaged by her fellow contestants after they nearly unanimously voted to kick her off the women’s team.
“What happened at the end of that particular episode is that we split up, boys in one group and girls in the other, and each of us had to give two names for elimination. There were hidden cameras everywhere and my friends said that they were going to vote for certain people, but they all lied, except for Melody.”
The shock of the betrayal caught Efrat off guard, and famously sent her running tearfully off camera.
“I felt I was going to cry so I left the set. I started with a brisk walk and then it turned into running,” she says, laughing in retrospect.
“It’s problematic, something I still have to deal with on the show—revealing too much emotion…and that comes together with the fact that I’m the youngest contestant.”
“I knew then and there that they wanted me out because I was a strong competitor. The fact that I’ve stayed on to the finals means that I did something right—but it was a very terrible experience,” she acknowledges. “I was very upset because I lost close friends. I think in retrospect I probably shouldn’t have cried. The whole episode was named after me and my tears, but I couldn’t help it.”
When asked how she might handle a potential loss on next week’s finale, Efrat was quick to reply.
“I’ve already won, it doesn’t matter if I get the job or not. If I win, then I get this amazing experience and if I lose I get my life back. That’s good, because my life hasn’t been the same since I started the show.”
Read Leslie Schachter’s article at The Jerusalem Post »