This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2011)

Izhar Cohen (Hebrew: יזהר כהן, born March 13, 1951, Giv'atayim, Israel) is an Israeli singer who won the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest.

Personal life[link]

Cohen was born in Tel Aviv and raised in Giv'atayim in a Yemeni singers' family - Shlomo Cohen (the Great Soliman), Sarah Cohen, and Hofni, Pini, and Vardina Cohen.

Career[link]

Cohen started to sing when he was a young child and joined his father in his performances. At 18, Cohen joined the IDF's "Nachal" singers group. During the 70's Cohen was one of the most played singers in Israel. Representing Israel, he won the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest with the group Alphabeta performing "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" with music by Nurit Hirsh and words by Ehud Manor.^[1] The title of the song is the Hebrew word "ani" (first person singular pronoun) expressed in the popular children's code "Bet language".

Cohen later represented Israel again (this time with an unnamed group of backing singers) at the 1985 contest performing "Olé, Olé" (music - Kobi Oshrat, words - Hamutal Ben-Ze'ev) where he finished 5th. He attempted to represent Israel again in 1987 and 1996 but did not win the national final.

Cohen was an actor in the Haifa Theater, and has also practiced the art of jewelry^{[citation needed]}.

References[link]

External links[link]

• A-ba-ni-bi lyric with English translation
• Ole ole lyric with English translation
• IMDB entry

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Marie Myriam with "L'oiseau et l'enfant"	Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest (with Alphabeta) 1978	Succeeded by Gali Atari & Milk and Honey with "Hallelujah"
Preceded by Ilanit with Ahava Hi Shir Lishnayim	Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest (with Alphabeta) 1978	Succeeded by Gali Atari & Milk and Honey with Hallelujah
Preceded by Ofra Haza with Khay	Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985	Succeeded by Moti Giladi & Sarai Tzuriel with Yavo Yom

v t e Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest   Participation 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 to 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012   Artists 1970s Ilanit Kaveret Shlomo Artzi Chocolat, Menta, Mastik Ilanit Izhar Cohen & the Alphabeta Gali Atari & Milk and Honey 1980s 1980 Hakol Over Habibi Avi Toledano Ofra Haza 1984 Izhar Cohen Moti Giladi & Sarai Tzuriel Datner & Kushnir Yardena Arazi Gili & Galit 1990s Rita Duo Datz Dafna Dekel Sarah'le Sharon & The Shiru Group 1994 Liora Galit Bell 1997 Dana International Eden 2000s PingPong Tal Sondak Sarit Hadad Lior Narkis David D'Or Shiri Maimon Eddie Butler Teapacks Bo'az Ma'uda Noa & Mira Awad 2010s Harel Skaat Dana International Izabo   Songs 1970s "Ey Sham" "Natati La Khayay" "At Va'Ani" "Emor Shalom" "Ahava Hi Shir Lishnayim" "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" "Hallelujah" 1980s 1980 "Halayla" "Hora" "Khay" 1984 "Olé, Olé" "Yavo Yom" "Shir Habatlanim" "Ben Adam" "Derekh Hamelekh" 1990s "Shara Barkhovot" "Kan" "Ze Rak Sport" "Shiru" 1994 "Amen" "Shalom Olam" 1997 "Diva" "Yom Huledet (Happy Birthday)" 2000s "Sameach" "En Davar" "Nadlik Beyakhad Ner (Light A Candle)" "Milim La'Ahava" "Leha'amin" "HaSheket SheNish'ar" "Together We Are One" "Push the Button" "The Fire In Your Eyes" "There Must Be Another Way" 2010s "Milim" "Ding Dong" "Time" (Note: Entries scored out are when Israel did not compete)

Boaz Mauda
Background information
Birth name	Boaz Mauda
Born	(1987-04-23) April 23, 1987 (age 25) Elyakim, Israel
Genres	Mizrahi, Ethnic, acoustic
Occupations	Singer
Years active	2007–present
Website	http://www.boazmauda.com/

Boaz Mauda (Hebrew: בועז מעודה‎, born April 23, 1987) is an Israeli singer and songwriter. He won the fifth season of Kokhav Nolad, the Israeli version of Pop Idol, and represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, finishing in 9th place.

His voice has been described as somewhere between David D'Or and Dana International.^[1]

Early life[link]

Boaz was born and raised in moshav Elyakim, where he still lives. He is the youngest son of his mother, who became disabled from complications of his birth. He is of Yemenite Jewish descent.

Career[link]

[edit] Kochav Nolad

Without any history in the music industry, and unknown to Boaz, he was signed up by a friend for the auditions of the fifth season of Kochav Nolad. During the show, Boaz sang many Mizrahi and acoustic songs. His voice was loved by the audience and judges.

At the finals on August 29, 2007, Boaz competed against Marina Maximillian Blumin and Shlomi Bar'el. On that evening he performed two songs: "Señorita" with the experienced Israeli singer David Broza, and then Avner Gadassi's "Menagen veshar" ("Playing and Singing"). He won Kochav Nolad 2007 with 50% of the votes. In addition, he won a contract with the label Hed Artzi.

[edit] Kohav Nolad performances

Eurovision Song Contest[link]

With two dancers from Andorra, Belgrade, May 2008

On November 14, the Israel Broadcasting Authority and Israel's Channel 2 announced that Boaz Mauda was chosen to represent his country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia.

The pre-selection occurred in February 2008 in which Mauda sang five songs, and the audience, together with a jury of Israeli experts, voted for the winning song which was Ke'ilu Kan - a song written by Israel's Eurovision winner Dana International.

Mauda participated in the first semi-finals of the Eurovision Song Contest on May 20, 2008. He ended 5th in the semi-finals and was awarded a spot in the final on May 24, 2008 where he ended 9th with 124 points.

Discography[link]

On August 3, 2008 Boaz published his first single, Oreaj baolam [A guest in the world] for what will be his new album, which is called Boaz Mauda, as the singer, this song is written by composer Keren Peles. In March 2009 he published his second single, also by Peles, Lajzor Habaita [back home]. He published the song Time to Pray [Time to pray] with singer Sirusho (Armenian representative in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008, which ranked fourth) and the singer Jelena Tomasevic (Serbia representative in the Eurovision Song Contest which was in sixth place). On July 7, 2009 was released their first studio album with the name "Boaz Mauda". This album contains 11 songs, of which only five were new songs: Ma Yafu, Better Days, Time to Pray, Shetishaer and Ausencia. The song "Sha'ar libech" is a cover of fellow Eurovision 2008 singer Olta Boka's Albanian entry Zemrën e lamë peng.

In 2009 he participated in the series Johnny Hollywood playing the famous singer Izhar Cohen, and in August the same year he began his tour of Israel.

In 2011 he released one single called "Yeled hasade" a cover of a famous Israeli song. This cover was recorded to a daily drama series called "Alifim", based on a famous Israeli book. In April the same year he released a new song "Shniya Ve'od Ahat" from his second album which he is currently working.^[2]

Personal life[link]

Mauda still lives with his family in Elyakim.

Singles[link]

References[link]

1. ^ "Israel, on The Irish Eurovision Website". Allkindsofeverything.ie. 1987-04-23. http://www.allkindsofeverything.ie/Israel08.htm. Retrieved 2011-11-30. 
2. ^ "בועז מעודה - שניה ועוד אחת". Mako.co.il. http://www.mako.co.il/music-news/singles/Article-45458e98324f031006.htm. Retrieved 2011-11-30. 

External links[link]

• Official website

v t e Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest   Participation 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 to 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012   Artists 1970s Ilanit Kaveret Shlomo Artzi Chocolat, Menta, Mastik Ilanit Izhar Cohen & the Alphabeta Gali Atari & Milk and Honey 1980s 1980 Hakol Over Habibi Avi Toledano Ofra Haza 1984 Izhar Cohen Moti Giladi & Sarai Tzuriel Datner & Kushnir Yardena Arazi Gili & Galit 1990s Rita Duo Datz Dafna Dekel Sarah'le Sharon & The Shiru Group 1994 Liora Galit Bell 1997 Dana International Eden 2000s PingPong Tal Sondak Sarit Hadad Lior Narkis David D'Or Shiri Maimon Eddie Butler Teapacks Bo'az Ma'uda Noa & Mira Awad 2010s Harel Skaat Dana International Izabo   Songs 1970s "Ey Sham" "Natati La Khayay" "At Va'Ani" "Emor Shalom" "Ahava Hi Shir Lishnayim" "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" "Hallelujah" 1980s 1980 "Halayla" "Hora" "Khay" 1984 "Olé, Olé" "Yavo Yom" "Shir Habatlanim" "Ben Adam" "Derekh Hamelekh" 1990s "Shara Barkhovot" "Kan" "Ze Rak Sport" "Shiru" 1994 "Amen" "Shalom Olam" 1997 "Diva" "Yom Huledet (Happy Birthday)" 2000s "Sameach" "En Davar" "Nadlik Beyakhad Ner (Light A Candle)" "Milim La'Ahava" "Leha'amin" "HaSheket SheNish'ar" "Together We Are One" "Push the Button" "The Fire In Your Eyes" "There Must Be Another Way" 2010s "Milim" "Ding Dong" "Time" (Note: Entries scored out are when Israel did not compete)