Ahava factory

Ahava (Hebrew: אהבה‎, Love) is an Israeli cosmetics company that manufactures skin care products made of mud and mineral-based compounds from the Dead Sea. The company's administrative headquarters are located in Holon, while the main manufacturing plant and showroom are in Mitzpe Shalem,^{[a 1]} an Israeli settlement and kibbutz located on the Dead Sea in the West Bank.^[1][2] The company has flagship stores in Israel, Germany, Hungary, the Philippines and Singapore.^[3] As of 2010^[update], Ahava income was more than US$150 million a year.^[4]

History[link]

Ziva Gilad, a spa technician, came up with the idea of marketing Dead Sea mud after watching women tourists scooping up the mud to take home.^[5] Ahava was founded in 1988 as a single stand selling bottles of body scrub to tourists, generating $1 million that year.^[6]

Ahava's shareholders include Hamashbir Holdings, Gaon Holdings, Kibbutz Ein Gedi, Kibbutz Mitzpe Shalem and Kibbutz Kalya. Kibbutz Mitzpe Shalem and Kibbutz Kalya are located north of the Green Line, in the West Bank.^[7]

In 2009 Ahava took on new shareholder Shamrock Holdings, the Walt Disney Family's investment arm, which purchased 20% of Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories from its existing shareholders^[8][9] The company has 200 employees, 180 of them in Israel.^[9]

In 2009, the company reported sales of nearly $150 million a year. In the United States, the largest overseas market for Ahava products, the company signed distribution deals with Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom and the beauty-supply chain Ulta.^[5]

Ahava is the only cosmetics company licensed by the Israeli government to mine raw materials at the Dead Sea.^[5] On the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea, there are approximately fifty small companies producing cosmetics, but only 15 have a global presence. Israel has imported raw materials for its Dead Sea mud cosmetics from Jordan since 1994.^[4]

In 2011, Elana Drell Szyfer, former Senior Vice President of Global Marketing for Estee Lauder, was appointed general manager of Ahava North America.^[10]

Products[link]

Ahava product lines include a basic product for all skin types; other products for dry, sensitive skin and for men’s skin; and anti-aging products for face and body.^[11] Product lines include hand cream, foot cream, facial cleanser, body milk, facial nourishing cream, facial moisturizer, moisturizing shower cream and body cream.^[12] Some products claim to use citrus and citrus products as a source of vitamins and minerals.^[11]

Dead Sea mud, alone or in combination with other ingredients, is believed to have benefits for deep cleansing and stimulation of the skin. Minerals extracted from Dead Sea water such as calcium, magnesium and potassium, are said to improve the metabolism, stimulate circulation and aid in the natural repair of cells.^[13] In 2009, Ahava Dermud range of skincare products has been shown to have protective, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can antagonize biological effects of UVB radiation on skin, reducing skin photodamage and photoaging, and reducing oxidative stress and inflammation in skin pathologies.^[14]

Therapy with mud packs for conditions such as osteoarthritis is relatively expensive and requires the assistance of a therapist and a treatment room. In the wake of these limitations, Ahava developed mud compresses used in the home which are heated in a microwave oven or a pot of hot water and placed over painful joints. A clinical research by the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, supported in part by a grant from “Ahava”, has concluded that the group treated with natural mud compresses had a reduction of 20% or more in Knee Osteoarthritis pain scores at treatment completion, at one month, and at three months, compared to the control group.^[15]

Embracing the trend toward more natural ingredients in cosmetics, Ahava purifies its own water and, according to the company, employs minimally invasive techniques to harvest mud and minerals. Ingredients are not tested on animals and Ahava products are packaged in recyclable containers.^[5]

Scientific research[link]

Ahava is one of several Israeli cosmetics companies researching nanotechnology applications. The company has established an R&D program to research nanoemulsion and nanosuspension with mud nanoparticles.^[13]

Ahava operates its own laboratory for cell and organ culture. It is the coordinator of SkinTreat (FP-7) and a partner in nanoReTox (FP-7) founded by Cellage, a European research consortium the specializes in skin cellular Ageing (FP-5).^[16] Ahava developed a laboratory model for in-vitro NP screening that is employed for studying inflammatory processes using UV- irradiated human skin organ cultures.^[16]

Controversy[link]

The company buys mud, an essential raw material for its products, from the Dead Sea Works within the green line. Ahava's factory is located in the West Bank, which has triggered global protests. ^[17] According to human rights organization B'Tselem, several Israeli commercial ventures in the West Bank, including Ahava, breach the Hague Convention on the Law and Customs of War on Land, which prohibits exploitation of resources in occupied territory.^[18]

Code Pink staging a protest against Ahava in Los Angeles in 2009

Boycott campaigns have been organized by organizations such as Code Pink, which says that Ahava's products come from "stolen Palestinian natural resources in the occupied territory of the Palestinian West Bank", and are produced in Mitzpe Shalem.^[19] In response, the company stated that the Mitzpe Shalem kibbutz, where the products are produced, is not an illegal settlement, and that the mud and materials used in Ahava cosmetics products are mined in the Israeli part of the Dead Sea.^[20]

In September, 2011, South African Industry Minister Rob Davies agreed in principle that goods manufactured in the Occupied Palestinian Territories should not be labelled as product of Israel since that is misleading. Davies said: "We're persuaded it's in the interest of South African consumers to know whether their products are coming from Israel or from the occupied territories." ^[21] The new South African rules will ensure that such products, such as Ahava, are labeled "product of illegal settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories" before they can be sold in South Africa. ^[22]

Prior to this, South African activists had submitted an affidavit to the South African Police Service accusing retailer, Wellness Warehouse, and local Ahava importer, SDV Pharmaceuticals, of violating South African trade law for selling Ahava products carrying false labels of origin.^[23]

Ahava's store in a fashionable street of London's West End closed in September 2011 after constant protests by pro-Palestinian activists. Owners of the surrounding stores complained to the landlord Shaftesbury plc that the repeated protests were affecting their business. A pro-Israeli group also held fortnightly counter-demonstrations, which attracted renewed controversy when members of the far-right English Defence League turned up, unasked, and joined in the demonstrations in support of Ahava.^{[24] [25]}

As part of the economic agreement between Israel and the European Union, Israel cannot label products made in the West Bank as "made in Israel"; products made in the West Bank are subject to higher tariffs compared to products made in Israel.^[26] In November 2009, Dutch MP Van Bommel (Socialist Party) asked Dutch FM Verhagen (CDA) whether or not Ahava products that were marketed at the time in The Netherlands originated from the Palestinian Territories. If so, Ahava would not be entitled to a tax-exemption at Dutch customs.^[27] Verhagen promised to launch an investigation through the Dutch customs authority.^[28] In February 2010, the state-secretary of Economic Affairs Heemskerk responded to Van Bommel through a letter to the Dutch Parliament, saying records for the years 2007-2009 indicated that Dutch customs had not given tax-exemption to Ahava products.^[27]

In 2012, the British Natural History Museum was denounced in a letter signed by leading scientists for participating in a joint research programme with Ahava. The signatories said that "[Ahava-DSL] extracts, processes and exports Palestinian resources to generate profits that fund an illegal settlement. Israel's settlement project has been held... to break international law. Organisations which aid and abet this process may well themselves be found to be in violation."^[29]

See also[link]

• Dead Sea mud
• Dead Sea salt
• Dead Sea Works

Notes[link]

1. ^ See map

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dead Sea

Kobi Peretz (Hebrew: קובי פרץ‎; born October 28, 1975), also Koby Perez, is a popular Israeli singer who sings in the Mizrahi style. Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Kobi comes from a big family, being the youngest of 10 siblings. After his one hit wonder Balbeli Oto (Confuse Him), He sang in major concerts. He is looked up to as an Israeli Pop Idol to most.

Selected discography[link]

• You Are Like Fire – 1995
• The Arrow of Love
• I Live The Way I Want – 2001
• Balbeli Oto (Confuse Him) – 2003
• Crazy About You – 2004
• All That's In Me – 2006
• How Much Love – 2008

See also[link]

• Mizrahi Music

External links[link]

• Official website (Hebrew)
• {NOTE: Site provides USA & Other translation icon links}

This article about an Israeli singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Memorial plaque in memory of Ofra Haza at her childhood home in 39 Boaz Street, Tel Aviv

Ofra Haza (Hebrew: עפרה חזה, Arabic: عفرة حزة; born Bat-Sheva Ofrah Hazah 19 November 1957 –– 23 February 2000) was an Israeli singer of Yemenite Jewish origin, an actress and international recording artist.

Her voice has been described as mezzo-soprano,^[1] of near-flawless tonal quality, capable of lending itself to a variety of musical styles with apparent ease.^{[citation needed]}

Inspired by a love of her Yemenite Jewish culture, the appeal of her musical art quickly spread to a wider Middle Eastern audience, somehow bridging the divide between Israel and the Arab countries. As her career progressed, Haza was able to switch between traditional and more commercial singing styles without jeopardizing her credibility. Her music fused elements of Eastern and Western instrumentation, orchestration and dance-beat. She became successful in Europe and the Americas; during her singing career, she earned many platinum and gold discs.

Early life[link]

Haza was born the youngest of nine children, to a Yemenite Jewish family, in the poor Tel Aviv neighborhood of Hatikvah. Her first home was at 39 Boaz Street.

At the age of 12, Haza joined a local theater troupe, and manager Bezalel Aloni spotted her singing talent. He staged many of his productions around Haza, and later became her manager and mentor. At the age of 19, she was Israel's first pop star and retrospectively, music journalists described her as "The Madonna of the East".

By the time she had completed her military service in 1979, Haza had matured as a singer and was ready to launch a solo career.

Career[link]

Her first album, entitled Al Ahavot Shelanu (Our Love), was released in 1980 and yielded a string of popular radio hits, including Hageshem (The Rain), Shir Ahava La'chayal (Love Song For The Soldier), Kmo Tzipor (Like A Bird) and what ultimately became her signature song in Israel, Shir Ha'frecha (The Bimbo Song). The latter was written for the film Schlager (1979) in which Haza played a leading role. At first, radio stations across the country refused to play the song due to its lyrics, which at the time were unaccepted, but it quickly climbed the charts and reached No. 1, where it stayed for five consecutive weeks. Later in the year, the album reached gold status.

A second album soon followed, Bo Nedaber (Let's Talk), eventually going gold, which included the hugely popular hits Tfila (Prayer) and Simanim Shel Ohavim (Lovers Signs).

Her third album, Pituyim (Temptations) came out in 1982 and enjoyed equal success, reaching gold status as well, with such hits as Gabriel and Kol Yom Matchila Shana (A New Year Starts Everyday). With this album, more well-known writers agreed to write her songs, including Tzvika Pick and Nurit Hirsh.

In 1983, Haza's career jumped to a new level of success and popularity. At the Eurovision Song Contest, she came in a close second to the Luxembourg entry with the song "Chai" (Alive). Her popularity in Israel reached enormous heights. Her first platinum album, "Chai", released in 1983, became her biggest-selling album to date, and the title track was voted the No. 1 song of the year. Author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor notes in The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History that Haza's performance of this song was highly symbolic as it contains the lyric "Israel Is Alive". As the contest was held in Munich, Germany, the scene of the 1972 Olympic's massacre, there was considerable patriotism involved with the Israeli entry.^[2] Additional hits from the album included Amen Lamilim (Amen For Words) and Sof Hakayitz (End Of Summer). Haza was voted "Female Vocalist Of The Year" four years in a row, from 1980 through 1983. Later that year, Haza released Shirey Moledet which consisted of her renditions of well-known Israeli folk songs, eventually going platinum as well. Public response was so overwhelming, she went on to release two more volumes (in 1985 and 1987).

Bait Ham (Warm House) was released in 1984 and included such hits as Yad Beyad (Hand In Hand), Itcha Halayla (With You Tonight) and the title track. The album quickly went gold. In December that year, Haza released what was to become the turning-point of her career, a collection of Yemenite songs, simply titled Yemenite Songs. Despite lukewarm radio airplay, the album went on to become a best-seller, quickly reaching platinum status. This LP was reissued in the United States by Shanachie Records under the title Fifty Gates of Wisdom.

The album Adama (Earth) followed in 1985 and saw the top writers in the country contribute to the album: Sasha Argov, Naomi Shemer, Ya'akov Orland and Ehud Manor, among others. The album produced the enormously popular hits, Adama, Goral Echad (One Destiny) and Mishehu Holech Tamid Iti (Someone Always Walks With Me), and reached gold status. Later that year, Ofra released "Shirey Moledet B", a continuation of her renditions of well known Israeli folk songs. The album went gold.

In 1986, Haza tried to update her sound and gathered with acclaimed producer Izhar Ashdot to create Yamim Nishbarim (Broken Days). The album had an edgy rock sound and the lyrics were deep and personal and written by Haza herself. The album went gold and produced the hits Kol Haklafim (Open Your Cards), Bo Ve-Nagen Oti (Come and Play Me) and Hake'ev Haze (This Pain).

When asked about her musical roots in an interview on KCRW-FM radio (1993, Santa Monica), Haza spoke of her Yemenite Jewish parents, a childhood filled with music and singing and a passion for traditional Yemenite songs, picked up from her mother. Questioned about the theatre troupe, she spoke of poverty and the total neglect of successive governments for the Hatikvah neighborhood; and how, by way of protest, the community had rallied to create something positive and dramatic, which would make others sit up and take notice of the forgotten neighbourhood.

International artist[link]

Her major international breakthrough came in the wake of the album Shirei Teiman (Yemenite songs), which she recorded in 1984. The album consisted of songs that Haza had heard in childhood, using arrangements that combined authentic Middle Eastern percussion with classical instruments.^[3] Further recognition came with the single "Im Nin'Alu", taken from the album Shaday (1988), which won the New Music Award for Best International Album of the Year.^[4] The song topped the Eurochart for two weeks in June that year and was on heavy rotation on MTV channels across the continent. In the annals of classical hip-hop this song would be extensively re-released, re-mixed and sampled, for example on Coldcut's remix of Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full,". The single made only a brief appearance in the UK top 40 singles chart, but became a dance floor favorite across Europe and the USA, topping the German charts for nine weeks. Subsequent singles were also given the dance-beat / MTV-style video treatment, most notably, Galbi, Daw Da Hiya and Mata Hari, but none quite matched the runaway success of her first hit. Im Nin'alu would go on to be featured on an in-game radio playlist of the video game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, released in 2005 and featured on Panjabi MC's album "Indian Timing" in 2009.

Haza also received critical acclaim for the albums Fifty Gates of Wisdom (1988), Desert Wind (1989), Kirya (1992), Ofra Haza (1997) and for her collection of children's songs, L'Yeladim (1982).

In 1992, Kirya (co-produced by Don Was) received a Grammy nomination.^[4]

In 1994, Haza released her first Hebrew album in seven years, Kol Haneshama (The Whole Soul). Though not an initial chart success, the album produced one of her biggest hits to date, Le'orech Hayam (Along The Sea). The song did not have any substantial chart success upon its release to radio but became an anthem after Haza performed it on the assembly in memorial to deceased Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a week after he was assassinated. Radio stations around the country started playing it and people took notice. Its lyrics became even more symbolic following Haza's own death in 2000.

Collaborations and performances[link]

A memorial to Ofra Haza in Ha'tikva neighborhood garden, Tel Aviv

Her collaborative work with internationally established acts included the single "Temple of Love (Touched by the Hand of Ofra Haza)", recorded with The Sisters of Mercy in 1992. Thomas Dolby co-produced Yemenite Songs and Desert Wind, where he was also a guest musician. Haza guested on Dolby's album Astronauts And Heretics (1992), singing on the track "That's Why People Fall In Love". She recorded "My Love Is for Real" with Paula Abdul in 1995 and on Sarah Brightman's album Harem, Haza's vocals were included on "Mysterious Days", thanks to an idea by Brightman's partner Frank Peterson (ex-Enigma), who produced both Harem (2003) and the album Ofra Haza (1997).

For the Kirya album, Iggy Pop, a friend of Don Was, performed the narration on "Daw Da Hiya" and Haza joined him and a host of other stars for the video and single release "Give Peace A Chance" in 1991. She also sang on the soundtracks of Colors (1988), Dick Tracy (1990), Wild Orchid (1990), Queen Margot (1994) and The Prince of Egypt (1998). In The Prince of Egypt, she voiced the small role of Yocheved, as well as singing "Deliver Us". When Hans Zimmer, who was working with Haza on the music for The Prince of Egypt, introduced her to the artists, they thought that she was so beautiful that they drew Yocheved, whom Haza voiced, to look like the singer. For The Prince of Egypt's soundtracks, Haza sang the song "Deliver Us" in 19 languages (including Czech — "Tak vyveď nás", Dutch — "Verlos ons, Heer", English — "Deliver Us", Finnish — "Johdata", French (Canadian and European) — "Délivre nous", German — "Erlöse uns", Greek — "Eleftheri", Hebrew — "Hoshia Na", Hungarian — "Szabadíts", Italian — "Ascoltaci", Norwegian — "Befri Oss", Polish — "Uwolnij Nas", Portuguese (Brazilian and Portugal) — "Liberte Nos", Spanish (Latin and Castilian) — "Libéranos", Swedish — "Befria Oss"; Turkish – "Mýsýr Prensi"; about half of these were sung phonetically). On the soundtrack of The Governess (1998), Haza is the featured singer on seven of the twelve tracks and worked closely with film music composer Edward Shearmur. In 1999, she performed (together with late Pakistani artist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) the track "Forgiveness", on the contemporary symphony album The Prayer Cycle by Jonathan Elias. As a featured background vocalist, Haza's voice has been recorded, re-mixed or sampled for Black Dog's "Babylon" single, Eric B and Rakim's "Paid In Full (Coldcut Remix)" and for the M/A/R/R/S hit "Pump Up The Volume". The single "Love Song" has been re-mixed by DJs many times, its powerful vocal performance and comparatively sparse musical arrangement making it the perfect vehicle for a dance-rhythm accompaniment.

Covers of songs by other artists included the Carole King / James Taylor classic "You've Got a Friend", Madonna's "Open Your Heart", Gary Moore's "Separate Ways", and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir".

There were many distinguished live performances and Haza spoke with fond memories of her visits to Japan and Turkey. Notable too, was her performance at the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo, where she appeared alongside Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. "Paint Box" was written specially for the event. Her 1990 live recording, Ofra Haza At Montreux Jazz Festival was released in 1998.

Haza shared duets and concert performances with Glykeria, Yehudit Ravitz, Paul Anka, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, Iggy Pop, Hoite, Buddha Bar, Ishtar, Gidi Gov, Whitney Houston, Tzvika Pick, Khaled, Prachim Yerushalaim, The Sisters of Mercy, Thomas Dolby, Stefan Waggershausen, Eric B and Rakim, Gila Miniha, Hans Zimmer, Hagashash Hachiver, Yaffa Yarkoni, Shoshana Damari and posthumously with Sarah Brightman.

At the fall of 1999, Haza recorded new material for a new album that she worked on with Ron Aviv, a music producer from Petah Tikva. At the time, she also worked with the Finnish violinist Linda Brava, who released a previously unreleased track called Tarab on her MySpace page on 14 May 2010. On the track, Haza sings in English, Arabic and Hebrew, while Brava plays the electric violin. The track might be the last recording of Haza, before she died.^[5]

Marriage[link]

On 15 July 1997, Haza married businessman Doron Ashkenazi. They had no children together. Ashkenazi died of a suspected drug overdose after Haza's death, on 7 April 2001,^[6] leaving a daughter from his previous marriage and a 14-year-old adopted son Shai Ashkenazi.^[7]

Death[link]

Ofra Haza's grave in Yarkon Cemetery

Ofra Haza died on 23 February 2000 at the age of 42, of AIDS-related pneumonia. While the fact of her HIV infection is now generally acknowledged, the decision by the major Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz to report about it shortly after her death caused controversy in Israel.^[8]

After Haza's death was announced, Israeli radio stations played non-stop retrospectives of her music and then Prime Minister Ehud Barak praised her work as a cultural emissary, commenting that she also represented the Israeli success story — "Ofra emerged from the Hatikvah slums to reach the peak of Israeli culture. She has left a mark on us all".

The disclosure that Haza had likely died as a result of AIDS added another layer to the public mourning. The fact that a star with a reputation for clean living could be stricken caused shock among fans, debate about the media's potential invasion of her privacy, and speculation about how she had become infected. Immediately after her death, the media placed blame on her husband for giving her the disease.^[9] As reported indirectly some years later, her husband, who died in 2001, had said that she became infected as a result of a blood transfusion in a hospital following a miscarriage.^[10]

She is buried in the Artists section of Yarkon Cemetery in Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv.

Legacy[link]

Bezalel Aloni, Haza's manager and producer of 28 years, published a book Michtavim L'Ofra (Letters to Ofra) in 2007. The book is partly Aloni's autobiography and partly a biography of Haza, and includes letters written by Aloni.^[11]

In 2005, she was voted the 32nd-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.^[12]

On 22 March 2007, on the seventh anniversary of her death, the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality and the Tel Aviv Development Fund renamed part of the public park in the Hatikva Quarter Gan Ofra (Ofra's Park) in her honor. The park is placed at the end of Bo'az street where Haza's childhood home was. The park features a children's playground, symbolizing her love for children and the old quarter where she grew up and always came back to.

Tributes[link]

• Touched By The Hand of Ofra Haza Fanzine (2008–09) was a tribute fanzine.
• Sharim Ofra (Singing Ofra) 2002 – A tribute concert to commemorate the life of Ofra Haza where Israeli singers sang Haza's songs.

Documentaries[link]

• Life & Death of Ofra Haza 2002 – Aired on the Israeli channel 2, 29 January 2002. This documentary in Hebrew focuses on Haza's entire life and career until her sad death.
• Sodot (Secrets) 2005 – Aired on Israeli channel YES, this documentary in Hebrew and partly English is about Haza's life and attempts to answer questions surrounding her death.
• Dokoceleb Ofra Haza 2007 – Aired on the Israeli entertainment station HOT, 22 February 2007. This documentary in Hebrew focuses on Haza's career, achievements and marriage.
• Lost Treasure of Ofra Haza 2010 – Aired on the Israeli channel 10, 22 February 2010. This documentary in Hebrew and partly English focuses on Haza's inheritance.

Albums with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre[link]

• 1974 — Ahava Rishona (First Love)
• 1976 — Vehutz Mizeh Hakol Beseder (Aside From That All Is Ok)
• 1977 — Atik Noshan (Ancient Old)

Solo albums[link]

Soundtracks[link]

See also[link]

• Mizrahi Music
• List of mezzo-sopranos in non-classical music

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ofra Haza

• Ofra Haza Official Website (Hebrew)
• Ofra Haza at Internet Movie Database
• Ofra Haza memorial page at Find a Grave

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)

Aya Korem
Background information
Born	(1980-01-07) January 7, 1980 (age 32)
Origin	Nazareth Ilit, Israel
Genres	Pop, rock
Occupations	Singer, songwriter
Years active	2006-Present
Labels	Anana (Hed Artzi)
Website	http://www.ayakorem.com/

Aya Korem (Hebrew: אַיָּה כּוֹרֵם‎‎) is an Israeli pop/rock singer and songwriter. She was the runner-up for two Female Singer of the Year awards in 2006.

Background[link]

Aya Korem was born on January 7, 1980 in Nazareth Ilit and spent her childhood there. She served as an instructor at the IDF's Armored Corps.^[1]

Since childhood Korem has been singing and performing, playing the guitar and the piano. Between 2001 and 2004 she studied Songwriting, Composition and Performance at the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in Ramat HaSharon, a school that gave birth to many Israeli singers such as Noa and Aviv Geffen. She was part of the "magic class", studying together with Miri Mesika, Keren Peles, Ohad Hitman and Eric Berman that went on to be popular singers.^[2] She enrolled in the music college just to "pass some time" until she decided what she really wanted to study, but ended up having a successful music career.^[3] She dreamed of being an architect, and one of her temporary jobs was cake baking at a bakery.^[4]

Nowadays Aya lives in Tel Aviv. She has a public profile on Facebook and a page on MySpace.

2005–2007: Breakthrough[link]

Aya Korem started her music career as a songwriter during her studies. Aya's first public exposure was the song Ata af Pa'am (אתה אף פעם, "You Will Never"), released in the first album of Miri Mesika in April 2005. Only after receiving compliments for her voice did she decide to also become a singer and started working on her own album.^[5]

In 2006 Korem released her debut album, Aya Korem. It was produced by Ori Zakh, a close friend^[6] and Miri Mesika's husband, a Rimon graduate who also produced both Miri Mesika's albums and Ohad Hitman's first album. The work on the album's songs began already during Aya's studies. In February 2006 the first single was released, Kayitz (קיץ, "Summer")—a song of hope for a lover that would come one day "like summer". The second single from the album, Shir Ahava Pashut (שיר אהבה פשוט, "Simple Love Song") was released in March 2006, reached #1 on the Reshet Gimel chart and came 4th in the Song of the Year competition. Later came Klipa (קליפה, "Peel"), Yonatan Shapira (יונתן שפירא), BeSof HaLayla (בסוף הלילה, "In the end of the night"), Ata Zorem Etzli BaDam (אתה זורם אצלי בדם, "You Are Flowing in My Blood") and HaShir shel Itay (השיר של איתי, "Itay's Song"). The album features mostly songs written by Korem herself, with the exception of Milim (Eric Berman), HaShir shel Itay (Itay Perl) and Pgisha (Aya Korem and Meron Agar).

Aya Korem is part of "the parliament"—a group of Rimon graduates regularly meeting for songwriting sessions.^[5] "The parliament" also consists of Eric Berman, Itay Perl, Yonatan Gotfeld, Yael Nahshon and Ohad Levy. Four songs in the album were written for "parliament" meetings, including "Yonatan Shapira", which Korem wrote as an assignment to write a song about a job announcement. "Yonatan Shapira" is a humorous love song for a pilot Aya met during her studies in Rimon, one of the signers of the pilots' letter. According to Aya Korem, Yonatan Shapira was not pleased with the song, but living abroad, did not suffer much from the consequences.^[7]

Korem received the Golden Album award, which was handed over to her on her 27th birthday party.^[8] The album sold about 30,000 copies.^[9] Korem came second in the female Singer of the Year competition both on Reshet Gimel and on Galgalatz. Her album was criticized for being too mainstream and for the fact that all its songs are about love and relationships. Korem recorded videos for some of the songs and went on a 1.5-year performance tour.^[7] At the beginning she performed with a band, but after taking part in a piano festival in the end of 2006, she switched to more intimate gigs, performing with a piano and a cello only.

Aya Korem wrote the song Tmuna (תמונה, "Image") for Miri Mesika's second album, which was released in 2007. In the same year Hila Zaytun released a single of Aya's song Rak Lihyot Ito (רק להיות איתו, Only to Be with Him").

[edit] 2008: Safa Zara

Having yet about 70 songs unpublished,^[10] Aya Korem released her second album, Safa Zara (שפה זרה, "Foreign Language"), on February 28, 2008. The album includes songs she wrote at the age of 26-27 and has jazz, cabaret and country influences.^[11] The lyrics deal with a wider range of subjects than those of the first album.^[7] The first single, HaSof shel HaSipur (הסוף של הסיפור, "The End of the Story"), is a sad love song co-written by Aya Korem and Eric Berman. The single was released in December 2007. In February 2008 Al Ta'amini (אל תאמיני, "Do Not Believe") was released. The lyrics of Al Ta'amini talk about the fleeting condition of a celebrity in the popular culture. "And then somebody will say: 'your time is over, and now let someone else take the stage'", wrote Korem. The song was inspired by Janis Ian's song Stars, which is even credited in the liner notes of the album.^[12] Two more songs from this album have been released as singles: Otobiografia (אוטוביוגרפיה, "Autobiography") and Akhshav Kazot (עכשיו כזאת, "Now like This").

The lyrics of Zahav Shahor (זהב שחור, "Black Gold") are a female answer to the classic song Atur Mitzkhekh written by Yoni Rechter. Korem's producer Ori Zakh sent Aya's lyrics to Rechter, and Rechter agreed to write music for the song.^[9] In 2009 Aya Korem also recorded the original song Atur Mitzkhekh for the 70th birthday of its original singer, Arik Einstein.^[13] The song Tania (טניה) is inspired by Louis-Ferdinand Céline's novel Journey to the End of the Night.^[12] Most of the songs are written by Korem herself also in her second album. The exceptions are Ruhot HaMa'arav (רוחות המערב, "Western Winds") by Yonatan Gotfeld, Akhshav Kazot with music by Ilay Botner, "HaSof shel HaSipur" and "Zahav Shahor".

Both albums were recorded with the Anana label of the Hed Arzi Music corporation.

In 2008 Korem recorded a cover for Eran Tzur's song Erev Bet Kislev (ערב ב' כסלו, "The 2nd of Kislev Eve") for the Hebrew Labor 2 collection of cover versions dedicated to the 60th anniversary of independence. Korem also musically produced the song.^[9] She also performed three of her songs for the Pizmon Hozer project, dedicated to the birthday of Gilad Shalit, a captured Israeli soldier, and organized by the NRG website operated by Ma'ariv.^[14]

Korem kept performing at small venues after the release of Safa Zara. At the performances she introduced the audience to a new political protest song, Ha'Isha im HaSakit (האישה עם השקית, "The Woman with the Bag"), with a fast rock rhythm.

[edit] 2011: Lealef Et HaSusim

On June 30, 2011, Korem released her third album, Lealef Et HaSusim (לאלף את הסוסים, "Taming Horses").

External links[link]

• Official website
• Aya Korem's albums on the Israel Music website
• Aya Korem's songs on Last.fm
• Aya Korem's page on MySpace, including a list of future performances
• Aya Korem's performance for the "Pizmon Hozer" project

References[link]