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Yardena Arazi ירדנה ארזי | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Yardena Finebaum |
| Born | (1951-09-25)September 25, 1951 (age 73) Kabri, Israel |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, presenter |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Labels |
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Yardena Shulamit Arazi (Hebrew:ירדנה שולמית ארזי; bornYardena Finebaum; September 25, 1951) is an Israeli singer and entertainer. In 2008 Arazi was named the most popular Israeli singer of all time at the 60thIndependence Day celebration.
Yardena Finebaum was born inkibbutzKabri, Israel. Her father was an immigrant fromGermany who was anIrgun veteran and one of the founders of kibbutzBeit HaArava. Her mother was an immigrant fromFrance with origins inPoland andUkraine, and was a cousin ofMarcel Marceau. At the age of two, her family moved toHaifa, Israel, where she grew up. The family also lived briefly in France. She joined the Beit Rothschild group at age 16 and became its lead vocalist. She did hermilitary service in theNahal entertainment troupe.[1]
In the 1970s, Yardena Arazi was a member of the female vocal trioChocolate, Menta, Mastik along with Leah Lupatin and Ruthie Holzman. The group represented Israel in the1976 Eurovision Song Contest with the songEmor Shalom ("Say Hello"), placing sixth. After the Eurovision competition, they began an international tour that includedBrazil,Sweden,Germany, theNetherlands andBelgium; releasing several singles in English, French and German and appeared in many TV shows all over Europe. Arazi left the band in 1978.
In 1979, theIsrael Broadcasting Authority (IBA) asked Arazi to co-host theEurovision Song Contest inJerusalem with news anchorDaniel Pe'er. Arazi, who is fluent in Hebrew and French presented in those languages while Pe'er presented in Hebrew and English. Her hosting received positive reviews across Europe and she participated in TV shows in the Netherlands withMilk and Honey and in Belgium withMike Burstyn. Arazi was signed to a recording contract with record labelAriola Records and released a mini-album with songs written byBernd Meinunger. During this period she met Natan Tomer and decided to return to Israel.
During the 1980s Arazi was one of the most successful singers in Israel, being named as the top female singer of the year five times and as the top female singer of the decade; releasing 10 gold and platinum albums. She kept performing internationally including inPoland withIsrael Philharmonic Orchestra andZubin Mehta, inAustralia,Turkey, theUnited States andEgypt.
Arazi took part at the domestic Israeli Eurovision competition (Kdam) as a singer in 1982, 1983, and 1985 and as a co-host in 1987. In 1988, she was selected internally by IBA to sing the Israeli entry for Eurovision and during a special TV show, in which she presented four new songs, the entry was chosen. Eventually, she went toDublin with the songBen Adam ("Human Being"), which came in seventh. Arazi has always been highly superstitious and consults an astrologer on all matters in her life. The astrologer told her the song performed 9th would win the competition in Dublin, Ireland. Israel had drawn 9th in the running order, so Arazi agreed to represent Israel. However, when Cyprus withdrew from the contest, Israel's position shifted to 8th. The 9th song did win the competition; with the Swiss, represented byCeline Dion, triumphing from that position.[2]
In 1989 Arazi recorded the albumDesert Fantasy than included 10 Hebrew versions of Arabic songs originally written and sung byFarid al-Atrash,Fairuz,Abdul Halim,Samira Said and others. The album was also released in the US and Japan and was hugely successful around the Middle East.
Since 1997, Arazi has focused on her career as a TV host. For 9 years she co-hosted the channel 2 morning magazineCafe Telad.
Later on, she hosted on Channel 1 (Shir Hashishim), Channel 2 (Malkot Hashabat), and GLZ radio station.
Arazi is married to engineer Nathan Tomer, with whom she has one daughter, Alona.[3] On her 70th birthday, the municipality of Haifa announced the naming of Yardena Arazi Street in the Givat Zemer neighborhood in her honour.[citation needed]
| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by | Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest (as part ofChocolate, Menta, Mastik) 1976 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Eurovision Song Contest presenter (withDaniel Pe'er) 1979 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 | Succeeded by |
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