Israel’s entry to the Eurovision Song Contest is well-known Eurovision 1998 winner Dana International with song Ding Dong. Israel has decided on its entry for the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. In a live show broadcast nationally and on the Internet by the Israeli Channel 1.
Sharon Cohen is professionally known as Dana International (born Yaron Cohen, 2 February 1972) is an Israeli pop singer, born in a Yemenite Jewish family. Her grandparents from the father’s side lived in the town Petah Tikva. She was the youngest of three children after sister Limor and brother Nimrod. International was named after an uncle who had been killed during a terrorist attack. Though born biologically male, International identified as a female from a very young age. She wanted to become a singer ever since she was eight years old and saw legendary Israeli singer Ofra Haza performing her song “Chai” in the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest. Although the family was quite poor, her mother worked to pay for her music lessons, and she has explained that her childhood was rather happy. She came out as transsexual at the age of 13.
The first tragedy in International’s life was the death of her best friend Daniel, who died in an automobile accident. International asserts that Daniel had prophesied that she would someday have a successful singing career, and claims that Daniel’s prediction is what pushed her to become the singer she wanted to be.
This was Dana’s third attempt to represent her country, and bringing the victory back to her homeland for the fourth time. She won the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Diva.
Diva was chosen as one of the 14 most popular songs in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, and was thus one of the entrants in the Congratulations 50th anniversary concert in Copenhagen, Denmark, held in October 2005.
This also isn’t the first time that Dana participates in the Eurovision Song Contest as a song writer, as she also wrote the 2008 Israeli entry The Fire In Your Eyes, performed by Boaz Mauda. The song finished 9th in the Final.
Israel will take part in the Second Semi-Final of the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest, on Thursday the 12th of May, after gaining prior approval from the European Broadcasting Union due to the fact that the Israeli Memorial Day and Independence day occur on the same date as the First Semi-Final. Are you ready for Dana’s return?