Mira Awad

Mira Awad
Background information
Born (1975-06-11) June 11, 1975
Rameh, Galilee, Israel
Origin Tel Aviv, Israel
Occupation(s) singer, actress, songwriter
Instruments Vocals, Guitar
Labels Helicon, Sony Music

Mīrā Anwar ‘Awaḍ (Arabic: ميرا أنور عوض‎‎, Hebrew: מירה עווד‎‎; born June 11, 1975) is an Israeli Arab singer, actress, and songwriter.

In 2009, she represented Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest along with Jewish Israeli singer Achinoam Nini, singing There Must Be Another Way. She was the first Arab Israeli to represent Israel at Eurovision,[1] singing the first Israeli Eurovision song with Arabic lyrics.

Biography

Mira Awad was born in Rameh village in Galilee, Israel to an Israeli Christian Arab father from the Galilee (Anwar), a physician by profession, and a Bulgarian Christian mother (Снежанка – Snejanka).[2] She studied at the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in Ramat HaSharon. She participated in improvisational workshops in Israel and the UK sponsored by the BIArts, British Council, and studied at the Body Theatre School after receiving a scholarship from the America-Israel Culture Foundation.

Awad lives in Tel Aviv with her Jewish Israeli husband Kosta Mogilevych.[3][4][5]

Acting and singing career

At the age of 16, she was a soloist for the band Samana, which performed Western rock in Arabic. In the 1990s, she studied at the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in Tel Aviv.[1]

Awad became a star on Israeli television after appearing in the sit-com Arab Labor.[6] She also appeared in The Bubble, a film by director Eytan Fox. She sang the theme songs for the films Forgiveness (directed by Udi Aloni), and Lemon Tree (directed by Eran Riklis).

In 2002, she collaborated with Achinoam Nini in a version of the Beatles song "We Can Work It Out." She appeared in an album of live performances of Greek singer George Dalaras. In the summer of 2002 she starred as Eliza Doolittle in the Israeli Opera production of My Fair Lady, directed by Micha Levinson, at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center.[7] She also participated in the Israeli children's song festival "Festigal", performing the song Take the Journey.[8] In 2005, Awad collaborated with The Idan Raichel Project on the song Azini (Comfort Me) on Idan Reichel's second album "Mi'ma'amakim."

In 2006, she appeared as an IDF soldier in the Cameri production of a musical adaptation of Maya Arad's novel in verse "Another Place, a Foreign City."[9] In 2007, she played Amal, an Arab-Israeli human rights lawyer married to Amjad's Jewish friend, Meir, in the Israeli sitcom "Arab Labor."[1]

In 2008, she played a Palestinian refugee in the stage production of "The Return to Haifa."[10]

Awad represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, along with Achinoam Nini (Known outside Israel as Noa).[11] The song won a place in the Eurovision final on May 16, and eventually finished in 16th place with 53 points. Awad had previously tried to represent Israel in Eurovision 2005 with the song Zman (Time), but landed 8th place in the national final.

On May 15 Noa and Awad released a collaborative album There Must Be Another Way featuring both duets and solo tracks. Awad's debut solo album Acrobat (بهلوان, Bahlawan) was released in June, featuring songs she wrote and composed, in collaboration with Israeli guitarist Amos Ever-Hadani. In 2010, she was part of a panel that chose the song to represent Israel in Eurovision 2010 to be sung by Harel Skaat.

She participated in the fifth season of Rokdim Im Kokhavim, the Israeli version of Dancing with the Stars. Her dancing partner was Dani Yochtman. They reached the semi-final stage of the competition, coming in 4th place.[12]

She also starred in the TV drama Noah's Ark, playing Ruthi.[13] In 2013, Awad performed with Israeli heavy metal band, Orphaned Land, on their fifth album, All is One, replacing their long time female vocalist, Shlomit Levy.

Political views

Awad identifies herself as Palestinian and Israeli.[14][15] While she has received criticism from both sides of the Palestinian–Israeli divide, she has many fans in both camps.[16][17] The debate has exposed the uneasy position of the Arab citizens of Israel with their ties to both Israeli and Palestinian societies.[18]

During the 2009 national elections in Israel, Awad voiced support for the Israeli Communist party, Hadash.[19]

Prior to her participation in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, Palestinian and Arab intellectuals circulated a petition calling on Awad not to take part in it.[20] The petition failed to deter Awad and Noa, who said, as peace advocates, they were surprised such a petition went around. According to The New York Times, "The antiwar movement, they say, seems to have turned into a Hamas apology force."[21] Awad laughed off the suggestion that she might be used as a fig leaf to cover up the Israeli government's actions. "The government didn't choose to send me to Eurovision. Noa and I agreed because of our eight-year collaboration," she said.

On November 19, 2009, Awad and Noa were awarded the Haviva Reik Peace Prize from Givat Haviva, to honor their commitment to peace and dialogue between Jews and Arabs.[22]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Someone has to keep Israeli Arabs on the map". Haaretz. December 27, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  2. ↑ Bronner, Ethan (February 25, 2009). "Musical Show of Unity Upsets Many in Israel". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  3. ↑ Mira Awad Facebook
  4. ↑ "Artists : Mira Awad". Syntorama.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  5. ↑ Ellis Shuman (January 18, 2002). "Arab actress to be Israels "My Fair Lady"". Israel Insider. Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  6. ↑ Ruta Kupfer (February 21, 2008). "Talent or traitor?". Haaretz. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008.
  7. ↑ Merav Yudilovitch (July 16, 2002). "ברד ירד בדרום ערד" [Hail fell in South Arad] (in Hebrew). Ynet.
  8. ↑ "Festigal 2002 official site". Go.walla.co.il. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  9. ↑ "מקום אחר ועיר זרה" [Another Place and a foreign city] (in Hebrew). City Mouse. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
  10. ↑ MacIntyre, Donald (April 14, 2008). "Israelis stage daring saga of the abandoned Palestinian raised as a Jew". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  11. ↑ Archived May 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ "Mira Awad biography". Golden Land. Archived from the original on May 29, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Tevat Noah official site". Reshet.ynet.co.il. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Arab and Jew to sing for peace in Israel at Eurovision". AFP. May 10, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  15. ↑ Berita. "Berita Dalam dan Luar Negeri Terbaru di situs plasamsn Berita". MSN. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Kobra Tel Aviv – Kobra". svt.se. Archived from the original on October 10, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  17. ↑ Ethan Bronner (February 25, 2009). "Musical show of unity upsets many in Israel". The New York Times. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  18. ↑ Kraft, Dina (February 2, 2009). "Israeli Eurovision singers condemned as 'traitors'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  19. ↑ Sharon Roffe-Ofir (February 9, 2009). "250 Arab artists voice support for Hadash". Ynetnews. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  20. ↑ "Intellectuals and artists of the 1948 Arabs Appeal to Mira Awad Not To Represent Israel in Moscow". Asharq Alawsat. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  21. ↑ Bronner, Ethan (February 25, 2009). "Musical Show of Unity Upsets Many in Israel". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  22. ↑ "AVIVA-Berlin". Aviva-berlin.de. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Bo'az
with The Fire In Your Eyes		 Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest
(with Noa)
2009 		Succeeded by
Harel Ska'at
with Milim
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