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Biography
Infobox musical artist|name = Dana International (??? ???????????) |image = Dana International 01.jpg |caption = Dana International in 2007. |background = solo_singer |birth_name = Yaron Cohen |Born = Birth date and age|mf=yes|1972|2|2 Tel Aviv , Israel |death_date = |Nationality = Israeli |instrument = Vocals |genre = electronic dance music|Dance , Pop music|Pop , World music|World , Trance music|Trance |occupation = Singer-songwriter |years_active = 1992–present |label = Hed Arzi Music |website = http://www.danainternational.co.il/ www.DanaInternational.co.il Sharon Cohen ( Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew : ???? ??? ), professionally known as Dana International ( Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew : ??? ??????????? , born Yaron Cohen , February 2, 1972) is an Israeli Pop music|pop singer of Yemenite Jews|Yemenite Jewish ancestry. She has released eight albums and three additional compilation album s, positioning herself as one of Israel's most successful musical acts ever. She is most famous for having won the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 in Birmingham with the song " Diva (song)|Diva ".
Born biologically male, Dana discovered that she was a transsexual at an early age, coming out when she was 13. Undergoing sex reassignment surgery in 1993, it was that year that she released her first album, Danna International (Offer Nissim Presents)|Danna International , upon which she based her stage name. Consolidating her initial commercial success with the albums Umpatampa (1994) and Maganuna (1996), in 1998 she was selected to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest with her song "Diva"; subsequently winning the international competition, Dana came to public attention throughout Europe. She would come back to Eurovision in 2011, but lost out in the semi-finals.
Following this up with the albums Free (Dana International album)|Free (1999), Yoter VeYoter (2001), HaHalom HaEfshari (2002) and Hakol Ze Letova (2008), in 2011 she once more represented Israel in Eurovision, this time with the song " Ding Dong (Dana International song)|Ding Dong ", although failed to make it into the final. That same year she also became a judge on the Israeli television music talent contest Kokhav Nolad . http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Entertainment/Article.aspx? id=180200 Nikia Brown proceeds in Kochav Nolad. Jerusalem Post
Dana International has been credited with being one of the world's best known transsexuals. In 2005, a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to list those perceived as the 200 Greatest Israelis saw Dana voted the 47th-greatest Israeli of all time.cite news|url= http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3083171,00.html |title=??????? ???? 1: ???? ???? – ????? ?????? |work=Ynet| author=??? ???????' |date=June 20, 1995 |accessdate=July 10, 2011
Early life
Sharon Cohen was born Yaron Cohen in Tel Aviv to a Jewish family of Yemen ite and Romania n descent. In an interview, she said her grandfather originated from Transylvania ( Romania ). http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=v4Ebk8AdlDA Dana International – Interview (Romania), Youtube Her paternal grandparents lived in Petah Tikva . She was the youngest of three children, and was named after an uncle who had been killed during a terrorist attack .
Though born biologically male, she identified as a female from a very young age. She wanted to become a singer since the age of eight, when she watched legendary Israeli singer Ofra Haza perform 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 claims that her childhood was happy. She Coming out|came out as transsexual at the age of 13.
The first tragedy in Dana International's life was the death of her best friend Daniel, who died in a car accident. She 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. The stage name she adopted, Dana or Danna, is the feminine version of Daniel's abbreviated name, Dan or Danny.Citation needed|date=May 2011
Career
1990–93: Dana International
At 18 years of age, Cohen (still legally male) earned a living as Israel's first drag queen parodying many famous female singers. During one of her performances, she was discovered by Offer Nissim , a well-known Israeli DJ , who produced her debut single "Saida Sultana" ("My Name is Not Saida"), a satirical version of Whitney Houston 's song " My Name Is Not Susan ".cite book|url= http://books.google.com/books? id=jQ4EAAAAMBAJ& pg=PA10& dq=%22Dana+International%22+%22whitney+houston%22& hl=en& ei=JeFSTqzkMovAgQfbi6mJBw& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=1& ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA |title=Billboard |publisher= |date=May 23, 1998 |author= |accessdate=August 22, 2011 The song received considerable exposure and helped launch her career as a professional singer.
In 1993, Dana International flew to London for male-to-female sex reassignment surgery and legally changed her name to Sharon Cohen.cite book|url= http://books.google.com/books? id=PWIEAAAAMBAJ& pg=PA50& dq=%22Dana+International%22+%22sharon%22& hl=en& ei=U-FSToSqDoTTgQfphcT9Bg& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=4& ved=0CDgQ6AEwAw |title=Out |publisher= |date= |author= |accessdate=August 22, 2011 Returning home with her new name, that same year Cohen released her first album, entitled Danna International (Offer Nissim Presents)|Danna International in Israel. Soon after, the album was also released in several other countries including Greece, Jordan , and Egypt . Sharon's stage name Dana International comes from the title track of the album, and was originally spelled with two n:s. Danna International soon became a gold record in Israel.cite book|url= http://books.google.com/books? id=1Z3ChYp6PUIC& pg=PA121& dq=%22Dana+International%22+%22gold%22& hl=en& ei=m-FSTr76BsjngQeM6PiSBw& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=1& ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA |title=Queer popular culture: literature, media, film, and television |publisher= |date= |author=Thomas Peele |accessdate=August 22, 2011
1994: Umpatampa and Best Female Artist
In 1994 Dana released her second, Trance music|Trance -influenced album Umpatampa , which built on the success of her debut and provided further hit singles.cite book|url= http://books.google.com/books? id=jhUKAQAAMAAJ& q=%22Dana+International%22+trance& dq=%22Dana+International%22+trance& hl=en& ei=-uFSTpuTNYrbgQeAkK3rBg& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=1& ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA |title=Continuum encyclopedia of popular music of the world |publisher= |date=2005|author=John Shepherd |accessdate=August 22, 2011 The album went platinum in Israel and has sold more than 50,000 copies to date. Because of her popularity and the success of this album, she won the award for Best Female Artist of the Year in Israel.
1995: Eurovision song contest
In 1995, Dana attempted to fulfill her childhood dream of performing in the Eurovision Song Contest .cite book|url= http://books.google.com/books? id=TRIfClIjBBQC& pg=PA172& dq=%22Dana+International%22+eurovision+1995& hl=en& ei=a-JSTubpMo7PgAeu98yLBw& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=2& ved=0CDAQ6AEwAQ |title=Between Sodom and Eden: a gay journey through today's changing Israel |publisher= |date=April 15, 2000 |author=Lee Walzer |accessdate=August 22, 2011 She entered the Eurovision qualifying contest in Israel with a song entitled "Layla Tov, Eropa" ("Good Night Europe") which finished second in the pre-selections, but became another hit single.
In late 1995, Dana released an E.P. called E.P.Tampa (Offer Nissim Featuring)|E.P. Tampa with three new songs and four remixes and special versions of her earlier songs.
1996–97: Consolidating popularity
In 1996, Dana released her third album, Maganuna . Although this album was less successful than her previous efforts, it still reached gold record sales in Israel and included the hits "Don Quixote," "Waving," and the club smash "Cinque Milla." In 1997, Dana collaborated with the Israeli artist Eran Zur on his album Ata Havera Sheli, and together they sang the duet "Shir Kdam-Shnati (Sex Acher)" ("Pre-Bed Song (A Different Kind of Sex)") which became a huge hit.cite book|url= http://books.google.com/books? id=kTTNfj4nbaMC& pg=PA134& dq=%22Dana+International%22+kind+of+sex& hl=en& ei=kOJSTqCwKsrogQeB-PD-DQ& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=3& ved=0CDQQ6AEwAg |title=Voicing the popular: on the subjects of popular music |publisher= |date= |author=Richard Middleton |accessdate=August 22, 2011
1998: Diva and mainstream spotlight
Dana was chosen to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 in Birmingham with the song " Diva (song)|Diva ". Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jews and others with conservative views were opposed to her appointment and attempted to void her participation in the contest. However, in May 1998, Dana performed "Diva" at the Eurovision final and won the contest with 172 points. She became an international superstar, and was interviewed by CNN , BBC , Sky News , and MTV among others mostly focusing on her life as a transsexual person before winning the contest. Dana's own words "the message of reconciliation" were; ''"My victory proves God is on my side. I want to send my critics a message of forgiveness and say to them: try to accept me and the kind of life I lead. I am what I am and this does not mean I don't believe in God, and I am part of the Jewish Nation." cite news|url= http://www.israel21c.org/people/dana-international-returns-to-eurovision |title= Dana International - the most famous transsexual in the world |publisher= |date= |author= Jeffrey Heyman|accessdate=August 22, 2011
Dana released "Diva" as a single in Europecite book|url= http://books.google.com/books? id=RRFx7fFsi0AC& pg=PA228& dq=%22Dana+International%22+diva+11& hl=en& ei=8eJSTqCoGMPagQez5qmNBw& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=7& ved=0CEoQ6AEwBg |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber |publisher= |date= |author=John Snelson |accessdate=August 22, 2011 and it became a hit, reaching number 11 in the UK charts and the top ten in Sweden, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, and the Netherlands.
1999–2001: Stage falling, Streisand cover and new albums
In 1999, Dana released Woman In Love , a Barbra Streisand cover, but it was not the hit that "Diva" had been. In May 1999, Dana again participated in the Eurovision Song Contest held in Jerusalem. Dana was a part of the interval act and sang the Stevie Wonder song "Free". She also presented the award to the winners of the contest but accidentally managed to steal their thunder. Whilst she was carrying the heavy trophy, one of the composers of the winning Swedish entry by mistake stepped on the long trail of her dress and she fell over on stage – in front of a television audience estimated be to one billion or more, arguably making it one of the most memorable moments in the 50-year-long history of the contest.
She released her next album Free (Dana International album)|Free in Europe in 1999, which enjoyed moderate success. A few months later Dana moved back to Israel and started to work on different projects. Israeli and Japanese editions of Free were released in 2000. That same year, an Israeli documentary film was made about Dana called Lady D .
In 2001, after a break, Dana released her seventh album Yoter Ve Yoter ( More and More ).cite book|url= http://books.google.com/books? id=2QEuAQAAIAAJ& q=%22Dana+International%22+yoter& dq=%22Dana+International%22+yoter& hl=en& ei=T-NSTojvC8WtgQeileTzBg& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=3& ved=0CDIQ6AEwAg |title=L'Arche |publisher= |date= |author= |accessdate=August 22, 2011 The album put her career in Israel back on track and provided two hits called "I Won" and "After All", which eventually both went gold.
2002–06: Fading from the scene and Sony incident
Dana was about to sign with major Sony/BMG for an international recording contract, but something went wrong in negotiations. These were disagreements that led to Sony canceling the deal before it was completed. In 2002, she released another album, HaHalom HaEfshari ( The Possible Dream ), which was a minor chart success. In 2003, she released an exclusive 8 CD box set, containing all singles from The Possible Dream and also a new house version of the hit single "Cinque Milla", titled A.lo.ra.lo.la . A few years later, in 2005, Dana participated in the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision song contest, held in Copenhagen , after "Diva" was selected as one of fourteen songs considered to be the best Eurovision songs. The song did however not make it into the final top five, but Dana got the chance to perform both "Diva" and an old Eurovision favourite of hers; Baccara 's 1978 entry " Parlez-Vous Francais? ". She also recorded the song "Lola" (sung in French), to which she released a video. This video can be found on the CD Hakol Ze Letova , released in 2007 as a bonus CD-rom video.
In 2005, Dana was voted the 47th-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.cite news|url= http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3083171,00.html |title=??????? ???? 1: ???? ???? – ????? ?????? |work=Ynet| author=??? ???????' |date=June 20, 1995 |accessdate=July 10, 2011
2007–today: Return to music and Eurovision comeback
After a few years away from show business, together with the relaunch of her official website, a first single of the upcoming album was released in March 2007: "Hakol Ze Letova" ("It's All For the Best"). The second single to be released from the album, "Love Boy", became the most played song on Israeli radio in a decade. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/9032 Watch Dana International's new video, News , Eurovision Song Contest 2011 , Düsseldorf It also gained a respectable place on the airplay of the Greek radio station FLY FM 89,7 . The following album, also titled Hakol Ze Letova , was released on August 15, 2007. "At Muhana" was the third single and "Seret Hodi" (feat. Idan Yaniv ) http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=6szMCwWmPoU DANA INTERNATIONAL FEAT IDAN YANIV – SERET HODI, Youtube the fourth to be released from the album, which became a bestseller in many online stores. The next single released from the album was "Yom Huledet".
On February 26, 2008, Dana gained an additional achievement when the song "Ke'ilu Kan" written and composed by her and performed by Boaz Mauda , was chosen on Kdam Eurovision to represent Israel at Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade , Serbia . It came 5th in the semi-final and gained 9th place in the final rank.
Currently, Dana International is in the studio putting the finishing touches on her next album. Dana has also recorded a song called "Mifrats Ha Ahava" ("The Love Bay") for an Israeli version of the TV-show "Paradise Hotel". She recently collaborated with the Ukrainian duo NeAngely (Not Angels). They recorded the song "I Need Your Love" together and released a video. In 2009 Dana starred in a mock reality show called Dana Kama/Nama for cellphone provider Cellcom (Israel)|Cellcom http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Entertainment/Article.aspx? id=121455 Celebrity Grapevine, Greer Fay Cashman, JPost , 11/23/2008
Dana campaigned for Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni shortly before Israeli legislative election, 2009|2009 legislative elections in Israel . At a women's political rally in Jerusalem Dana performed a bouncy disco song right beside Livni onstage. Dana announced, "I now formally invite you to the diva sisterhood."cite news|url= http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-israel-gender8-2009feb08,0,3243640.story |title=Israel's Tzipi Livni turns to women and the left for votes |publisher=Latimes.com |date=February 8, 2009 |author= |accessdate=August 22, 2011
In April 2009 Dana performed in the opening concert of Tel Aviv-Yafo Centennial Year. She performed the song "Lo nirdemet Tel Aviv" (Tel Aviv doesn't fall asleep) in front of 250,000 people.
On May 18, 2009, Dana International shut down her current website in hopes of launching her new website promoting her new album.
Also in 2009, Dana International joined the 7th season of " Kokhav Nolad " (the Israeli version of American Idol ) as a judge and joined the 8th one as well in 2010.cite news|url= http://www.forward.com/articles/104675/ |title=. |author= |publisher=L'Arche |date= |accessdate=August 22, 2011
Dana made a guest appearance, as herself, in an episode of the second series of UK sitcom Beautiful People (UK TV series)|Beautiful People , which was set around her Eurovision appearance. She is currently working on her next studio album, which is due to be released later in 2011.
Early in February, it was announced by IBA that Dana was preparing for a comeback in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Germany with the self-penned song Ding Dong (Dana International song)|Ding Dong and would compete in the Israeli National Final for 2011. On March 8 Dana International won the final and represented Israel at Eurovision for a second time.cite news|url= http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/3457102/Transsexual-Dana-International-to-return-to-Eurovision-Song-Contest.html |title=Dana on Euro trail |publisher= |date= |author= |accessdate=August 22, 2011 However, she did not make it into the final, she was the first Eurovision winner not to do so.
Discography
Div col
1993 Danna International (Offer Nissim Presents) , IMP Dance
1998 Dana International The Album , Helicon/Big Foot/PolyGram
1999 Free (Dana International Album)|Free , (European edition), CNR Music
2000 Free (Dana International Album)|Free , (Israeli edition), NMC
2000 Free (Dana International Album)|Free , (Japanese edition), NXCA
2001 Yoter Ve Yoter (More and more), NMC
2002 HaHalom HaEfshari (The possible dream), IMP Dance
2003 The CDs collection , IMP Dance
2007 Hakol Ze Letova (It's all for the best), Hed Arzi Ltd.
2011 Ding Dong (Dana International song)|Ding Dong
Div col end
References
External links
Commons category
http://www.dana-int.net/ Dana International – Discover The Queen Of The Levant
http://www.danainternational.com/ Dana International Fan Website
http://www.danainternational1.com/ Dana International Official Website
http://www.phreak.co.uk/dana/ Unofficial Dana International fansite
http://www.dana-international.net/ Dana International – A Star Online; Website & Forum
http://briannaaustin.com/index.php/gallery/the-divas/dana-international/ Dana Photo Gallery
S-startS-achSuccession box| before= Harel Skaat with " Milim " | title= Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest | years= Eurovision Song Contest 2011|2011 | after= Incumbent Succession box| before=flagicon|United Kingdom Katrina and the Waves with " Love Shine a Light " | title= List of Eurovision Song Contest winners|Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest | years= Eurovision Song Contest 1998|1998 | after=flagicon|Sweden Charlotte Nilsson with " Take Me to Your Heaven (song)|Take Me to Your Heaven " Succession box| before= Liora with " Amen (Liora song)|Amen " | title= Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest | years= Eurovision Song Contest 1998|1998 | after= Eden (band)|Eden nowrap|with " Yom Huledet (Happy Birthday) "S-end Dana InternationalKokhav NoladEurovision winnersCongratulations (Eurovision) Persondata | NAME =International, Dana | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =1972-02-02 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:International, Dana Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:Israeli people of Yemeni origin Category:Israeli Jews Category:People from Tel Aviv Category:LGBT people from Israel Category:Transgender and transsexual musicians Category:Israeli people of Romanian origin Category:Israeli female singers Category:Israeli pop singers Category:Eurovision Song Contest winners Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1998 Category:Israeli Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:Hebrew-language singers Category:English-language singers Category:LGBT Jews Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2011
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