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Mira Awad

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Mira Awad
Awad in 2009
Awad in 2009
Background information
Born (1975-06-11) June 11, 1975 (age 49)
Rameh, Galilee, Israel
OriginTel Aviv, Israel
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, actress, television host, political activist
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Labels

Mīrā Anwar ‘Awaḍ (Arabic: ميرا عوض, Hebrew: מירה עווד; born June 11, 1975) is an Arab-Israeli singer-songwriter, actress, television host, and political activist of Palestinian Arab and Bulgarian descent.[1]

She represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 along with Jewish-Israeli singer Achinoam Nini, with the song "There Must Be Another Way". She was the first singer of either Christian or Arab origin, to represent Israel at Eurovision,[2] as well as singing the first Israeli Eurovision song with partial Arabic lyrics.

Early and personal life

[edit]

Mira Anwar Awad was born in Rameh, Israel, to an Arab-Christian father Anwar Awad (أنور عوض) from the Galilee region in Israel, who is a physician; and to a Bulgarian-Christian mother Snezhanka (Снежанка), an expert on Slavic languages. They met while her father studied medicine in Bulgaria.[3]

She studied at the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in Ramat HaSharon, Israel. Awad 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 lived in Tel Aviv with her husband Kosta Mogilevych, an Israeli of Ukrainian descent who is "half-Jewish,"[4][5][6][7] but they moved to London in the summer of 2022.[8]

Acting and singing career

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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.[2]

Awad became a star on Israeli television after appearing in the sitcom Arab Labor.[9] 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.[10] She also participated in the Israeli children's song festival "Festigal", performing the song Take the Journey.[11] 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."[12] In 2007, she played Amal, an Arab-Israeli human rights lawyer married to Amjad's Jewish friend, Meir, in the Israeli sitcom "Arab Labor."[2]

In 2008, she played a Palestinian refugee in the stage production of "The Return to Haifa."[13]

Awad represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, along with Achinoam Nini (known outside Israel as Noa).[14] 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.[15]

She also starred in the TV drama Noah's Ark, playing Ruthi.[16] 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 Levi.

Political views

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Awad identifies herself as Palestinian and Israeli.[17][18] While she has received criticism from both sides of the Palestinian–Israeli divide, she has many fans in both camps.[19][20] The debate has exposed the uneasy position of the Arab citizens of Israel with their ties to both Israeli and Palestinian societies.[21]

During the 2008 municipal elections to the city council of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Awad was a running candidate from the Ir LeKulanu (lit. A City For All Of Us) party.

During the 2009 national elections in Israel, Awad voiced support for the Israeli-Arab Communist party, Hadash.[22]

Prior to her participation in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest representing Israel, Palestinian and Arab intellectuals circulated a petition calling on Awad not to take part in it.[23] 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."[24] 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 the Israeli Givat Haviva education institution, to honor their commitment to peace and dialogue between Jews and Arabs.[25]

In December 2023, Awad spoke to El País about the Israel–Hamas war.[26]

Discography

[edit]
Albums
Title Album details
Bahlawan / Acrobat
  • Released: 2009
  • Label: LabelFree Music
Write Down...

(soundtrack for the film Write Down, I Am an Arab)

  • Released: 2014
  • Label: LabelFree Music
Singles
Title Year Details
Rita 2014 Arr. Shay Alon
Yousef 2014 Arr. Mira Awad and Ayal Yishay
Mother 2014 Arr. Shay Alon
Think of Others 2016 Arr. Mira Awad and Ayal Yishay; feat. Shay Alon, Ayal Yishay, and Etti Tevel

References

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  1. ^ "Mira Awad Biography". MiraAwad.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Someone has to keep Israeli Arabs on the map". Haaretz. 27 December 2012. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  3. ^ Bronner, Ethan (25 February 2009). "Musical Show of Unity Upsets Many in Israel". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 November 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  4. ^ ""אשיר בכל מחיר"". 11 June 2017. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  5. ^ Mira Awad Archived 2 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine Facebook
  6. ^ "Artists : Mira Awad". Syntorama.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  7. ^ Ellis Shuman (18 January 2002). "Arab actress to be Israels "My Fair Lady"". Israel Insider. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  8. ^ בוקר, רן (11 July 2022). "מירה עווד עברה ללונדון: "לא ירידה מהארץ. הרפתקה לכמה שנים"". Ynet (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  9. ^ Ruta Kupfer (21 February 2008). "Talent or traitor?". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008.
  10. ^ Merav Yudilovitch (16 July 2002). "ברד ירד בדרום ערד" [Hail fell in South Arad] (in Hebrew). Ynet. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  11. ^ "Festigal 2002 official site". Go.walla.co.il. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  12. ^ "מקום אחר ועיר זרה" [Another Place and a foreign city] (in Hebrew). City Mouse. Archived from the original on 18 March 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  13. ^ MacIntyre, Donald (14 April 2008). "Israelis stage daring saga of the abandoned Palestinian raised as a Jew". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
  14. ^ [1] Archived May 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "Mira Awad biography". Golden Land. Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  16. ^ "Tevat Noah official site". Reshet.ynet.co.il. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  17. ^ "Arab and Jew to sing for peace in Israel at Eurovision". AFP. 10 May 2009. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  18. ^ Berita. "Berita Dalam dan Luar Negeri Terbaru di situs plasamsn Berita". MSN. Retrieved 18 September 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  19. ^ "Kobra Tel Aviv – Kobra". svt.se. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  20. ^ Ethan Bronner (25 February 2009). "Musical show of unity upsets many in Israel". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  21. ^ Kraft, Dina (2 February 2009). "Israeli Eurovision singers condemned as 'traitors'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  22. ^ Sharon Roffe-Ofir (9 February 2009). "250 Arab artists voice support for Hadash". Ynetnews. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  23. ^ "Intellectuals and artists of the 1948 Arabs Appeal to Mira Awad Not To Represent Israel in Moscow". Asharq Alawsat. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  24. ^ Bronner, Ethan (25 February 2009). "Musical Show of Unity Upsets Many in Israel". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  25. ^ "AVIVA-Berlin". Aviva-berlin.de. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  26. ^ "Mira Awad, Arab singer: 'The alternative to peace is the hell we see now'". El País. Archived from the original on 24 February 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
[edit]
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest
(with Noa)
2009 		Succeeded by
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