Maya Bouskilla (or Buskila; he, מאיה בוסקילה; born November 9, 1977) is an Israeli singer.

Early life

Buskila was born

Netanya Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, to a religious family of Moroccan-Jewish descent. She was discovered by a scout for

Helicon Records Helicon ( he, הליקון) is an Israeli record label. History Helicon Records was founded in 1985. Aside from being the label of many Israeli singers, Helicon was the exclusive distributor of Snapper Music, EMI and Universal Music Group (rep ...

, one of Israel's best selling labels, who heard her singing in a karaoke bar. Four years later, Roberto Ben-Shushan and Eyal Malul became her managers. Bouskilla claimed to still be religious when she was called up for mandatory service at the age of 18 and received a deferment. In April 2008, after criticism of her draft-dodging, Bouskilla voluntarily enlisted to the Israeli military for a short period, reportedly so she could set a good example for other young Israeli women. Her enlistment at the age of 30 made her one of the oldest new recruits ever to join the Israel Defense Forces.

Career

Music

In 2004, Bouskilla's debut album, ''Sold Out Story'', sold 20,000 copies in the first three weeks. In February 2005, Maya was awarded for being the "Female Artist of the Year" and "Breaking Artist of the Year" in the Israeli Annual Hebrew Song Chart. Bouskilla was also named "Singer of the Year" in 2005 by the Israeli Music Channel (Channel 24). In 2006 she released her second album, "Days of Love". Among the songs is the song "Without You", The song originally represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 by singer Beth and was named Dime. Bouskilla was a possible choice to represent Israel in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2009 The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Moscow, Russia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Believe (Dima Bilan song), Believe" by Dima Bilan. Organised by the Euro ...

but she bowed out at the last minute. She was tipped again to represent Israel at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite (Lena Meyer-Landrut song), Satellite" by Lena Meyer-La ...

. She was also reportedly considered for the 2012 edition in Baku.

Television and film

In 2006, Bouskilla starred as Margalit in

Menahem Golan Menahem Golan ( he, מנחם גולן; May 31, 1929 – August 8, 2014, originally Menachem Globus) was an Israeli film producer, screenwriter, and director. He was best known for co-owning The Cannon Group with his cousin Yoram Globus. Cannon ...

's film ''Days of Love''. In 2009, she appeared as a contestant on the TV programme '' HaAh HaGadol VIP 1'' on Channel 2, the celebrity season for the Israeli version of '' Big Brother''.

Discography

* 2004 – ''Sipur Machur'' (Sold Out Story) * 2006 – ''Yamim Shel Ahava'' (Days of Love) * 2008 – ''Shoveret Shtika'' (Breaking the Silence) * 2016 – ''Noshemet'' (Breathing)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouskilla, Maya 1977 births 20th-century Sephardi Jews 21st-century Sephardi Jews 21st-century Israeli women singers Israeli Mizrahi Jews Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Living people People from Netanya Big Brother (franchise) contestants