Michael Ben David (, ; born 26 July 1996) is an Israeli singer who represented in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2022 The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and h ...

. He performed the song "

I.M Im Chang-kyun (; born January 26, 1996), known by the stage name I.M or Mononymous person, mononymously as Changkyun, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the South Korean boy band, boy group Monsta X u ...

" in the second semifinal. Israel placed 13th in the semi-final failing to qualify to the grand Final.

Life and career

Ben David was born in 1996 as the second of six siblings, to a Georgian Jewish father and mother who immigrated to Israel from

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. He started taking voice lessons and studying dance under Israeli choreographer Oz Morag at a young age. He also worked as a singing waiter at a

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

bar. After completing his

mandatory military service Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

he attended the Beit Zvi School of Performing Arts, which has produced a number of former Israeli Eurovision artists like Rita,

Shiri Maimon Shiri Maimon (or Maymon; , ; born ) is an Israeli singer, television personality and actress, who rose to fame as the runner-up in the inaugural season of singing reality competition '' Kokhav Nolad''. She represented her native Israel in the ...

, and

Harel Skaat Harel Skaat (; born 8 August 1981) sometimes known by the mononym Harel is an Israeli singer and songwriter. He represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Milim" ("", "Words"). Skaat has been singing and performing in publi ...

, graduating in 2020. During his time at the school, he acted in plays and musicals.

''The X Factor Israel'' and Eurovision 2022

In October 2021, Michael Ben David auditioned for the fourth season of ''

The X Factor Israel ''The X Factor Israel'' () is the Israeli version of the British television music competition ''The X Factor'', created by Simon Cowell. The show started airing fall of 2013 on Reshet. Judges and hosts The first three seasons were hosted by Isra ...

'', which would be used to select Israel's representative for the

. Following a successful audition, he was paired up with Eurovision winner and Israeli popstar

Netta ''Netta'' is a genus of diving ducks. The name is derived from Greek ''Netta'' "duck". Unlike other diving ducks, the ''Netta'' species are reluctant to dive, and feed more like dabbling ducks. These are gregarious ducks, mainly found on fresh ...

. During the show he performed a number of songs, including

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

's "

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" is a song by Swedish recording group ABBA. A disco song, it was first recorded in August 1979 to promote the group's North American and European concert legs of ABBA: The Tour. It was released on 1 ...

Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single "Ocean Eyes (song), Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her broth ...

's "

Idontwannabeyouanymore "Idontwannabeyouanymore" is a song by American singer Billie Eilish from her debut extended play, EP, ''Don't Smile at Me'' (2017). Eilish and her brother, Finneas O'Connell, co-wrote the song, with the latter solely handling the production. It ...

" and Pet Shop Boy's "

It's a Sin "It's a Sin" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their second studio album, '' Actually'' (1987). Written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, the song was released on 15 June 1987 as the album's lead single. It became the duo's ...

". Ben David went on to win the final with his song "

" and represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.

Personal life

As of 2022, Michael Ben David has been in a relationship with Roi Ram, whom he met while studying at Beit Zvi, for three years. The pair starred in a number of musicals together such as ''A Thousand and One Nights'' and ''King Solomon and Shlomo the Shoemaker'', and the farce '' The Kitchen'' as well. Ram is still working in the musical theater world, working on a 2022 tour of an adaptation of ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

'' by

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', part of a series. In addition to the 14 ''Oz'' books, Baum penned 41 other novels ...

. On the 11th of May 2022, the day before his

semi-final, Ben David announced on Instagram that he had proposed to Ram in

Turin, Italy Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, and that they were now engaged.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ben David, Michael 1996 births The X Factor winners Living people Israeli gay musicians Israeli LGBTQ singers Gay singers Israeli people of Georgian-Jewish descent Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Eurovision Song Contest entrants Gay Jews