Shimshon "Shimi" Tavori (; born February 9, 1953) is an Israeli singer. He performs mostly in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

but also in French.

Biography

Shimshon Tawili was born in

Ness Ziona Ness Ziona (, ''Nes Tziyona'') is a city in Central District (Israel), Central District, Israel. In it had a population of , and its jurisdiction was 15,579 dunams (). Identification Lying within Ness Ziona's city bounds is the ruin of the Arab ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, to a Yemenite-Jewish family. He was the youngest of seven children. He met his wife Jennifer Joslyn while performing in New York City in 1982, and married her after a short acquaintance. She then moved to Israel to live with him. They had three sons, Eliran, Ariel, and Daniel. One of his songs, ''Eliran'', is named for his firstborn son. After divorcing Joslyn, Tavori married a 17-year-old Israeli model, Aviva Azulai, with whom he had two children, son Ben El Tavori and daughter Bat-El Tavori. Tavori later divorced Azulai and married Osnat Lorber. They had two children, Orel and Elad, before divorcing.''Kol Ness Ziona'', "From 'Big Brother' to Big Comeback," August 14, 2009, vol. 866 (Hebrew) After their divorce, Tavori married and later divorced Sylvia Ziv, a resident of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with whom he had a long distance relationship. He later entered a relationship with Yehudit Bauman, who claims to be the daughter of Italian actor

Marcello Mastroianni Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (26 September 1924Come da lui stesso dichiarato a 1'10" dquesta intervista/ref> – 19 December 1996) was an Italian actor. He is generally regarded as one of Italy's most iconic male performers of the 20t ...

through a brief holiday romance with her mother. Tavori married her in 2016. Several of Tavori's children are also involved in the music world. His son Daniel was a contestant on

Kokhav Nolad ''Kokhav Nolad'' (; meaning "A Star Is Born") was an Israeli reality television show searching for talented new vocalists, based on the British ''Pop Idol'' model. Since its debut on Israeli Channel 2 in 2003, Kokhav Nolad has become popular and ...

, and has also performed as a drummer, participating in one of Tavori's singles. His son Eliran works with him in concerts and is a music producer. His son Ben El Tavori is a prominent Israeli singer, and part of a famous musical duo with the singer Liraz Russo, known as "Static".

Singing career

Tavori started out singing at nightclubs in

Ramla Ramla (), also known as Ramle (, ), is a city in the Central District of Israel. Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with significant numbers of both Jews and Arabs. The city was founded in the early 8th century CE by the Umayyad caliph S ...

, among them Calipso and Karish. After his service in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

, he recorded his first song, ''Helena'', which was coldly received at first but later became a hit. His first major break came after David Halfon heard him perform a song that Halfon had written for another singer. Halfon introduced Tavori to

Uzi Hitman Uzi Hitman (; 9 June 1952 – 17 October 2004) was an Israeli singer-songwriter, composer, actor, director and television personality. Biography Uzi Hitman was born in Giv'at Shmuel and lived all his life in Ramat Gan. His parents, Holocaust su ...

in his early days as a songwriter. In 1976, the collaboration with Hitman led to Tavori's first record, ''Chipasti Shirim La'Tzet La'Olam'' ("I searched for songs to go out to the world"; ), including his first hit, ''Eyn Lee Ahavah'' ("I have no love"; ), written by Eliezer Rabin. After the records release, Tavori was awarded first place in the Middle Eastern Singing Festival () with his song ''Shechora Ve'Nava" ("Black & Beautiful")''. The following year Tavori placed second at the same festival with his song ''Kinor David'', and in 1979 he once more placed first with the song ''Moshe'', written for him by singer-songwriter

Avihu Medina Avihu Medina (; born August 19, 1948, in Tel Aviv) is an Israeli composer, arranger, songwriter, and singer of Mizrahi music. Biography Medina was born in Tel Aviv. He was the third son of Aaron and Leah Medina. His mother's family immigrated ...

. Collaboration with Medina produced numbers like ''Shabhi Yerushalayim'' and ''Al Tashliheini Le'et Zikna'', which became megahits for Tavori and other Mizrahi singers in Israel.Collaboration with Avihu Medina
/ref> In 1982 Tavori turned down an offer to enter the festival again with the song written for him by Medina, ''Haperch Be'Gani'' (which ended up placing first when performed by Medina's second choice,

Zohar Argov Zohar Orkabi (; July 16, 1955 – November 6, 1987), known professionally as Zohar Argov (), was an Israeli singer. A distinctive voice in the Mizrahi music scene, Argov is widely known in Israel as "The king of Mizrahi music". However, he remai ...

, launching ''his'' legendary career), choosing instead to go perform in New York City. In 1993 Tavori entered the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

with the song ''Chai Et Ma'She Yesh'' ("I Live With What I've Got"; ). Known also with the ballad "Remember" in the 80's (Big hit in Greece 1985-1986). In 2000, he released a triple album in French "Oriental Tempo" with international contributions of Turkish folk singer

İbrahim Tatlıses İbrahim Tatlıses (born İbrahim Tatlı in 1952) is a Turkish folk singer and former actor of Arab-Kurdish descent. Since the 1970s he has been one of the best-known and most successful singers of the pop '' Arabesk'' style. Tatlıses has record ...

, French entertainer Francky Perez, and Israeli musician and singer

Meir Banai Meir Banai (‎; 5 July 1960 – 12 January 2017) was an Israeli musician, singer, and songwriter. Biography Meir Banai was born in Beersheba in 1960, the son of Yitzhak Banai, to a traditional Jewish family which has produced various actors ...

. In 2009, he finished second on the TV show HaAch HaGadol (VIP Big Brother). In 2021, Tavori participated in the fourth season of ''The X Factor Israel'', in the goal of representing

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 was eliminated in the chairs round.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tavori, Shimi 1953 births 20th-century Israeli male singers Israeli people of Yemeni-Jewish descent Living people People from Ness Ziona Israeli Mizrahi Jews Big Brother (Israeli TV series) contestants The X Factor contestants

Biography

Singing career

See also

References

External links