Izhar Cohen (, ; born March 13, 1951) is an Israeli singer who won the 1978

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 ...

Biography

Izhar Cohen was born in

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 ...

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 ...

, and raised in Givatayim, to a family of singers of Yemenite-Jewish descent – Shlomo Cohen, Sarah Cohen, and Hofni, Pini, and Vardina Cohen.

Singing and stage career

Cohen started to sing when he was a child and joined his father in his performances. At 18, Cohen joined the IDF's Nachal entertainment troupe. During the 1970s Cohen was one of the most played singers in Israel. Representing Israel, he won the 1978

with the group

Alphabeta "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" (; bet-language language game for the word ''aní'', meaning "I" in Hebrew) is a song recorded by Israeli group Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, with music composed by Nurit Hirsh and Hebrew lyrics written by Ehud Manor. It in t ...

performing "

A-Ba-Ni-Bi "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" (; bet-language language game for the word ''aní'', meaning "I" in Hebrew) is a song recorded by Israeli group Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, with music composed by Nurit Hirsh and Hebrew lyrics written by Ehud Manor. It in ...

" with music by Nurit Hirsh and words by Ehud Manor. The title of the song is the

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 ...

word "''ani''" (first person singular pronoun) expressed in the popular children's

language game A language game (also called a cant, secret language, ludling, or argot) is a system of manipulating spoken words to render them incomprehensible to an untrained listener. Language games are used primarily by groups attempting to conceal their ...

" Bet language". Cohen later represented Israel again (this time with an unnamed group of backing singers) at the 1985 contest performing " Olé, Olé" (music – Kobi Oshrat, words – ) where he finished 5th. He attempted to represent Israel again in 1982, 1987 and 1996 but did not win the national final. Cohen was an actor in the Haifa Theatre. He owns a jewelry shop on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv. Izhar was on '' The Singer in the Mask'' as "Bull", getting 10th overall. In 2024, Izhar was on Israel's "

Dancing with the stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

" and was eliminated on June 26th, 2024.

References

External links

https://web.archive.org/web/20170212014526/http://www.izhar-cohen.eu.pn/A-ba-ni-bi lyric with English translationOle ole lyric with English translation
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VIDEO: Eurovision 1978 - Israel - Izhar Cohen & Alpha Beta - A-ba-ni-bi - א-ב-ני-בי

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Izhar 1951 births Living people 20th-century Israeli male singers Israeli male stage actors Israeli people of Yemeni-Jewish descent Eurovision Song Contest winners Jewish Israeli musicians Musicians from Tel Aviv People from Givatayim 21st-century jewellers

Biography

Singing and stage career

See also

References

External links