Mira Awad

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mira Awad
Helicon
  • Sony

    • Mīrā Anwar ‘Awaḍ (

    Arab-Israeli singer-songwriter, actress, television host, and political activist of Palestinian Arab and Bulgarian descent.[1]

    In 2009, she represented

    Arabic
    lyrics.

    Early and personal life

    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

    half-Jewish,"[4][5][6][7] but they moved to London in the summer of 2022.[8]

    Acting and singing career

    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

    theme songs for the films Forgiveness (directed by Udi Aloni), and Lemon Tree (directed by Eran Riklis
    ).

    In 2002, she 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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    1. ^ "Mira Awad Biography". MiraAwad.com. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
    2. ^ a b c "Someone has to keep Israeli Arabs on the map". Haaretz. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
    3. ^ Bronner, Ethan (25 February 2009). "Musical Show of Unity Upsets Many in Israel". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
    4. ^ ""אשיר בכל מחיר"". 11 June 2017.
    5. ^ Mira Awad 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). 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.
    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. 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. 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. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
    21. ^ Kraft, Dina (2 February 2009). "Israeli Eurovision singers condemned as 'traitors'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
    22. ^ Sharon Roffe-Ofir (9 February 2009). "250 Arab artists voice support for Hadash". Ynetnews. 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. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
    25. ^ "AVIVA-Berlin". Aviva-berlin.de. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
    26. ^ "Mira Awad, Arab singer: 'The alternative to peace is the hell we see now'". El País.

    External links

    Awards and achievements
    Preceded by
    The Fire In Your Eyes
    Noa)
    2009
    		 Succeeded by
    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mira_Awad&oldid=1218474927"