HAZA, OFRA

HAZA, OFRA (1957–2000), Israeli singer. Haza was born in the Hatikva quarter of Tel Aviv to parents who had come from Yemen. She started singing as a child and at the age of 12 was accepted into the "Hatikva Quarter workshop" under the direction of Bezalel Aloni. Having completed her army service, she took part in 1979 in the movie Shlager where she sang the "freiha" song (lyrics, Assi Dayan, music, Zvika Pik), which became a huge hit and send her to the top of all the charts. She was crowned "singer of the year" four years in a row (1980–1983) and in 1983 represented Israel at the Eurovision song contest. She soared to international fame when her song Galbi ("My Heart"; 1984) was reworked for the European market and became a best seller. Another Hebrew Yemenite wedding song of the famous poet Shalem Shabazi, Im Nin'alu, went through a similar process and sold two million copies in Europe alone. After her performances in New York in 1989 she recorded the album "Desert Wind" (1989) and noted singers such as Paul Anka and Cliff Richards recorded duets with her. In 1998 the producer Steven Spielberg invited her to perform the theme song in his animated epic Prince of Egypt and she did this in the 29 languages the film was translated into. She also gave her voice to the character of Yokhebed. In spite of her international success she remained faithful to the Israeli public and her performances drew huge crowds. She participated and won first prizes in the music festival and the festival of children music. Her repertoire was based in great part on Yemenite singing. She was asked to come to Oslo to sing when Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, and Yasser Arafat received the Nobel Peace Prize. She received second prize at the Eurovision contest. Ofra Haza recorded 25 albums, including seven in foreign languages recorded in Europe and in the United States. (Nathan Shahar (2nd ed.)