HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Avi Toledano ( he, אבי טולדנו; born April 4, 1948) is an Israeli singer and songwriter.


Biography

Avraham ("Avi") Toledano was born in
Meknes Meknes ( ar, مكناس, maknās, ; ber, ⴰⵎⴽⵏⴰⵙ, amknas; french: Meknès) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th c ...
,
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
to a Jewish family. At the age of 5, the family relocated to
Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
, where Toledano attended the
Alliance Israélite Universelle The Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU; he, כל ישראל חברים; ) is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 with the purpose of safeguarding human rights for Jews around the world. It promotes the ideals of Jew ...
. During his teenage years, he was involved in
Labour Zionist Labor Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת סוֹצְיָאלִיסְטִית, ) or socialist Zionism ( he, תְּנוּעָת הָעַבוֹדָה, label=none, translit=Tnuʽat haʽavoda) refers to the left-wing, socialist variation of Zionism. ...
youth movement
Hashomer Hatzair Hashomer Hatzair ( he, הַשׁוֹמֵר הַצָעִיר, , ''The Young Guard'') is a Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary, and it was also the name of the group ...
, which was illegal in Morocco at the time. In 1965, at the age of 16, he immigrated to Israel with other members of Hashomer Hatzair, and settled in Kibbutz Ruhama in the
Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...
.


Career

Toledano debuted as a singer as a teenager, after sending demo tapes to the radio show "First Returns" ("תשואות ראשונות"). Composer Moshe Wilensky encouraged him to perform his song "Zohi Yafo" live on the program. Toledano spent his period of military service as a member of the Armored Corps Troupe (להקת גייסות השריון), one of the
Israeli Defense Force The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...
's military bands. He released his first solo album in 1968. In 1969, he participated in the
Israel Song Festival Israel Song Festival (in Hebrew: Festival HaZemer VeHaPizmon, he, פסטיבל הזמר והפזמון, lit. Israel Song and Chorus Festival) was an annual music competition organized by public broadcasters Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA). ...
, performing "The Spirit" ("את הרוח"), written by Rimona Dinur and Rafi Ben-Moshe, and "On the Way Back" ("בדרך חזרה"), written by
Ehud Manor Ehud Manor (Hebrew: אהוד מנור; born Ehud Weiner; July 13, 1941 – April 12, 2005) was an Israeli lyricist, translator, poet and radio and TV personality. He is widely considered to have been Israel's most prolific lyricist of all time, h ...
and
Nurit Hirsch Nurit Hirsh ( he, נורית הירש, b. Tel Aviv, August 13, 1942) is an Israeli composer, arranger and conductor who has written over a thousand Hebrew songs. Three of her most famous and widely known songs are ''Ba-Shanah ha-Ba'ah'' (''Next Y ...
; Toledano came in third place. His second album, ''Avi'', was released the same year, and included two songs by Manor and Hirsch, "How Time Passes" and "I Saw the Summer". Other songs included on this album were a Hebrew cover of
Mary Hopkin Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer-songwriter best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single "Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists ...
's "This is the Day", translated by Mickey Hartaby (also performed by
Shuli Natan Shulamit "Shuli" Natan ( he, שׁוּלָמִית „שׁוּלִי” נָתָן (born March 16, 1947) is an Israeli singer. She is best known for singing " Jerusalem of Gold" (''Yerushalayim Shel Zahav''), written by Naomi Shemer. Singing ca ...
), and a Hebrew translation of Tom Jones's "
Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ar, دليلة, Dalīlah; grc, label=Greek, Δαλιδά, Dalidá) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved b ...
". Toledano's successes led to him being named "Singer of the Year". In 1970, his third album, ''Misty Garden'', was released, and Toledano subsequently won the first Israeli Children's Song Festival, alongside the 10-year-old Irit Anavi. That same year, he published his fourth album, ''National Songs'', with Hebrew translations of international songs. Toledano continued to perform and release albums into the late 1970s, as well as acting in a number of Israeli films. Towards the end of the 1970s he toured Europe, and in 1978 released another solo album, ''La Boheme'', singing the songs of
Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( , ; born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, hy, Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան, ; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a French-Armenian singer, lyricist, actor and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his dist ...
. Aznavour attended the premier of this tour. In 1979, Toledano composed the song "Paid in Anger" ("שולם ברוגז") which was the winning entry at the 10th Israeli Children's Song Festival, performed by Mike Burstein. In 1981, Toledano won
Kdam Eurovision The Kdam Eurovision (Hebrew: קדם אירוויזיון, transliteration "Kdam-Erovizyon", translation "Pre-Eurovision") in short known as the Kdam (Hebrew: קדם, lit. "Pre") was the Israeli national preselection of the Eurovision Song Contest. ...
, Israel's pre-Eurovision competition, with the song "Carnival". The following year, Toledano represented Israel in the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest with " Hora", written by
Yoram Taharlev Yoram Taharlev ( he, יורם טהרלב; 24 January 1938 – 6 January 2022) was an Israeli poet, lyricist, and author. He wrote lyrics for hundreds of songs recorded by prominent composers and performers. Biography Yoram Taharlev was born on ...
. The song led Toledano to second place, earning 100 points, 61 points behind runaway winner,
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
representative
Nicole Nicole may refer to: People * Nicole (name) * Nicole (American singer) (born 1958), a contestant in season 3 of the American ''The X Factor'' * Nicole (Chilean singer) (born 1977) * Nicole (German singer) (born 1964), winner of the 1982 Euro ...
. Toledano subsequently composed the Israeli entry for the
1983 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1983 was the 28th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Munich, then West Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Ein bißchen Frieden" by Nicole. Despite their first vic ...
, " Chai", which was performed by
Ofra Haza Bat-Sheva Ofra Haza ( he, בת-שבע עפרה חזה; 19 November 1957 – 23 February 2000), known as Ofra Haza (), was an Israeli singer, songwriter, actress, and Grammy Award-nominated recording artist commonly known in the Western world as ...
and also won second place. In 1986, Toledano wrote "L'chaim" for
Haim Moshe Haim Moshe ( he, חיים משה, , sometimes Chaim Moshe on recordings), born 20 September 1955 is an Israeli singer whose musical style has crossed over from Yemenite and Mediterranean "ethnic" music to include mainstream Israeli and western po ...
, which came third place in Kdam Eurovision. In 1989, Toledano again competed in Kdam Eurovision, finishing in second place, and in 1991 he composed "Hava Nagila Discovered" for Uri Feynman's entry to the contest. Toledano has continued to release albums and appear on television into the 2010s. In 2011 he was a contestant on Channel 24 reality show "Hall of Fame" ("היכל התהילה"), finishing in fourth place. Beginning in 2017, he appeared on the Channel 2 television show "Eighties" ("שנות ה-80").


Personal life

Avi Toledano has three children with his first wife, Liora, who was also the subject of his eponymous song. One of his children, Tal Toledano, is a singer and host of Israel's Channel 1. His youngest son, from his marriage to Liora, is musician and international producer Ori Toledano. He remarried in 1998 to Hagit Levi, the sister of Mizrahi singer Ofer Levi. The couple has three children together, including Lehi Toledano, who participated in the 2020 edition of the '' Rising Star'' song contest. Toledano and Levi divorced in 2014. Toledano currently resides in
Gan Yavne Gan-Yavne () is a town in central Israel, located adjacent to the city of Ashdod. Gan Yavne was founded in 1931 and achieved local council status in 1950. It lies east of the Tel Aviv–Ashkelon highway, and is bordered to the west by Ashdod, ...
.


See also

*
Music of Israel The music of Israel is a combination of Jewish and non-Jewish music traditions that have come together over the course of a century to create a distinctive musical culture. For almost 150 years, musicians have sought original stylistic elements ...
*
Culture of Israel The roots of the culture of Israel developed long before modern Israel's independence in 1948, and traces back to ancient Israel ( 1000 BCE). It reflects Jewish culture, Jewish history in the diaspora, the ideology of the Zionist movement that de ...
*
Hora (song) Israel participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1982, which took place in Harrogate, United Kingdom on 24 April. Their entry was Avi Toledano with the song "Hora" after he won the Israeli national final, Kdam Eurovision 1982. At Eurovision ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Toledano, Avi 1945 births Living people 20th-century Moroccan Jews Moroccan emigrants to Israel Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Israeli composers 20th-century Israeli male singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1982 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Israel People from Meknes