Hagit Yaso ( he, חגית יאסו; born October 8, 1989) is an Israeli singer. She won the ninth season of ''

Kokhav Nolad ''Kokhav Nolad'' ( he, כוכב נולד) (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 Nol ...

'', an Israeli television show, similar to '' Pop Idol''.

Early life

Yaso is of

Ethiopian Jewish The history of the Jews in Ethiopia refers to people in Ethiopia who practice Judaism or have Jewish ancestry. This history goes back millennia. The largest Jewish group in Ethiopia is the Beta Israel, also known as Ethiopian Jews. Offshoots ...

descent. She was born in Sderot, and has two brothers and two sisters. Yaso's parents immigrated to Israel from

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

in the 1980s through

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. From an early age she loved to sing, and later on became a member of the band "Sderot Youth" (צעירי שדרות), in which she participated along with her sisters. During her military service, Yaso served in a military band. She is featured in the documentary film '' Sderot: Rock in the Red Zone''. In 2011, she participated in the '' Kokhav Nolad 9''. In her audition, Yaso sang

Amir Benayoun Amir Benayoun (Hebrew: עמיר בניון) (born on August 30, 1975) is an Israeli singer-songwriter. Biography Amir Benayoun was born in Beersheba to Maxim and Esther Benayoun who moved to Israel from Algeria. His father was an oud player. From ...

's song ''Omed BaSha'ar'' (עומד בשער; "Standing at the gate"). During the show, Yaso sang in several languages, including

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, English,

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

and

Moroccan Arabic Moroccan Arabic ( ar, العربية المغربية الدارجة, translit=al-ʻArabīya al-Maghribīya ad-Dārija ), also known as Darija (), is the dialectal, vernacular form or forms of Arabic spoken in Morocco. It is part of the Maghrebi ...

. From the beginning of the show, Yaso stood out and she was often rated by the judges panel for having the "outstanding performance". Yaso reached the finals, which were held in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

, together with

David Lavi David Lavi is a retired Israeli footballer who is one of the top ten goal-scorers in Israeli history with 158 goals in the Israeli Premier League. Honours National *Israeli Premier League (3): ** 1977/78, 1979/80, 1982/83 *State Cup (1): **19 ...

and

Liron Ramati {{Given name Liron is a Hebrew gender-neutral given name meaning "my joy" or "my song". It is also an Albanian given name meaning "freeing" or "free". The name may refer to: People Given name *Liron Basis (born 1974), Israeli football player * Lir ...

. The first song Yaso sang in the finals was

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 ...

's "Mishehu Tamid Holech Iti" (מישהו תמיד הולך איתי) and Idan Raichel's song "Medabrim Besheket" (מדברים בשקט). Yaso ended up winning the first place with 60% of the votes. She won a scholarship of 240,000 shekels, and a production contract from the well known music producer

Ivri Lider Ivri Lider ( he, עברי לידר) is an Israeli pop star and part of the duo TYP, also known as The Young Professionals. He served as a judge on the first season of '' The X Factor Israel''. Music career In October 2005 Lider received ...

. After winning, Yaso and her parents were invited to the president's residence, where President

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...

discussed with her parents their immigration to Israel from

, and about her involvement in ''Kokhav Nolad''. Yaso has toured and performed internationally. In January 2013, she toured in several cities across the US sponsored by Jewish National Fund. The highlight of her tour was a performance at the Saban Theatre in Los Angeles, where she performed a duet of "Killing Me Softly" with the song's writer Charles Fox.

Personal life

In 2011, Yaso began dating the Israeli former child actor

Eliad Nachum Eliad Nachum (, born January 31, 1990), known professionally by his first name Eliad is an Israeli singer, songwriter and television actor. Biography Eliad Nachum was born in Bat Yam, to Israeli parents of Sephardic Jewish (Iraqi-Jewish and ...

(played in '' Shemesh''), who previously performed with her in a military band during their military service. He is now a popular singer. They have since broken up.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yaso, Hagit 1989 births 21st-century Israeli women singers Israeli people of Ethiopian-Jewish descent Kokhav Nolad winners Living people People from Sderot