Maya Bouskilla (or Buskila; he, מאיה בוסקילה; born November 9, 1977) is an Israeli singer.

Early life

Buskila was born

Netanya Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate I ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, to a religious family of Moroccan-Jewish descent. She was discovered by a scout for

Helicon Records Helicon ( he, הליקון) is an Israeli record label. History Helicon Records was founded in 1985. Aside from being the label of many Israeli singers, Helicon was the exclusive distributor of Snapper Music, EMI and Universal Music Group (repla ...

, one of Israel's best selling labels, who heard her singing in a karaoke bar. Four years later, Roberto Ben-Shushan and Eyal Malul became her managers. Bouskilla claimed to still be religious when she was called up for mandatory service at the age of 18 and received a deferment. In April 2008, after criticism of her draft-dodging, Bouskilla voluntarily enlisted to the

Israeli military 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 branc ...

for a short period, reportedly so she could set a good example for other young Israeli women. Her enlistment at the age of 30 made her one of the oldest new recruits ever to join the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

Career

Music

In 2004, Bouskilla's debut album, ''Sold Out Story'', sold 20,000 copies in the first three weeks. In February 2005, Maya was awarded for being the "Female Artist of the Year" and "Breaking Artist of the Year" in the

Israeli Annual Hebrew Song Chart Israeli annual Hebrew song chart (Hebrew: מצעד הפזמונים העברי השנתי) (''Mitz'ad hapizmonim'') is an annual Israeli Hebrew song contest. History ''Mitz'ad hapizmonim'' has been broadcast every year since 1963. There are two ...

. Bouskilla was also named "Singer of the Year" in 2005 by the Israeli Music Channel (Channel 24). In 2006 she released her second album, "Days of Love". Among the songs is the song "Without You", The song originally represented

Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 Spain participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with an entry selected through the second series of the reality-show '' Operación Triunfo''. Beth with the song "Dime", composed by Jesús María Pérez and Amaya Martínez, was chosen throu ...

by singer

Beth Beth may refer to: Letter and number *Bet (letter), or beth, the second letter of the Semitic abjads (writing systems) *Hebrew word for "house", often used in the name of synagogues and schools (e.g. Beth Israel) Name *Beth (given name) lists p ...

and was named Dime. Bouskilla was a possible choice to represent Israel in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2009 The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Moscow, Russia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Believe (Dima Bilan song), Believe" by Dima Bilan. Organised by the Euro ...

but she bowed out at the last minute. She was tipped again to represent Israel at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...

. She was also reportedly considered for the 2012 edition in Baku.

Television and film

In 2006, Bouskilla starred as Margalit in

Menahem Golan Menahem Golan ( he, מנחם גולן; May 31, 1929 – August 8, 2014, originally Menachem Globus) was an Israeli film producer, screenwriter, and director. He was best known for co-owning The Cannon Group with his cousin Yoram Globus. Cannon sp ...

's film ''Days of Love''. In 2009, she appeared as a contestant on the TV programme ''

HaAh HaGadol VIP 1 ''HaAh HaGadol VIP'' ( he, האח הגדול VIP; lit. ''The Big Brother VIP'') started on March 1, 2009 and ended on March 31, 2009. The VIP season was the second season of the Israeli version of the ''Big Brother'' series and the first season ...

'' on Channel 2, the celebrity season for the Israeli version of '' Big Brother''.

Discography

* 2004 – ''Sipur Machur'' (Sold Out Story) * 2006 – ''Yamim Shel Ahava'' (Days of Love) * 2008 – ''Shoveret Shtika'' (Breaking the Silence) * 2016 – ''Noshemet'' (Breathing)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouskilla, Maya 1977 births 20th-century Sephardi Jews 21st-century Sephardi Jews 21st-century Israeli women singers Israeli Mizrahi Jews Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Living people People from Netanya Big Brother (franchise) contestants