Rita Yahan-Farouz ( he, ריטה יהאן-פרוז;), also known

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

as Rita (formerly Rita Kleinstein ), is an Israeli

pop singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

. In 2011, she became popular in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

after the release of various pop records which she sings in her native

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...

. In 2012, produced by Amer Payami, her album ''All My Joys'', also sung in Persian, was popular in Israel and Iran, going gold in Israel after three weeks. She has since been referred to as a

cultural ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

between Israeli and Iranian citizens, and states she hopes to "puncture the wall of tension" between their countries.

Early life

Rita Yahan-Farouz was born in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, to a Persian-Jewish family. At the age of eight, her family

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

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 ...

with her, and resided in the city of

Ramat HaSharon Ramat HaSharon ( he, רָמַת הַשָּׁרוֹן, ''lit.'' '' Sharon Heights'', ar, رمات هشارون) is a city located on Israel's central coastal strip in the south of the Sharon region, bordering Tel Aviv to the south, Hod HaSharon t ...

, Israel, in 1970. Her niece is Israeli actress and singer Liraz Charhi. She began singing professionally as a

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

member while serving in 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 ...

during the 1980s, and rose to stardom quickly.Fassihi, Farnaz; Mitnick, Joshua
"Iran and Israel Can Agree on This: Rita Jahanforuz Totally Rocks"
''Wall Street Journal'', June 2, 2012 Rita was married to Israeli singer, composer, and keyboardist

Rami Kleinstein Rami Kleinstein ( he, רמי קלינשטיין; born 10 November 1962) is an Israeli singer and composer. Biography Kleinstein was born in New York City, to an American-Jewish family of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. He immigrated to Israel with his ...

, with whom she has two daughters, Meshi and Noam. The couple performed together in 2001. In 2007, they announced they were separating.

Singing and acting career

Rita began her career in 1980 as part of a musical troupe in the

. In 1982, she attended the "Beit Zvi" school of acting. Her first exposure to the general public in Israel was at the 1986 Pre-Eurovision Song Contest (known as the Kdam-Eurovision), which decided who would represent Israel in the upcoming

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. Rita did not win, but her song, ''Shvil haBrichah'' garnered much interest. That same year, Rita starred in a production of ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...

'' and released her self-titled debut album, ''Rita'', which went triple platinum, selling over 120,000 copies. In 1987, she released the English language album ''Breaking Those Walls'' under the name of Rita Farouz. That album contained several English versions of her Hebrew songs from the first album as well as original material. Despite going gold (20,000 copies) in Israel, that album was not an international success. In 1988, Rita released her second album, ''Yemei Ha'Tom'' (The Days of Innocence), which was produced by her then husband,

, and which included a song by Israeli playwright

Hanoch Levin Hanoch Levin ( he, חנוך לוין; December 18, 1943 – August 18, 1999) was an Israeli dramatist, theater director, author and poet, best known for his plays. His absurdist style is often compared to the work of Harold Pinter and Samuel Bec ...

. In 1988 and 1989 she was chosen as ''Singer of the Year'' by Israel's national radio station. In

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, Rita represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest with ''

Shara Barkhovot Shara may refer to: *Shara District, an administrative subdivision of Iran *Shara, Leh, a village in Jammu and Kashmir, India *Šar Mountains (''Shar Mountains''), colloquially Šara (''Shara''), Balkans *Shara (god), son of Inanna and brother of Lu ...

'' (Singing in the Streets), but only achieved 18th place. After a brief hiatus, Rita returned in 1994 with her third album, ''Ahava Gedola'' (A Great Love), which led to a three-year tour around the country. ''Tahanot Bazman'' (Stations in Time) was released in 1996, consisting mainly of previously unreleased material. In 1995, Rita voiced

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

in the Hebrew dubbed version of the animated Disney film ''

'', including the songs. In 1998, Rita was invited to sing the Israeli national anthem ''

Hatikvah Hatikvah ( he, הַתִּקְוָה, haTīqvā, ; ) is the national anthem of the Israel, State of Israel. Part of 19th-century Jewish literature, Jewish poetry, the theme of the Romantic poetry, Romantic composition reflects the 2,000-year-o ...

'' (The Hope) at Israel's jubilee celebration ''Paamonei ha'yovel'' (The Jubilee Bells). There was a minor uproar concerning her fee, which was deemed exorbitant by some, but she was convinced to appear following a call from Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

. She reportedly donated the money to charity. In 1999, Rita released ''Tiftakh Halon'' (Open a Window), followed by ''Hamtzan'' (Oxygen) in 2003. In 2004, Rita played the role of Roxie Hart in an adaptation of ''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

'' for the

Beit Lessin Theater Beit Lessin Theater ( he, תיאטרון בית ליסין, translit: ''Teatron Bet Lessin'') is a theater in Tel Aviv, Israel. History The theater was established in 1980 by Yaakov Agmon for the Histadrut. Over the years the theater has shown o ...

. In 2006, Rita appeared in a show called ''One'' (in English) which ran for a month at the

Israel Trade Fairs & Convention Center Expo Tel Aviv (formerly the Israel Trade Fairs and Convention Center ( he, מרכז הירידים והקונגרסים בישראל) and later the Tel Aviv Convention Center ( he, מרכז הירידים - תל אביב), commonly referred to as ...

. Directed by Hanoch Rosenn and choreographed by

Mitch Sebastian Mitch Sebastian (born 1966) is a British theatre director, choreographer and performer. He has been nominated for an Olivier Award and Whatsonstage Award for writing, directing and choreographing '' The Rat Pack: Live from Las Vegas.'' He was Ar ...

, it included lasers, flamethrowers, 3-D images, smoke machines and forty dancers, acrobats, and actors. Over 100,000 tickets were sold. In 2008, Rita released her 7th album, ''Remazim'' (Clues), her first in five years. In 2010 she performed at the President's Residence in Jerusalem in the presence of Italian prime minister

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

and Israeli 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 ...

. She sang her musical version to Bialik's poem ''Hachnisini tachat knafekh'' ("Put me under your wings") and an aria in Italian. Deciding to create a song in her childhood language of Persian, which she speaks fluently, she introduced the single, "Shaneh" based on traditional Persian folk music, but modernized with a more pop and techno dance beat. She released her new

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "Shaneh", on June 22, 2011. Iranians of all ages responded "overwhelmingly," including sending her emails and writing on her Facebook page. Most Westernized popular music, including hers, is banned in Iran, which filters the Internet, however fans have downloaded or bought bootleg copies of her albums. Iranians living in other countries flooded her recording studio with messages, especially after the release of her 2012 album, ''All My Joys'', also in Persian. It was certified gold in Israel within three weeks of its release. Despite her popularity in Iran, the Iranian government called her music a "plot" to win over the hearts and minds of Iranians, and part of Israel's "soft war" against Iran. She was also criticized for sending good wishes to Iranians for

Nowruz Nowruz ( fa, نوروز, ; ), zh, 诺鲁孜节, ug, نەۋروز, ka, ნოვრუზ, ku, Newroz, he, נורוז, kk, Наурыз, ky, Нооруз, mn, Наурыз, ur, نوروز, tg, Наврӯз, tr, Nevruz, tk, Nowruz, ...

, the Iranian New Year.

Awards and recognition

In 2013, a documentary about her album in

was directed by Ayal Goldberg. It was shown at the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

in New York City during the

New York Jewish Film Festival The New York Jewish Film Festival (NYJFF) is an annual festival in New York City that features a wide array of international films exploring themes related to the Jewish experience. The Jewish Museum and The Film Society of Lincoln Center work in ...

in 2014. In Australia, it was shown in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

during the AICE Israeli Film Festival in August 2014.

Discography

Studio albums

* 1986: ''

Rita Rita may refer to: People * Rita (given name) * Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984) * Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962) * Rita (Japanese singer) * Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita Places * Djarrit, also known as Rita, ...

'' (4× Platinum) * 1987: ''Breaking Those Walls'' (Gold) * 1988: ''

Yamey Ha-Tom ''Yemei ha-tom'' (Hebrew: ימי התום - ''The Days of Innocence'') is Israeli singer Rita's second album. Motti Regev, Edwin Seroussi - Popular Music and National Culture in Israel -2004 Page 275 0520236548 Yemei ha-tom (Days of Innocence), . ...

'' (The Days of Innocence) (5× Gold) * 1994: ''Ahava Gdola'' (A Great Love) (4× Platinum) * 1999: ''Tiftah Halon'' (Open a Window) (2× Platinum) * 2000: ''Time For Peace'' (Gold) * 2003: ''Hamtsan'' (Oxygen) (Gold) * 2008: ''Remazim'' (Hints) (Platinum) * 2012: ''HaSmachot Sheli'' (My Joys) (Gold) * 2015: '' Heaven Sent'' * 2017: ''Nisim Shqufim'' (Transparent Miracles)

Compilation albums

* 1996: ''Tahanot BaZman'' (Stages in Time) (2× Platinum) * 2015: ''Rita - haOsef'' (Rita: The Collection)

Live album

* 1998: ''Ahava Gdola - Hahofaa'' (A Great Love - The Show) * 2001: ''Rita & Rami On Stage'' (5× Gold) * 2007: ''ONE (Live)'' (Gold)

References

Sources

*Friedman, Motti.
Rita
" The Department for Jewish Zionist Education web site, retrieved August 19, 2006. * Griver, Simon.
The Ingathering of the Exiles
" Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs web site, retrieved March 25, 2005. * Hartog, Kelly.
Diva Sings Out About Her Tour, Fans
. ''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'', January 4, 2005. Retrieved March 25, 2005. * Pri, Tal.

(in Hebrew). ''nrg

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and '' Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms, ...

'', retrieved March 25, 2005.

External links

*
Official YouTube page
- live performances

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rita 1962 births Living people Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts alumni MTV Europe Music Award winners Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1990 Iranian emigrants to Israel Israeli Jews Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Israel 21st-century Israeli women singers Israeli film actresses Israeli folk singers Israeli Sephardi Jews Israeli musical theatre actresses Israeli people of Iranian-Jewish descent Israeli rock singers Jewish Israeli actresses Jewish Israeli musicians Israeli Mizrahi Jews Jewish folk singers 20th-century Israeli women singers