Shimshon "Shimi" Tavori ( he, שימי תבורי; born February 9, 1953) is an Israeli singer. He performs mostly in
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 ...
but also in French.
Biography
Shimshon Tawili was born in
Ness Ziona
Ness Ziona ( he, נֵס צִיּוֹנָה, ''Nes Tziyona'') is a town in central Israel. In it had a population of , and its jurisdiction was 15,579 dunams ().
History Early history
Lying within Ness Ziona's city bounds is the ruin of an Arab vi ...
,
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
Yemenite-Jewish family. He was the youngest of seven children.
He met his wife Jennifer Joslyn while performing in New York City in 1982, and married her after a short acquaintance. She then moved to Israel to live with him. They had three sons, Eliran, Ariel, and Daniel. One of his songs, ''Eliran'', is named for his firstborn son. After divorcing Joslyn, Tavori married a 17-year-old Israeli model, Aviva Azulai, with whom he had two children, son
Ben El Tavori and daughter Bat-El Tavori. Tavori later divorced Azulai and married Osnat Lorber. They had two children, Orel and Elad, before divorcing.
[''Kol Ness Ziona'', "From 'Big Brother' to Big Comeback," August 14, 2009, vol. 866 (Hebrew)] After their divorce, Tavori married and later divorced Sylvia Ziv, a resident of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
with whom he had a long distance relationship. He later entered a relationship with Yehudit Bauman, who claims to be the daughter of Italian actor
Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (28 September 1924 – 19 December 1996) was an Italian film actor, regarded as one of his country's most iconic male performers of the 20th century. He played leading roles for many of Italy's top di ...
through a brief holiday romance with her mother. Tavori married her in 2016. He is rumored to be the father of Bauman's daughter, Karin, who is a model.
Several of Tavori's children are also involved in the music world. His son Daniel was a contestant on
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 ...
, and has also performed as a drummer, participating in one of Tavori's singles. His son Eliran works with him in concerts and is a music producer.
[ His son Ben El Tavori is a prominent Israeli singer, and part of a famous musical duo with the singer Liraz Russo, known as "Static".
In 1983, he won 145,000 shekels in the Toto lottery.
]
Singing career
Tavori started out singing at nightclubs in Ramla
Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations.
The city was f ...
, among them Calipso and Karish. After his service 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 ...
, he recorded his first song, ''Helena'', which was coldly received at first but later became a hit. His first major break came after David Halfon heard him perform a song that Halfon had written for another singer. Halfon introduced Tavori to Uzi Hitman
Uzi Hitman ( he, עוזי חיטמן; June 9, 1952 – October 17, 2004) was an Israeli singer-songwriter, composer, musician, actor, director and television personality.
Biography
Uzi Hitman was born in Giv'at Shmuel and lived all his life in R ...
in his early days as a songwriter.
In 1976, the collaboration with Hitman led to Tavori's first record, ''Chipasti Shirim La'Tzet La'Olam'' ("I searched for songs to go out to the world"; he, חיפשתי שירים לצאת לעולם), including his first hit, ''Eyn Lee Ahavah'' ("I have no love"; he, אין לי אהבה), written by Eliezer Rabin. After the records release, Tavori was awarded first place in the Middle Eastern Singing Festival ( he, פסטיבל הזמר המזרחי) with his song ''Shechora Ve'Nava" ("Black & Beautiful")''. The following year Tavori placed second at the same festival with his song ''Kinor David'', and in 1979 he once more placed first with the song ''Moshe'', written for him by singer-songwriter Avihu Medina
Avihu Medina ( he, אביהו מדינה, born August 19, 1948 in Tel Aviv) is an Israeli composer, arranger, songwriter, and singer of Mediterranean Israeli music.
Medina was born in Tel Aviv. He was the third son of Aaron and Leah Medina. His mo ...
.
Collaboration with Medina produced numbers like ''Shabhi Yerushalayim'' and ''Al Tashliheini Le'et Zikna'', which became megahits for Tavori and other Mizrahi singers in Israel.Collaboration with Avihu Medina
/ref>
In 1982 Tavori turned down an offer to enter the festival again with the song written for him by Medina, ''Haperch Be'Gani'' (which ended up placing first when performed by Medina's second choice, Zohar Argov
Zohar Argov ( he, זוהר ארגוב, born , Zohar Orkabi, July 16, 1955 – November 6, 1987) was an Israeli singer and a distinctive voice in the Mizrahi music scene. Argov is widely known in Israel as "The king of Mizrahi music".
Biography ...
, launching ''his'' legendary career), choosing instead to go perform in New York City. In 1993 Tavori entered the 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 ...
with the song ''Chai Et Ma'She Yesh'' ("I Live With What I've Got"; he, חי את מה שיש).
Known also with the ballad "Remember" in the 80's (Big hit in Greece 1985-1986).
In 2000, he released a triple album in French "Oriental Tempo" with international contributions of Turkish folk singer İbrahim Tatlıses
İbrahim Tatlıses (born İbrahim Tatlı in 1952) is a Turkish folk singer and former actor. Since the 1970s he has been one of the best-known and most successful singers of the pop '' Arabesk'' style. Tatlıses has recorded 42 albums, including ...
, French entertainer Francky Perez, and Israeli musician and singer Meir Banai
Meir Banai ( he, מאיר בנאי; 5 July 1961 – 12 January 2017) was an Israeli musician, singer, and songwriter.
Biography
Meir Banai was born in Beersheba in 1961, the son of Yitzhak Banai, to a traditional Jewish family which has pr ...
.
In 2009, he finished second on the TV show HaAch HaGadol (VIP Big Brother).
In 2021, Tavori participated in the fourth season of ''The X Factor Israel'', in the goal of representing 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 ...
in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022
The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and h ...
. He was eliminated in the chairs round.
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 ...
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tavori, Shimi
1953 births
20th-century Israeli male singers
Israeli people of Yemeni-Jewish descent
Living people
People from Ness Ziona
Israeli Mizrahi Jews
Big Brother (franchise) contestants
The X Factor contestants