2009: Noa & Mira Awad {copyright: eurovision.tv} - There Must Be Another Way

Mira Awad is an Israeli-Arab singer born on the 11th of June in Rameh, Galilee to an Arab father and Bulgarian mother. She studied at the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and has also pursued her love of music in the UK and Israel by attending sponsored workshops.

Mira first came to the attention of Israel as an actress in 2007, featuring in the Israeli sit com עבודה ערבית. Besides this, she has also appeared in the film The Bubble. The talented singer has also featured in a number of musical productions, most notably My Fair Lady in 2003, Another Place, A Foreign City in 2006 and The Return to Haifa in 2008, where she played the role of a Palestinian refugee.

Her musical career began back in 2002, when appeared on a version of the Beatles classic We Can Work It Out in a collaboration with Noa. She also featured on the album of Greek artist George Dalaras and on the album of Israeli artist the Idan Raichel Project, Mi’ma’amakim singing Azini (Comfort Me). She has also recorded theme songs for the films Forgiveness and Lemon Tree. In May 2009, a joint album was released by both Mira Awad and Noa, entitled There Must Be Another Way. Awad followed up with the release of her solo album in June 2009, called بهلوان (Acrobat).

Noa, born as Achinoam Nini is a major Israeli artist, born in Tel Aviv on the 23rd of June, 1969. She also has Arab roots, with her family being of Yemenite descent. Noa was raised in New York until the age of 17, when she returned to her native Israel to perform her military service. She then also went on to study music at the Rimon School, where she met Gil Dor, her long term collaborator. The duo have worked together in many projects, but are perhaps best known for their collaboration with Zohar Fresco, playing many  concerts all over the world. The duo have written hundreds of songs together, welding together both Noa’s penchant for a Yemenite sound with elements of jazz, country and rock music.

During her long an illustrious career, Noa has also released many albums, fourteen in total, five of which were given an international release. Three of her albums have been a huge success in Israel, namely Achinoam Nini and Gil Dor Live (1991), Achinoam Nini and Gil Dor (1993) and Achinoam Nini (1997).

The multi talented singer has also been the recipient of many awards during her time as an artist, including The Crystal Award in 1999 (for her role in the Middle Eastern peace process), again in 2000 honorary citizenship from the mayor of Melpignano, Italy was bestowed on her for her peacekeeping efforts. In 2005 she was the first woman to receive the Galilieo Galilei, an award from the Italian Freemasons. Another highlight came in 2005 when she was awarded the Gemona Seminar prize for artistic merit and again for her ongoing role in the efforts to promote peace in the region. Noa also won the prestigious critics’ award at the San Remo Festival in 2008.

Participant Profile

In the final

In the semi final