ARTS AND CULTURE

Netta Barzilai

Singer

Netta Barzilai is an Israeli singer and looping artist who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal with her solo single, "Toy," a hymn to female empowerment. Hailed her as a "worthy winner" by celebrated British author J.K. Rowling, Prime Minister Netanyahu named Netta Israel's greatest ambassador. Her win marked the fourth victory by Israel in Eurovision after 1978, 1979, and 1998. In 2018, Netta won season five of "HaKokhav HaBa," Israel's national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, with her performance of a mashup of "Gangnam Style" by Psy and "Tik Tok" by Kesha. Born in 1993 in Hod HaSharon, Israel, she and her two brothers were raised in the Tel Aviv area. (Photo: Reuters / Pedro Nunes.)