Boaz Ma'uda (, born April 23, 1987) is an Israeli singer and songwriter. He won the fifth season of Kokhav Nolad, the Israeli version of Pop Idol, and represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, finishing in 9th place. His voice has been described as somewhere between David D'Or and Dana International.

Early life

Boaz was born and raised in moshav Elyakim, where he still lives. He is the youngest son of his mother, who became disabled from complications of his birth. He is of Yemenite Jewish descent.

Career

Kochav Nolad

Without any history in the music industry, and unknown to Boaz, he was signed up by a friend for the auditions of the fifth season of Kochav Nolad. During the show, Boaz sang many Mizrahi and acoustic songs. His voice was loved by the audience and judges. At the finals on August 29, 2007, Boaz competed against Marina Maximillian Blumin and Shlomi Bar'el. On that evening, he performed two songs: "Señorita" with veteran Israeli singer David Broza, and then Avner Gadassi's "Menagen veshar" ("Playing and Singing"). He won Kochav Nolad 2007 with 50% of the votes. In addition, he won a contract with the label Hed Artzi.

Kohav Nolad performances

Eurovision Song Contest

On November 14, the Israel Broadcasting Authority and Israel's Channel 2 announced that Boaz Ma'uda was chosen to represent his country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia. The pre-selection occurred in February 2008 in which Ma'uda sang five songs, and the audience, together with a jury of Israeli experts, voted for the winning song which was Ke'ilu Kan – a song written by Israel's Eurovision winner Dana International. Ma'uda participated in the first semi-finals of the Eurovision Song Contest on May 20, 2008. He ended 5th in the semi-finals and was awarded a spot in the final on May 24, 2008 where he ended 9th with 124 points. In 2009 he participated in the series Johnny Hollywood playing the famous singer Izhar Cohen, and in August the same year he began his tour of Israel.

Discography

Personal life

Ma'uda still lives with his family in Elyakim.

Singles