Eden Alene
Alene in 2021
Alene in 2021
Background information
Born (2000-05-07) 7 May 2000 (age 23)
Jerusalem, Israel
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active2017–2022[a]
LabelsAroma

Eden Alene (Hebrew: עדן אלנה, pronounced [eˈden ʔaˈlene]; Amharic: ኤደን አለነ, romanized: Edäni Älänä; born 7 May 2000) is an Israeli singer. Having won the seventh season of the singing competition HaKokhav HaBa, she represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with her song "Set Me Free", finishing in 17th place.[3]

Early and personal life

Alene was born in the neighborhood of Katamon in Jerusalem, to Ethiopian-Jewish parents who immigrated separately to Israel during the aliyah from Ethiopia.[4] When she was two years old her parents divorced. Since then, she has not been in contact with her father.[5]

Alene attended religious Jewish elementary school and middle school, but she later transitioned to a secular Jewish high school of Hebrew University Secondary School where she pursued a major theatre.

She was enlisted in October 2018 as a soldier in to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and served in the military band of the Education and Youth Corps.[6] She received an honorable discharge in October 2020.[7]

She was in a relationship with Yonatan Gabay.[8] The two broke up in February 2022.

As of 2022, Alene had stopped working in the music industry, and currently works as a hostess in a restaurant in Tel Aviv.[2]

Career

In October 2017, Alene was a contestant in the third season of the singing competition The X Factor Israel. She auditioned with the song "Stone Cold" by Demi Lovato. In January 2018, she won the season finale.[9]

In April 2018, she performed a song by Arkadi Duchin at the torch-lighting ceremony that opened the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel.[10] In December 2018, she released her debut single "Better".[11] In 2019, she took part in an Israeli production of the musical Little Shop of Horrors.

In February 2019, ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 held in Tel Aviv, Alene released a cover of the song "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man, which won the Eurovision Song Contest 1976.[12] In March 2019, she released her second single, "When It Comes to You", which was produced by American producer Julian Bunetta.[13]

Eurovision Song Contest

In 2019, she participated in the seventh season of the Israeli singing competition Rising Star (HaKokhav HaBa), achieving first place on 4 February 2020. As the winner, she was supposed to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 to be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The four finalist songs for her were "Savior in the Sound", "Roots", "Rakata" and "Feker Libi". Eventually the song "Feker Libi" was picked, which contains four languages English, Arabic, Hebrew and Amharic.[14][3] However, on 18 March 2020, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[15]

Performing in the 1st Semi final Jury Show

On 22 March 2020, it was announced that she had been internally chosen to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. In January 2021, her three songs one of which is the candidate for the final are "Ue La La", "La La Love" and "Set Me Free". Eventually, on 25 January 2021, the song "Set Me Free" was picked.[3]

On 18 May 2021, she performed 12th during the first semi-final, following Belgium and preceding Romania. She qualified to the final on 22 May. In addition to that, she broke the all-time record for the highest note in Eurovision history, hitting a B6 whistle note during the first semi-final of Eurovision 2021.[16] In the final, she scored 93 points, finishing 17th out of 26.

Discography

Extended plays

Title Details
HaShir HaBa L'Eurovizion[17]

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
ISR
[18] 		NLD
[19] 		SWE
[20] 		UK
Down.
[21]
"Better"[22] 2018 10 — — — Non-album singles
"Save Your Kisses for Me" 2019 — — — —
"When It Comes to You" — — — —
"Feker Libi" 2020 3 — — — HaShir HaBa L'Eurovizion
"Ma Ata Over" — — — — Non-album singles
"Set Me Free" 2021 3 78 78 100
"Ue La La" — — — —
"La La Love" — — — —
"LaKum" — — — —

Notes

  1. ^ Indefinite hiatus[1][2]

References

  1. ^ Zaga, Bar (21 July 2022). "Israel's ex-Eurovision star Eden Alene caught working at Tel Aviv café". Ynetnews. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b ""עדן אלנה נראית הכי שמחה בעולם. כאילו ירדה לה אבן מהלב"" ["Eden looks the happiest in the world. As if a stone fell from her heart"]. Mako (in Hebrew). 31 July 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Eden Alene will perform Set Me Free for Israel". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 25 January 2021. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Eden Alene". Eurovision.tv. 4 February 2020.
  5. ^ "הכירו את עדן אלנה - mako". 23 November 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  6. ^ Enghusen, Mareike (29 February 2020). "Eine ganz neue Welt" [A Whole New World]. Jüdische Allgemeine (in German). Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021. Heute lebt die 17-Jährige mit ihrer Mutter in Kiryat Gat im Süden des Landes. Derzeit dient sie in den israelischen Streitkräften, der IDF. Dort singt sie im Armeechor.
  7. ^ "משוחררת: עדן אלנה גוזרת את החוגר". 14 October 2020.
  8. ^ "הבלונד יביא את הניצחון? עדן אלנה טסה לאירוויזיון". 8 May 2021.
  9. ^ Tzur, Ben (18 October 2017). "עדן אלנה הזמרת הצעירה שכבשה את X פקטור". Ma'ariv. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  10. ^ "החדשות - ישראל חוגגת את יום העצמאות ה-71". mako. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  11. ^ "עדן אלנה חוזרת עם סינגל הבכורה "Better", שנה אחרי הניצחון". mako. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  12. ^ "דוז פואה: עדן אלנה בביצוע מחודש לשיר אירוויזיוני". פרוגי. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  13. ^ "איפה אקס פקטור? עדן אלנה מנסה לפרוץ עם מפיק-על בינלאומי ומפספסת". www.maariv.co.il. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  14. ^ "WATCH: Israel's Eden Alene storms through to Eurovision Song Contest finals".
  15. ^ Steinberg, Jessica. "Israel's contestant cries on TV as Eurovision nixed over pandemic". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  16. ^ Israel's Eden Alene qualifies for Eurovision final. Israel HaYom Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  17. ^ "השיר הבא לארוויזיון - EP by Eden". 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  18. ^ "Media Forest". Mediaforest.biz. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  19. ^ "Discografie Eden Alene". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  20. ^ "Discography Eden Alene". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  21. ^ "Official Singles Downloads Chart: 28 May 2021 – 3 June 2021". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  22. ^ "המצעד השבועי עם דלית רצ'שטר". Galgalatz. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
Awards and achievements Preceded byDaniel Yafe The X Factor Israel winner 2017–18 Succeeded byMichael Ben David Preceded byKobi Marimi HaKokhav HaBa winner 2020 Succeeded byTamir Grinberg Preceded byKobi Marimiwith "Home" Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 (cancelled) Succeeded byHerselfwith "Set Me Free" Preceded byHerselfwith "Feker Libi" Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 Succeeded byMichael Ben Davidwith "I.M"
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