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Biography:
On February 2nd 1972 the Cohen family was blessed with the birth op their first son; they named the dark - eyed baby Yaron, after his uncle who was killed a year earlier in a terrorist attack. It became obvious from a very early age that Yaron delighted in entertaining and performing in front of an audience.
His mother Bat-Galim and his sister Limor encouraged him to develop his talent through both local school choir and in the Tel-Aviv Youth Music Company, as well as performing at the national Theatre of Israel. And even though the family was poor, Yaron's mother did her best to make sure that her son could continue his music lessons with the best teachers available. It was during high School that Yaron started to discover the thriving Tel-Aviv nightlife. He immersed himself in the club scene and, in his own words, "getting to know myself better". In his last year of High School Yaron knew he wanted to become a woman. "It was not a question of identity and there was no doubt".
From a very early age I behaved and looked like a girl and people used to talk to me as though I was one. To me, it was natural." After graduating with top grades, Yaron met Israel's number one producer and DJ, Ofer Nisim. Nisim, quickly recognizing Yaron's talent, asked him to join his latest drag show. Yaron immediately became the leading star of the show, perfectly imitating top Israeli female singers live on stage including his favourite performer Ofra Haza.
Nisim, seeing the great audience reaction and feedback from the show, decided to have Yaron record one of the top songs. The song was titled "Saida" (an arabic girl's name) - a parody of a Whitney Houston track - and became a major hit in Israel.
However, as the Israeli kids danced and sang along to the single, wondering who the female singer was, Yaron was on his way to London to undergo surgery for a sex change. A year after the operation, in 1993, Dana International released her first album. It went gold.
A year later, her second album "Umpatampa" was released. By the end of 1994, the album had turned platinum and Dana International had been voted Israeli's Best Female Artist of the year. "Maganuna" (insane in Arabic), her thirth album was released in 1995 and also went gold.
As her fame grew in Israel, neighbouring countries began to show interest in this new female star; in Egypt and Jordan, more than 5 million pirate cassettes were sold while the authorities and the press went wild, claiming that she was corrupting their youth.
In Egypt they went so far as to ban her music, make it even illegal to buy or even listen to her songs. Meanwhile, Dana International performed in Los Angeles and Miami to great reviews. In Israel, Dana has established herself as one of the country's most popular artists: her great looks, her beautiful voice and her original music have earned her that position despite the pressure from religious and conservatives elements - even today - to ban her music.
More than a singer, Dana International has become a symbol for freedom and individual expression. In May 1998, Dana's song "Diva" took her to the international fame as a winner of the European Song Contest. In the months following the competition, she has travelled throughout the continent, becoming the Darling of Europe as she promoted the song and her personal story. She has been interviewed by every major newspaper and TV broadcaster in the world and has been nominated as one of the most influential persons in the world culture today.
Taken from the Unofficial Dana Homepage
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