- Miri Mesika
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Miri Mesika 
Background information Born May 3, 1978 Origin Herzliya, Israel Genres Pop
Ethnic music
RockOccupations singer and actress Years active 1998-Present Labels Anana label of Hed Artzi Website http://www.mirimesika.co.il Miriam "Miri" Mesika (Hebrew: מִירִי מְסִיקָה) (born May 3, 1978) is an Israeli singer and actress. She won several Israeli Female Singer of the Year awards. She has sold more than 100,000 copies of her albums in Israel.
Contents
Background
Miri Mesika was born and grew up in Herzliya. As a child she studied music, and played the guitar and the recorder at the city music school. In 1994 she was accepted to HaYovel High School, where she studied theatre and music. She served as an operations NCO in the IDF's Infantry Corps.
Beginning of career
In 1999 Mesika started her studies at the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in Ramat HaSharon, the leading music school in Israel that exported many Israeli singers such as Noa and Aviv Geffen. She was part of the "magic class", studying together with Keren Peles, Aya Korem, Ohad Hitman and Eric Berman that went on to be popular singers.[1]
During her studies at Rimon, she participated in several ensembles. In one of them she met the musician Ori Zakh, who went on to become her husband and record producer. Miri and Ori married on June 2, 2005.[2]
She took part in the Shirimon song contest, a song contest of the Rimon School, and won the first place with David De'or's song Mishehu Kayam produced by Zakh.
At Rimon School Mesika met the songwriter Keren Peles (who later also became a singer), with whom she started working on songs for Mesika's debut album. After graduating, Mesika created a live show based on songs by Keren Peles. The show, produced and engineered by Ori Zakh, included the songs November and LeSham. The show was warmly received by the audience, and immediately afterwards Mesika was offered a recording contract with Hed Arzi Music under the Anana label.
After finishing the music studies in Rimon, Mesika began studying Acting at the Sofi Moskovich School of Performing Arts. During her studies she acted and sang in various plays, including the main character in The Night of the Iguana and Blood Wedding.
Meanwhile, she participated as the soloist in tribute evenings to different poets, such as Hayyim Nahman Bialik, Natan Yonatan, Nurit Zarchi and Itzik Manger. Mesika and Zach also created a show composed of songs by the songwriter Tzruya (Suki) Lahav as part of the Piano Festival in Tel Aviv.
2004-2005: Debut album
Mesika became known in public in 2004 with her first album, Miri Mesika, produced and mixed by Ori Zakh and Shmulik Neufeld. Miri Mesika's first single, Tipa Tipa (טיפה טיפה, "Little by Little"), dealing with the recovery from a lost love, was released in November 2004 and achieved moderate success. However, the next two singles written by Keren Peles, November (נובמבר, January 2005) and LeSham (לשם, "To There", March 2005) were huge radio hits. LeSham won the Galgalatz award as Song of the Year.
The album saw light of day in March 2005 under the Anana label. More singles from the album were released afterwards. The song Ba'a Eleikhem (באה אליכם, "Coming to You") was released in July, and also gained much popularity. The lyrics describe a trusting relationship between a daughter and her parents, and the song has an up-tempo ethnic rhythm. Another single released in July 2005 is Af Akhat (אף אחת, "No one"), a song of a lover who would not give up her loved one, written by Tzruya (Suki) Lahav. The next single (November 23, 2005) was Shir LeShira (שיר לשירה, "A Song to Shira"), a cover version of Korin Alal's song. It is an emotional song of a mother promising to give a "new and good world" to her baby daughter, with lyrics written by Yehonatan Geffen. The last single from the album was the romantic song Ten Li Siman (תן לי סימן, "Give Me a Sign"), released in February 2006.
Besides having the Song of the Year, Miri Mesika won the Female Singer of the Year award on Galgalatz, and the Discovery of the Year award both on Galgalatz and on Reshet Gimel. The album went double platinum with over 80,000 copies. In 2006 Mesika won another Female Singer of the Year award, this time at the Ami Awards of Music Channel 24.
2005-2006: Beginning of acting career
In 2005 Miri Mesika took part in the Habima Theatre production of the musical King Solomon and Shalmai the Shoemaker. The musical was widely praised and won the Musical of the Year award at the 2005 Israeli Theatre Awards.
In November 2006 she played in the drama film Shalosh Imahot ("Three Mothers"), also starring Yoram Hatav and Yehezkel Lazarov. In the film she performed two new songs — Eikh Hayinu (איך היינו) and Birkat HaMelekh (ברכת המלך) — and cover versions of Ilana Rovina's Bikashti Esh (ביקשתי אש) and Geula Gil's Daber Elay BiFrahim (דבר אליי בפרחים). In the same year she recorded the song HaAviv Sheli Yagi'a (האביב שלי יגיע, "My Spring Will Come") for the drama film Aviva Ahuvati ("Aviva My Love").
2006-2008: Second album
In 2006 Miri Mesika recorded the song Kluv shel Zahav (כלוב של זהב, "A Golden Cage") with Teapacks, which appeared on their album Radio/Musika/Ivrit.
Miri Mesika's second album, Shalom LaEmunot (שלום לאמונות, "Good-bye Beliefs"), appeared in February 2007. The release included a limited edition bonus CD of the songs from the movie Shalosh Imahot. Mesika went on a performance tour following the release of the album, and in May 2008 the album went platinum. This album, as the first one, was produced and mixed by Mesika's husband Ori Zakh, and included songs written by various songwriters, such as Aya Korem, Keren Peles, Eric Berman and Itay Perl.
Shalom LaEmunot gave Miri Mesika another win as Female Singer of the Year, this time both on Galgalatz and on Reshet Gimel. The song Akhshav Ata Hozer BeHazara (עכשיו אתה חוזר בחזרה, "Now you're coming back"), written by Eric Berman, won the Reshet Gimel Song of the Year award. At the 2008 Ami Awards of Music Channel 24 Mesika received another Female Singer of the Year award.
In 2007 Miri Mesika also took part in Amos Gitai's film "The Dybbuk in Haifa" and in the Festigal festival of children's songs.
In March 2008 she released a cover for Berry Sakharof's song Kakha ze (ככה זה, "This Is How It Is") for the second edition of the project Hebrew Labor, dedicated to Israel's 60-year anniversary.
In September Miri Mesika and Eric Berman released the song Erev Hag (ערב חג, "Holiday Eve"), written by Berman and dedicated to Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who has been held hostage by the Hamas for over two years. In the same month Mesika's duet with Ofer Bashan HaOr Yizrah Gam Benifrad (האור יזרח גם בנפרד, "The Light Will Keep Shining Separated") appeared on Bashan's second album.
In 2008 Mesika played the narrator in the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat staged by Habima Theatre.
In November 2008 she went on a tour of unplugged performances around Israel.
Television career
In 2011, Messika will be a judge in Kokhav Nolad, the Israeli version of American Idol.
References
- ^ Gal, Doron (8 August 2006). "Interview with Eric Berman". Mooma. http://mooma.mako.co.il/Article.asp?GroupID=1913&itemID=71752&ArtistID=26405. Retrieved 31 December 2008. (Hebrew)
- ^ "I'm here because of my wife". Yedi'ot Tel Aviv. 12 April 2006. (Hebrew)
Discography
Albums
Year Album Israel Certificate Sales 2005 Miri Mesika Double platinum +80,000 2007 Shalom LaEmunot Platinum +40,000 2010 Hadashot Tovot External links
- Miri Mesika on MySpace Music including videos of LeSham
- Василиска привет!
Categories:- 1978 births
- Living people
- Israeli female singers
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