Eden Alene

Eden Alene (Hebrew: עדן אלנה‎;[lower-alpha 1] Amharic: ኤደን አለነ; born 7 May 2000) is an Israeli singer of Ethiopian-Jewish descent. Having won the seventh season of the singing competition HaKokhav HaBa, she was set to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, with her song "Feker Libi", planned to be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands.[1] After this edition of the contest had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she was internally chosen to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, this time with "Set Me Free".[2]

Eden Alene
Background information
Born	7 May 2000 Jerusalem
Genres	R&B soul pop
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	2017–present
Labels	AM Productions
Associated acts	Ivri Lider Johnny Goldstein Roméo Testa Julian Bunetta

Early life

Alene was born in the Katamon neighborhood in Jerusalem to Ethiopian-Jewish parents who immigrated separately to Israel during the aliyah from Ethiopia.[3] When she was two years old her parents divorced. Since then, she has not been in contact with her father.[4]

Alene studied in religious schools, after which she attended the Hebrew University High School. In 2018, she was enlisted to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and serves in a military band.

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.[5]

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.[6] In December 2018, she released her debut single "Better".[7] 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.[8] In March 2019, she released her second single, "When It Comes to You", which was produced by American producer Julian Bunetta.[9]

Eurovision Song Contest 2020

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.[1] However, on 18 March 2020, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10]

Eurovision Song Contest 2021

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.[2]

Discography

Extended plays

Title	Details
HaShir HaBa L'Eurovizion[11]	Released: 27 February 2020 Label: AM Productions, Tedy Productions Format: Streaming, digital download

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions	Album
		ISR [12]
"Better"	2018	10[13]	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-single
"Ue La La"	2021	—
"Set Me Free"		—
"La La Love"		—

Notes

1. Hebrew pronunciation: [ˈʕeden ʔaˈlena]

References

1. "Israel chooses Eden Alene for Eurovision 2020". Eurovision.tv. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
2. "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.
3. "Eden Alene". Eurovision.tv. 4 February 2020.
4. הכירו את עדן אלנה - mako, retrieved 5 February 2020
5. Tzur, Ben (18 October 2017). "עדן אלנה הזמרת הצעירה שכבשה את X פקטור". Ma'ariv. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
6. "החדשות - ישראל חוגגת את יום העצמאות ה-71". mako. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
7. "עדן אלנה חוזרת עם סינגל הבכורה "Better", שנה אחרי הניצחון". mako. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
8. "דוז פואה: עדן אלנה בביצוע מחודש לשיר אירוויזיוני". פרוגי. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
9. "איפה אקס פקטור? עדן אלנה מנסה לפרוץ עם מפיק-על בינלאומי ומפספסת". www.maariv.co.il. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
10. Steinberg, Jessica. "Israel's contestant cries on TV as Eurovision nixed over pandemic". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
11. השיר הבא לארוויזיון - EP by Eden, retrieved 27 February 2020
12. "Media Forest". Mediaforest.biz. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
13. "המצעד השבועי עם דלית רצ'שטר". Galgalatz. Retrieved 5 March 2020.