Ilanit

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Ilanit (* September 17, 1947 in Tel Aviv, Israel) is a female Israeli singer that represented her country twice in the Eurovision Song Contest. In 1973 she first took part in Luxembourg where she reached the 4th position with the song "Ey Sham" ("Somewhere"). This was also the first ever participation of Israel in the Songcontest. The song was composed by Nurit Hirsch, who also conducted the orchestra in Luxembourg on this occasion. It was only the second time this was done by a female conductor, the first time being that very evening.

The second participation by Ilanit was in London in 1977 with a song entitled "Ahava Hi Shir le Shnaim" ("Love is a song for two"). With this song she became 11th. Ilanit almost took part for a third time in 1984: she was appointed by IBA to sing the song "Balalaika". The organising Luxembourg network however, decided to organise the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest on an Israeli memorial day. The IBA subsequently withdrew their entry. At that time Ilanit was already one of Israel's most popular singers and the song "Balalaika" became an instant hit, despite not taking part.

Ilanit continued to experience major successes in her home-country, with -among others- songs from the famous late composer/song-writer Ehud Manor. Together with other established Israeli artists she took part in a tour through North America in 2005. However, she hasn't released any new records since 1999.