Svika Pick
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Svika Pick sometimes written as Tsvika Pik,Tzvika Pick (Hebrew: צביקה פיק, b. Henrik October 3, 1951 in Wrocław, Poland) is an Israeli pop composer and singer.
Pick studied music at the Conservatory of Ramat Gan and started to perform when he was only 15 years old. He is best known in Israel for a long list of pop hits throughout the seventies. In the early seventies he also acted in the Hebrew version of Hair. In the eighties, when the taste of the Israeli public changed from pop to rock, his career took a dip. But in the nineties his hits emerged again in dance music arrangements and he composed a song that won the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2002 Habima Theater presented the musical Mary Lou based on Pick's old hits. It became a major success.
As a pop artist in heart and soul, Pick is a dedicated Eurovision artist. He is the author of the song Diva that, performed by Dana International, won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998. This was one of the highlights of Pick's musical career. He also wrote songs for several other Eurovision contestants. In 2002 he composed the song Light a candle for Sarit Hadad that represented Israel in Eurovision 2002. In 2003 he composed the song Hasta la vista for Oleksandr Ponomaryov, Ukrainian entrant in Eurovision 2003. He also wrote a song for Belarusian contestant of Eurovision 2005 Angelica Agurbash, but shortly after the announcement she dropped it in favor for a song of other authors. Pick himself participated 7 times as a singer in Israeli preselection of Eurovision Song Contest (Kdam), but never won.
Svika Pick was married many years to the Israeli songwriter Mirit Shem-Or. Shem-Or wrote the texts for many of Pick's hits, including Mary Lou, which was written about herself. The couple still collaborates artistically. They have three children. Two daughters had some success performing as the Pick sisters. Svika Pick recently appeared with his new teenage girlfriend Shira Manor in the Israeli reality TV show Maestro. In 2005 Pick was one of three judges in the musical talents reality show Kokhav Nolad.
