Shimi Tavori

Shimi Tavori (He|שימי תבורי) is a legendary Israeli singer. Born Sheemshon (Samson) Tawili (He|שמשון טווילי), Feb. 9, 1953 in Ness Ziona, Israel. A household name in Israel, Shimi also enjoys renown in France & Canada, where some of his dozens of records were released in French.

His career began on the stages of small events and he began performing at nightclubs such as the Kalipso (He|קליפסו) and Karish (En|Shark; He|כריש) in Ramla. After his service in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), Tavori recorded his first song Helena (He|הלנה to an initially cold reception. It wasn't until after he received some press that the song would later become a hit. His first major break came after David Halfon was impressed at hearing Shimi perform a song that Halfon had written for another singer. Halfon introduced Tavori to Uzi Hitman (He|עוזי חיטמן) who was beginning his career as a songwriter, after completing his own service in the IDF.

In 1976 the collaboration with Chitman produced Tavori's first record, the appropriatley titled "Chipasti Shirim La'Tzet La'Olam" ("I searched for songs to go out to the world"; He|חיפשתי שירים לצאת לעולם), including his first hit, "Eyn Lee Ahavah" ("I have no love"; He|אין לי אהבה), written by Eliezer Rabin. After the records release, Tavori was awarded first place in the Middle Eastern Singing Festival (He|פסטיבל הזמר המזרחי) with his song "Schora Ve'Nava" ("Black & Elegant/Beautiful"; He|שחורה ונאווה). The following year Tavori placed second at the same festival with his song "Keenor Daveed" ("Davids violin"; He|כינור דוד), and in 1979 he once more placed first with the song "Moshe" ("Moses"; He|משה), written for him by Avihu Medina אביהו מדינה.

In 1982 Tavori turned down an offer to enter the festival again with the song written for him by Medina, "Haperach Be'Gani" (which ended up placing first when performed by Medina's second choice, Zohar Argov זוהר ארגוב, launching "his" legendary career), choosing instead to go perform in New York City, where he would meet his first "Future ex-wife" (as he often jokes), Jennifer Joslyn. After two weeks together they were married & "returned" (Jennifer's first such trip) to Israel together. Tavori would later use the music video of another hit single, "Eliran" (named after his firstborn son; He|אלירן) to introduce his fans to his new family.

Some interesting facts:
#Tavori gained additional fame in 1983 for winning a lottery jackpot totaling 145,000 Liras
#After divorcing his first wife, Tavori was married again, this time to a young Israeli model, Aviva Azulai (He|אביבה אזולאי), who was at the time a mere 17 years old.
#In 1993 Tavori entered the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Chai Et Ma'She Yesh" ("I Live With What I've Got"; He|חי את מה שיש).
#In 2003, to mark 30 years to Shimi Tavori's career, a large show was held in his honor which included performances by many famous singers.

Although his career is generally classified as a Mizrahi music singer (or Middle Eastern/Mediterranean), one can observe in his work a heavy influence of the popular French & Italian music of the 60's (perhaps as they were best expressed in the "Sanremo Music Festival"). Tavori is considered to this day as one of the most notable singers in Israel. Despite the significant ups and downs of his personal and professional life, he has established himself as an icon in Israeli music & culture.