David D'Or דוד ד'אור |
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David D'Or performing in Istanbul, 2004
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Background information | |
Birth name | David Nehaisi |
Born |
Holon, Israel |
October 2, 1965
Genres | Classical crossover, operatic pop, Pop, rock, dance, folk, klezmer, classical, opera, baroque arias |
Occupation(s) | singer, composer, songwriter |
Instruments | Vocals |
Years active | 1985–present |
Labels | Hed Arzi, Aviv, SISU, Big Beat/Ada |
Website | www.daviddor.com |
David D'Or (Hebrew: דוד ד'אור; born David Nehaisi on October 2, 1965) is an Israeli singer, composer, and songwriter. A countertenor with a vocal range of more than four octaves, he is a three-time winner of the Israeli "Singer of the Year" and "Best Vocal Performer" awards. He was also chosen to represent Israel in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, at which he placed 11th in the semifinal. By February 2008, nine of his albums had gone platinum.
D'Or performs a wide variety of music, including pop, rock, dance, folk, klezmer, Yemenite prayers, holy music, ancient chants, classical, opera, and baroque arias (in the original Italian).
David D'Or was born in Holon, Israel. He is a descendant of Libyan Jews, His great-grandfather was a prominent Libyan rabbi, and his father brought the family from Libya to Israel.
When he was young, D'Or's parents encouraged him to become a lawyer or a doctor, but he simply loved to sing. When his voice began to change, he worked to retain his ability to sing notes in a high range. For a while he was quite shy about singing using his high range, as it was unusual in Israel—which he explains used to be "quite a machoistic country—for someone to sing with such a high voice, and he had no one to imitate as no Israeli men sang in such a high voice, but he says that now it is "part of me." "[I]t was like using [only] part of me," he said. "I could sing low and I could sing high; [I]t's like using only one hand...you have two hands, and you're using only your right hand."