Mei Finegold
At the age of just 8 months old, Mei Finegold was whistling melodies in her crib. Her family says she was born to sing. It was only a matter of time before she became one of the most unique singers on the Israeli musical scene. Now her career has taken another step, as Mei will be representing Israel at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen with the song Same Heart.From a young age, Mei dreamed of becoming an artist. She struggled on her rise to the top, from local singing choirs to low budget musical productions and taking lessons. Eventually, from the age of 18 to 26, she became a successful underground rock singer, performing all over the country. Mei's deep and powerful voice coupled with charismatic performances had captivated audiences whereever she was.
In 2009, when Mei was 26 years old, she entered the 7th season of the successful TV talent show A Star Is Born. Right from start, Mei's Avant-garde vocal abilities and extremely wild performances were the talk of the show. Eventually, she reached the season finale, came in 3rd place and became the most talked about person on the Israeli scene.
Award winning
What few people knew was that one of Mei's biggest dreams was to do musical theatre. In 2010, her dream came true: Mei was offered a part in a huge musical production at the Cameri Theatre. She played a young woman who had lost her husband, struggling to start a new romantic relationship with her husband's best friend. Mei was praised by the critics and audiences for her performance and won the respected "Best New Actress 2010" award for her role.
During that time, Mei released her debut album Soda Pop, which she wrote herself. Ever since, Mei has been working with human rights organisations, volunteering and empowering the fight against violence. Mei's story encouraged hundreds of men and women to share their own personal experiences and start a healing process.
In 2011, Mei "started working" on what she refers to as "the most meaningful project of her life". She gave birth to her baby daughter, Emily, and became a mother.
During her pregnancy, Mei joined the electronic pop rock group, Limozina Express as their lead singer. The members of the band have been very well known and extremely respected musicians in Israel for decades. Together they perform on the largest stages across the country. An evening where Mei started on stage ended with her in the delivery room giving birth.
In 2012, Mei was cast once again in a musical production at the Cameri theatre. This time it was Kazablan, a classic Israeli musical. Mei plays a character called Roza, a larger than life local bar owner which the critics and audiences fall in love with. In May 2013 at the annual Israeli Theatre Awards, Mei was nominated for and won the prestigious award "Best Supporting Actress Of The Year" for her role as Roza.
About Rami Talmid
For the past ten years Rami Talmid has been performing his songs all over Israel. Born and raised in Holon, he was a member of a local band and found is true calling: music.
As a child, he began taking vocals lessons and started writing music. At the age of 19, he joined the army as a singer/songwriter for an army band.
After a serving three years in the army, he went his own way as a singer/songwriter. The deep and meaningful music and lyrics reflect throughout his creations and are also evident in this year's Israeli entry performed by Mei Feingold.
