BEN (Benista), ZEHAVA

BEN (Benista), ZEHAVA (1968– ), Israeli popular singer. Ben was brought up in a poor neighborhood in the city of Beersheva; her father had been an 'ud (lute) player in Morocco. As a teenager, Ben admired and studied the songs of Yemenite singer Zohar *Argov and was inspired by his Middle Eastern vocal style. When Argov died in 1987 she sang his hit "Peraḥ be-Ganni" in his memory at an anti-drug concert.

Ben's first major success came in 1990 when she took part in a film called Tippat Mazzal ("A Drop of Luck"). The song she sang derived from a Turkish folk tune and became a hit all over Israel. She also made her commercial cassette debut that year, selling 80,000 copies.

Her mainstream vocal breakthrough continued with "Ketourna Masala," an east-west duet with the popular Ethnics rock band. The song climbed to first place in the 1992 Israeli hit parade. A turning point in Ben's career came in 1994, when she decided to sing the songs of the most famous singer in the 20^th-century Arab world, the legendary Umm Kulthum. Ben's interpretation of the latter's sophisticated and classic songs "al-Atlal" and "Inta 'umri" won over her most fanatical fans. She performed this repertoire accompanied by the Haifa Arab Music Orchestra, conducted by Suheil Radwan, at a Palestinian gathering in Nablus, in Jericho during Ramadan, at public concerts in Israel, and at memorial ceremonies for Yitzhak *Rabin. She was also invited with the orchestra to a number of festivals in Europe, including Stockholm, Monpelier, and Paris (Theatre de la ville). In 1995, Ben issued a cd of Umm Kulthum songs called Zehava Ben Sharah Aravit.

[Amnon Shiloah (2^nd ed.)]