40 Facts About David D'Or

David D'Or is an Israeli singer, composer, and songwriter.

David D'Or was chosen to represent Israel in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, at which he placed 11th in the semi-final.

David D'Or is a descendant of Libyan Jews, His great-grandfather was a prominent Libyan rabbi, and his father brought the family from Libya to Israel.

David D'Or's brother is Yaniv d'Or, who is a singer.

When he was young, David D'Or's parents encouraged him to become a lawyer or a doctor, but he simply loved to sing.

David D'Or is married to Pazit, formerly a jewelry designer and now his manager.

David D'Or was at the same time professionally trained, and tutored by Soprano Miriam Melzer, from 1987 to 1990 at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, from which he graduated.

In 1991, David D'Or was accepted into and enrolled in the classical music department of the Jerusalem Conservatory.

That year David D'Or began his musical career as a classical tenor.

Zubin Mehta, music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, heard David D'Or sing and invited him to perform as soloist in "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff, performing in a series of concerts all over the country.

Yediot Achronot reviewed his performance, writing: "David D'Or is a contra tenor with tone, colour and exceptional style well beyond other soloists".

The CD consisting mostly of songs composed by David D'Or was even more successful than its predecessor and went platinum.

Side by side with his classical education, David D'Or was drawn to ethnic music.

In 1995, as Israel and the Holy See had just established political relations, David D'Or received an invitation from the Vatican to perform for Pope John Paul II.

David D'Or was the first Israeli singer to sing in Hebrew for the Pope.

That year as well the Ra'anana Symphony Orchestra commissioned an original work, a small cantata, specially written for David D'Or, entitled "The Children of God".

In 2001, David D'Or was named Israel's Singer of the Year and Best Vocal Performer.

In November 2003, the Israel Broadcasting Authority chose David D'Or to represent the country in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest.

David D'Or represented Israel in the contest in Istanbul, with the song "Leha'amin", which he co-wrote with Ehud Manor.

On March 27,2006, David D'Or released Kmo HaRuach, which included duets with Israeli singers Arkadi Duchin, Arik Einstein, Shlomi Shabat, and Ehud Banai, and the song "Zman Ahava" with Ehud Banai.

David D'Or composed all the songs on the album, combining world music with jazz, Thai, and Indian elements.

In 2006, David D'Or collaborated with rapper Subliminal for the song "Ten Koah" on Subliminal's hip hop album, Just When You Thought it Was Over.

David D'Or sang for Martin Luther King III at a Middle East Peace Initiative Conference in the summer of 2007 in Tel Aviv.

King was in tears as David D'Or finished his rendition of "Summertime", and the crowd was on its feet cheering.

David D'Or obliged with a performance of "Amazing Grace" before a crowd including former President Bill Clinton and Dr King who was reduced to tears.

David D'Or performed in the 2007 WOMAD festival concert, and in reviewing his performance BBC Radio referred to his voice as "sensational".

David D'Or composed most of the songs on the album, which included "Kiss from a Rose", "Sri Lanka", and an Arabic song.

In 2008, D'Or released Shirat Rabim, a collection of prayers that he had originally heard from his father, and which he focused on when he started attending synagogue to say kaddish after his father's death.

The year was capped when David D'Or became an Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation chosen artist in 2008, receiving one of Israel's highest recognitions for excellence in the arts.

In 2008 and 2009, David D'Or performed in a series of "Voice of Love" charity concerts for the Tzu Chi Foundation in the United States and Asia, and recorded a CD and DVD by the same name, donating all of the profits to charity.

David D'Or sang a medley including "Amazing Grace" and a rendition of the traditional Hebrew melody "Avinu Malkeinu" at New York's Apollo Theater in Harlem on April 28,2009, with three New York gospel choirs.

In May 2009 David D'Or sang, along with Dudu Fisher and the "Arab-Jewish Girl's Choir", for Pope Benedict XVI in Jerusalem at the home of Israeli President Shimon Peres as the Pope visited Israel.

David D'Or's voice has a range of more than four octaves.

David D'Or's voice is unusually versatile and flexible, and notable for its unique tone and color, and for having a very recognizable sound.

David D'Or's voice is characterized by powerful fullness and richness, making it seem as though it is his natural singing voice, created without use of the falsetto technique.

However, despite its richness his voice cannot be compared to the color of a contralto, unlike singers such as David Daniels, given that D'Or has a unique, male-sounding timbre.

David D'Or has been compared to Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, and his voice has been described as having the smoothness of Jack Johnson overlaid with the falsetto style of Jeff Buckley.

David D'Or has performed with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Rome Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Budapest Philharmonic, the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York Symphony Orchestra, the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

David D'Or has performed across the world, including in the United States, England, the Canary Islands, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Italy, Turkey, India, Thailand, Australia, China, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, Morocco, and Israel.

David D'Or sang before audiences of 55,000 people in Trafalgar Square in London, and 40,000 in Paris.