Netta Barzilai — singer with roots in the Russian Empire
Netta Barzilai is an Israeli singer who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon with Toy — a feminist anthem blending electronic music, vocal looping, and Japanese influences. Her victory brought Eurovision 2019 to Israel and made her one of the contest's most celebrated winners.
Tracing the roots — Poland / Morocco
Her family has Polish Jewish roots connecting to the communities of the Russian Empire's Pale of Settlement. Her parents' families are part of the broad Eastern European Jewish diaspora that built Israel. Her Eurovision victory — dressed as a chicken, performing a feminist anthem — was quintessentially Israeli: irreverent, joyful, and rooted in a people who survived by refusing to be defined by others' expectations.
Winner of Eurovision.
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Poland / Morocco. At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.
A career defined by ambition
"I am not your toy. I'm the one who says when and how."