Noa Kirel

Noa Kirel (; born Noya Kirel [], on ) is an Israeli singer-songwriter, actress, model, television host, and a reality television program judge in Israel's Got Talent. She has won five MTV Europe Music Awards for Best Israeli Act from 2017 to 2022. She represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song "Unicorn", finishing in 3rd place. Early and personal life Noya Kirel was born in Ra'anana, Israel, to Israeli-born parents. Her mother's family is of both Sephardi Jewish and Mizrahi Jewish (Moroccan-Jewish) descent, whereas her father's family is of Ashkenazi Jewish (Austrian-Jewish) descent. She is the youngest child of Ilana and Amir Kirel. She has two older brothers, Niv Kirel and Ofree Kirel. Her father is the CEO of Glassco Glass, an imported-glass business, headquartered at the Barkan industrial park. Her mother is the owner of a boutique fashion store. On her father's side, Kirel has relatives who were murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust. Her maternal grandfather was a rabbi and a sofer STM (Jewish scribe). Her parents named her Noya but after she was diagnosed with a severe kidney illness as a three-month-old baby, a rabbi suggested a name change to Noa (which can also spell "movement" in Hebrew) for health and wellness, in addition to medical treatment by the universal healthcare of Israel. He also jokingly predicted that she might become a dancer. Kirel has only one functioning kidney, as a result of a bacteria that stopped her second kidney from growing anymore since that same diagnosis as an infant. In February 2020, Kirel was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and served as a soldier in a unique military band of her own. She received an honorable discharge; completing her two-year mandatory service on 14 February 2022.