Israeli T* diva Dana International

Israeli transgender diva Dana International was born Yaron Cohen in Tel Aviv on February 2, 1972. In 1993, she underwent a sex reassignment surgery and had her first name changed into Sharon.
She began her career as a drag queen in the gay scene of Tel Aviv, where she was discovered by the Israeli DJ, producer and talent scout Ofer Nissim.

Dana International made her debut in 1993 with the album Danna International. It was followed by Umpatampa (1994), E.P. Tampa (1995), Maganuna ("Crazy", 1996) and Diva Ha-osef ("Diva - The Collection", 1998).
In 1998, Dana International represented Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest in Birmingham, where she won with the song Diva. In 1999, she opened the Eurovision contest in Jerusalem performing the songs Dror yikra and Free.
Her latest albums are Free (1999, European edition; 2000, Israeli edition), Yoter we-yoter ("More and more", 2001), and Ha-chalom ha-efshari ("The possible dream", 2002), where she expressed her pacifist stance on the Palestinian issue.

An intentionally over-the-top singer such as Dana International couldn't have gone unnoticed in an area like the Middle East, where religious persuasions, cultural identities and gender roles are clearly demarcated, and where a certain degree of social conformism is generally prized.
The lyrics of her songs (whether in Hebrew, Egyptian Arabic, English or a mix of the three) might sound slightly more than nursery rhymes to the European audience, but contain some sexual contents (including homosexuality and the concept of masculinity) that are unusually candid in the Middle Eastern context.

In Israel, where the divide between secularists and religious conservatives is increasingly evident, Dana International has become a standard-bearer not only of gay rights, but also of a more liberal, inclusive society:

I am representing a liberal Israel, an Israel which accepts the human being no matter how you are, no matter how you look like and no matter what sex or race you are.

Dana International has also been accused by some Islamic groups to be part of a Zionist conspiracy to "deviate" Muslim youth through her indecent behaviour and her "lousy" lyrics. In fact, her Arabic songs (in particular Samar mar, Maganuna, and above all Sa'ida Sultana, which recalls Whitney Houston's My Name is Not Susan) have gained enormous popolarity in Egypt and, to a lesser extent, in Jordan and Lebanon.
For sure, I can testify that a notorious club in the outskirts of Beirut was playing Maganuna (a very camp song and one of the queerest things I've ever heard) no later than August 4, 2005.