JERUSALEM (JTA) — Canadian singer and songwriter Evan Malach won an international Jewish singing contest.
Malach, 27, sang the Israeli rock classic “Canaanite Blues” in the finals of the Hallelujah music competition on Aug. 16 before a live audience in Hod Hasharon. The 14 finalists performed personally selected Hebrew songs.
Malach won an $8,000 prize and will be invited to record a duet with Israeli singer Dudu Fisher. The song will be distributed to Jewish radio stations throughout the world. He also will go on tour, singing in Jewish venues around the world.
The contest’s 30 entrants had spent three weeks in Israel touring and performing.
Courtney Simons of New York finished in second place and won $4,000. Polina Zizak of Russia was third and claimed its $2,000 prize.
Last year’s winner, Mexican singer Adam Kleinberg, a distant cousin of David Ben-Gurion who made aliyah earlier this year, concluded the evening with Meir Banai’s “Geshem.”
