"She is my inspiration", so said the famous fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier about her. "I admire her, she is a dream lady", said Pedro Almodovar. "I would have wanted to have her courage", said Sinead O'connor. All these were said about Dana International, the Israeli singer who broke outside the boundaries of her country. She became an international icon of freedom, courage and victory.

Dana International was born as a boy in Tel Aviv in 1973, named Yaron Cohen. Later on, in the mid 1990's she started to perform in drag in Tel-Aviv's gay clubs. One of her show's numbers was "Sayida Sultana", a parody on one of Whitney Huston's songs. The song became a hit on the national radio stations. This hit lead to a record contract which was offered to Dana, who by then went through a sex change operation and changed her name to Sharon Cohen. The second hit from her first album was "Dana International" which since then became her stage name. It is also identified with her even in her personal life. The album sells nicely and Dana now becomes a star.

In 1995 Dana International released her second album which includes one of her best beloved hits ever, "Yeshnan banot" (There are some girls), which is a cover of an old time song. The album also includes her massive hit "Ani lo yechula biladeicha" (I can't live without you). At that same year Dana participates in the national Eurovision final, Kdam-Eurovision. Her song "Laila tov eropa" (Good night Europe) reaches the 2nd place but Dana would be comforted with massive sales of her second album. This enormous success in the charts brings her first career climax, when she is selected to be the national leading female singer of that year.

In 1997 Dana International released another album, "Maganuna". In the beginning of 1998, when the Israeli national broadcaster IBA was about to select its entry to that year's Eurovision Song Contest, there were two leading candidates: Singer Arkadi Duchin and Dana International. After long deliberations, IBA's jury selected Dana and her song "Diva" by Tzvika Pick and Yoav Ginay, only with a 1 point advantage. This was another landmark, when Dana International, with her special background, was selected to represent the state of Israel, no less, in this huge international event.

"The first Eurovision Song Contest I have ever watched was in 1983, when Ofra Haza sang 'Hi'. I loved her so much and wanted her to win. I was so disappointed she only reached the 2nd place", Dana would tell. "Late at night I used to dream that one day I would stand on that same stage and sing for Israel as well". But even Dana's wildest dreams could not have prepared her for what was about to come in Birmingham, host city of the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest.

Already upon arrival in Birmingham, Dana International immediately became the star of that year's contest and the focal interest point for all the media from around the world, who attended the event. The crowd at the contest's venue, as well as the audience at home, followed and fell for Dana. After a nerve racking telephone voting by all participating countries, Dana International was deemed the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, for the 3rd time for Israel. Dana took the stage to sing "Diva" once again, only this time she was wearing the famous flamboyant feathers dress, by Jean-Paul Gaultier and waving the Israeli flag for all to see.  "See you next year in Israel!" Dana said to the millions watching and raised the national Israeli pride to a new level. The celebrations that night in Israel, and in the weeks to follow, were big and also symbolized the new liberal Israel. Dana now becomes an Icon of the new face of Israel around the world.

In the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Jerusalem, Dana International performs in the interval act with her version of Stevie Wonder's "Free", in front of Jerusalem's ancient walls. "I had the need to be in Jerusalem, of  all places, and sing 'Free' in order to send this message of freedom to the whole world", Dana explained to the journalists who came to cover this video shoot, from around the world.

Later on Dana International toured the world, released a couple more albums in 2000 and 2002. In 2005 the song "Diva" was selected to be among the 14 best Eurovision songs ever. Dana International was then invited to perform in the Eurovision's Jubilee show, held in Copenhagen. She stormed the show, once again wearing a provocative outfit by Gaultier.

In 2007 Dana International released a new album. The first two singles became massive hits- "Love boy", which was already crowned as the leading summer hit in Israel, and "Hakol ze letova" (It's all is for the best), which was now selected by OGAE Israel to be its entry in this year's OGAE Song Contest.