Eddie Butler (singer)

Eddie Butler (born October 2, 1971) is an Israeli singer. He was born in Dimona and is one of 11 brothers and sisters. His parents came to Israel from Chicago after long wanderings. They belong to the Black Hebrew Israelite community.

Eddie started performing at the age of eight. In the 1990s he sang with wedding bands, and in 1992 worked as a backing singer for Zehava Ben at the Kdam-Eurovision.

In 1999 Butler represented Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest in Jerusalem as part of the Eden group which consisted of Eddie, Eddie's older brother Gabriel Butler, Rafael Dahan and Doron Oren. Their song "Happy Birthday" finished 5th with 93 points.

Eden broke up in 2001, and after the group's breakup, Butler launched a solo career. He has performed throughout Europe, Russia and the United States. In 2002 he got the Special Audience Prize of the international music competition New Wave in Jūrmala, Latvia.

Eddie proposed to his wife Orly Burg at the Dudu Topaz show on Channel 2. He performed for her his new song "את החלום/At ha-halom"(You Are the Dream) written for her during his long performance tours. He is now officially converting to Judaism in order to be able to have an Orthodox wedding with Orly.

Eddie represented Israel at Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens with the song "זה הזמן/Ze ha-zman" ("This Is the Time"). The song is in both Hebrew and English, just like Eden's song in 1999. Israel's entry finished in second-to-last place, earning just 4 points awarded by France.

External links

• Butler's biography on the Official Website of ESC 2006

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Dana International with Diva	Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest) (As part of Eden) 1999	Succeeded by Ping Pong with Sameyakh
Preceded by Shiri Maimon with Hasheket Shenish'ar	Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006	Succeeded by Teapacks with Push the Button