Svika Pick


Svika Pick is an Israeli pop singer, songwriter, composer, and television personality.

Early life

Henryk Pick was born in Wrocław, Poland, to a Jewish family. His parents are Borys and Paulina Pick. His grandfather was the head of a conservatory, and his uncle was a music professor. At the age of 5, Pick studied classical music. In 1957, his family made aliyah to Israel. Pick studied music at the Conservatory of Ramat Gan, and started to perform in local rock bands at the age of 15.

Career

Music

Pick was one of Israel's leading pop singers in the 1970s, during which he was voted "Israeli male singer of the Year." He played a lead part in the Hebrew version of the musical Hair in the early 1970s.
In 1998 Pick wrote the song "Diva" with lyricist Yoav Ginai and performed by Dana International, which won the Eurovision Song Contest. He also wrote songs for several other Eurovision contestants. In 2002 he reunited with Ginai to write the "Light a Candle" for Sarit Hadad, who represented Israel in Eurovision 2002. That year, Habima Theater staged a musical called Mary Lou based on Pick's old hits. In 2009, this musical was made into the television series Tamid Oto Chalom, directed by Eytan Fox.
'' in 2008
In 2003 he composed the song "Hasta la Vista" with Shem-Or, to whom he was married at the time, for Oleksandr Ponomaryov, Ukrainian entrant in Eurovision 2003. He also wrote a song for the Belarusian contestant of Eurovision 2005 Angelica Agurbash, but she later decided on a different one, acknowledging Pick for his effort. He competed seven times in the Israeli preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2010, he composed an entry for Harel Skaat for Israel, and for Sopho Nizharadze for Georgia.

Television

In 2005–2009, Pick has been one of the judges for the singing reality show Kokhav Nolad that aired on Channel 2.
In 2005, Pick starred in the docu-reality series HaMaestro that aired on Bip, and followed the daily lives of him and his family.
In 2009, the musical drama series Tamid Oto Chalom aired on HOT 3. Pick's songs were used for its title and soundtrack, and he even guest starred in one of the episodes.

Personal life

In 1970, Pick married Israeli songwriter Mirit Shem-Or. Shem-Or wrote the lyrics for many of Pick's hits, including "Mary Lou", which was about herself. In 1995 they got divorced, yet continue to collaborate artistically. They have a son and two daughters. Two of Pick's daughters, Sharona and Daniella, have performed music duos as The Pick Sisters. Since 2004, he is in a relationship with Israeli fashion designer Shira Manor, and together they have two sons.
One of Pick's daughters, Daniella Pick, is married to American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. His other daughter, Sharona Pick, is married to Israeli hotelier Daniel Federmann, son of billionaire Michael Federmann.

Eurovision Song Contest entries