June 13: Israeli singer Esther Ofarim - "Cinderella Rockefella" - is 72-years-old today.

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Esther Ofarim ((Hebrew: אסתר עופרים‎ ) ) was born the 13th june 1941 in the village of Zafad, in the neighbourhood of the lake of Galilejah. In 1959, she met Abi Ofarim, a guitarist and dancer, whom she later married.

Esther began performing as a child, singing Hebrew and international folk songs. In 1960 Esther landed a small role in the film Exodus. In 1961 she won the Song Festival in Tel Aviv, where she sang "Saëni Imchá Bemachol" (Dance with Me) and "Naamah.” Two years later, she won second place in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 with "T'en vas pas," representing Switzerland. From then on, her duo with Abi Ofarim took off.

In 1966 they had their first hit in Germany with "Noch einen Tanz." Their greatest success in Germany was in 1967 with "Morning of my Life,” which was written by the Bee Gees. In 1968 "Cinderella Rockefella," written by Mason Williams, hit the top of the charts in a number of countries including the UK.

They played many live concerts in New York and London, and in 1969 they toured around the world.

Esther started her solo career with several albums and concerts. Her second solo album was recorded in 1972 with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, followed by another album as well as her last French album in 1973.

Esther decided to take a long rest and to live a normal live. She gave only concerts in her homeland Israël. In Europe, she would not appear again in shows or concerts until 1982.

In 1984 she played in Joshua Sobol's piece "Ghetto,” produced by Peter Zadek in Berlin (Germany). There she sang some songs, including "Frühling" and "Unter deinen weissen Sternen.”

Ofarim's songs were featured in the 2004 Israeli film, Walk on Water.

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For more about Esther, visit her Website at-

http://www.estherofarim.com/

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