Ninet Tayeb (Hebrew: נינט טייב‎, also known just as Ninet or Nina) (born October 21, 1983, in Kiryat Gat, Israel) is an Israeli pop rock singer and actress who came to fame as the first winner of Kochav Nolad (the Israeli version of Pop Idol). Additionally, Ninet acted for three seasons in the Israeli television drama HaShir Shelanu (Our Song).
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Background

She is of Tunisian Jewish descent. From humble beginnings growing up in Kiryat Gat, Ninet has achieved recognition as one of the most popular and famous celebrities and entertainers in Israel. She recently surprised her fans by having her head shaved bald for a TV commercial, earning 1,000,000 New Sheqels.

Kokhav Nolad

Ninet was the first winner of the popular Israeli talent contest Kokhav Nolad beating Shiri Maimon into second place. Shai Gabso came third in the final. Her winning performance was an emotional rendition of Zohar Argov's classic Mizrahi song "Yam Shel Dma'ot" (A Sea of Tears). She is the first woman to have won the contest, and the contestant with the longest-lasting and largest popularity after the show. She gained popularity on the show as a sweet, young small town girl singing ballads and participated aged 19 whilst doing her compulsory military service (she had her first audition in IDF uniform). In 2003 Ninet was awarded the title of "Most Notable Singer", which was a huge spring board for her carrier. She also appeared again on the fourth series of the show to duet with eventual winner Jacko Eisenberg.

HaShir Shelanu and festivals

In 2004 Ninet started acting the leading role in the daily musical drama (telenovela) HaShir Shelanu. Her character, Ninet Levy, was a young girl from Kiryat Gat who came to Tel Aviv, looking for a job and suddenly being accepted to a musical school. Besides Ninet, Ran Danker, Maya Dagan, and Hana Laslow participated. In 2005, the second season of HaShir Shelanu was filmed and Tayeb won "The actress of the year" award for her role in the series. In 2006 Ninet acted in a guest role in Ha'shir Shelanu, during which she recorded her first album. In 2004 she also participated in the Israeli annual children's Festival known as Festigal. Nowadays, Ninet is acting on the fourth season of HaShir Shelanu, in a leading role as herself.

Barefoot

Three years after winning the Israeli Kokhav Nolad reality show, Ninet finally started to work on her first album, Barefoot (Yechefa, Hebrew: יחפה). The album was produced by the Israeli rock singer Aviv Geffen; it was mainly composed, written and adapted by him. The album was released on September 7, 2006, and was later certified gold, selling more than 20,000 copies. The cover image was produced by Helicon.