Kobi Marimi

Kobi (Yaakov) Marimi is an Israeli singer and actor. Marimi was born, raised and educated in Ramat Gan. In his youth he studied at Ohel Shem High School, majoring in theater. He began singing from the age of 13. When he was in high school he was a rejected child, when his overweight problem significantly affected his life. Prior to his enlistment in the Israel Defence Forces, he was not accepted into a military troupe and later, after passing the first stage of the entrance exams for the IDF Theater, he chose not to continue with the admission process. 

After his release from the IDF, he lost 50 kilograms, and began studying at the Nissan Nativ acting studio. After graduating, he starred in the play “Every living thing needs”, and appeared in the role of Natan the Gazan in the musical “Messiah Now” in the Musical Festival 2017 in Bat Yam. For this role he won the Promising Actor award at the same festival.

In June 2018, Marimi participated in a children’s musical. Marimi participated in the sixth season of the reality show HaKokhav HaBa L’Eurovision. In the final he reached first place. Following the victory he represented Israel at the 2019 Eurovision in Tel Aviv. During the show he said that he suffers from audience fear, both as an actor and as a singer.

On February 20, 2019, the song “Home”, was chosen as his Eurovision song. Kobi ended up 23rd out of 26 participants in the final.

About two weeks after the Eurovision final, Marimi began rehearsing for the play Spring Awakening, which premiered in August 2019 at the Habima National Theater. On September 12, Marimi’s debut single called “Yalla Bye” was released. It topped the Israeli charts.

On January 26, 2020, he released the song “Lo levad”. In 2021, he released the first single from a forthcoming debut album, “Yotze mize”. On March 22, 2022, he released the song “Shot dakavt”.