Skip to content

Nani vazana wins Eurovision for the netherlands

"less attention to borders Would Mean Less Racism"

Nani Vazana, born in Haifa, Israel, in 1982, is a singer and composer who has called Amsterdam home for nearly two decades. In 2024, she won the Eurovision Song Contest but fir minority languages representing the Netherlands. On the day of the final, tragedy struck: her father passed away in Israel. “I was completely alone on Corsica,” she recalls.

Writer: Robert Vuijsje
Photos: Erik Smits
Full article in Dutch: Het Parool

A Childhood Dream and Amsterdam’s Bicycles

Vazana’s story begins with her parents, Moroccan Jews who separately immigrated to Israel as toddlers—her father from Fez and her mother from Casablanca. “As a child, I didn’t know much about the Netherlands, but I used to tell my father that one day I’d live in a place where people bike everywhere, and the energy comes from windmills,” Vazana says.

Years later, at 22, while on tour in Amsterdam, she fell in love with the city’s brass section during a performance at the Concertgebouw. “I thought: I want to learn from these musicians.” She enrolled at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and never left. “When I arrived at Central Station and saw all the bikes, I thought, ‘I’m home.’”

How has the city changed in the past year and a half?
“I don’t see huge changes in Amsterdam itself. The reactions I get as an immigrant have always been there, but that’s not limited to the city.”

What kind of reactions?
“People bring up the Israeli government. I’ve lived here for eighteen years—how am I a representative of their policies? I’ve never voted for them, and I wouldn’t even if I lived there. I have no problem with people, only with politics.”

Do you still tell people you’re from Israel?
“Yes, though people often don’t like hearing it. What am I supposed to say instead? That I’m Moroccan? My parents are from there, but I wasn’t born there. I’m not religious either.

“What I don’t understand is how anyone can claim ownership of a piece of land. We’re here for, what, eighty or ninety years on a planet that’s existed for so long? How can someone say, This piece is mine? Why do we need borders? I understand the economic reasons, but if we distributed the Earth’s resources fairly, there would be enough for everyone. If we focused less on borders, there would be less racism.”

What differences do you see between Israeli and Dutch Jews?
“Judaism in the diaspora developed differently than in Israel. Orthodox practices, in my opinion, originated in Europe, particularly in Poland and Ukraine. My family, who came from Morocco, have traditions that are more similar to Arab cultures.
“People thought emigrating would make things easier. My family had to fight for their place in Morocco, then fight again when they moved to Israel. Add the constant wars, and you develop a very strong character. It’s different from growing up in one European country, where you have the chance to recover and rebuild yourself.”

Do you feel connected to Moroccan Amsterdammers?
“They often don’t realize I’m Moroccan. When I tell them, they’re surprised. Many don’t know Jews lived there. It’s funny. We have similar customs: the food, the clothing, the love of family and celebration. We live more communally. “That’s true for most people from southern countries. In the Netherlands, we keep more distance, which I find pleasant. In Israel, people involve themselves in your life constantly. If you’re on a bus, strangers will comment: You’re too skinny. Why don’t you have kids?

"When I arrived at amsterdam central Station and saw all the bikes, I thought, ‘I’m home"

Between Cultures: Moroccan, Israeli, and Dutch

Why did your parents move to Israel?
“I don’t know. They never wanted to talk about it. An uncle once mentioned that my mother’s brothers didn’t want to join the Moroccan army. Maybe they didn’t want to fight for a country they didn’t feel was theirs. It’s bittersweet. Later, those same brothers died while serving in the Israeli army, I think during the Six-Day War in 1967. 
“My mother’s family lost so much. Their home, their belongings. When they arrived in Israel, they were given a tent to live in. It was a riches-to-rags story. They had to start over with nothing.”

Why did you change your name to Nani Vazana in 2018?
“My given name is Noam Vazana. Nani was a nickname my grandmother, my mother’s mother, used for me. In Israel, my mother learned Hebrew, the language of the new country. My grandmother, though, continued speaking Ladino, the Sephardic Jewish language influenced by Spanish and Portuguese. Ladino was how I communicated with her. In the kitchen, when we were alone, she would secretly sing to me in Ladino.
“My father rejected Moroccan culture entirely. He felt we were now Israelis. In our family, Arabic and French were spoken, but he forbade those languages, along with Ladino. He had left home at thirteen to live on a kibbutz and reinvented himself, becoming less religious.”

What shaped his rejection of his roots?
“He wasn’t very open about it, but I know his family carried a lot of trauma. His mother married my grandfather when she was only fourteen; he was twenty-eight and had just lost his first wife. She worked as a maid in his house. That’s a strange story, right? By fifteen, she had her first child, my father’s older brother. Another brother died of cancer. My father felt his mother showed favoritism among her children, and he wasn’t one of her favorites.”

What did you know about Morocco growing up?
“Nothing. We never went there. The whole family had fled. The internet didn’t exist then. I only discovered Morocco through my music. Years later, I was invited to perform there.”

How did you fulfill your military service in Israel?
“Through music. I auditioned and joined the army orchestra, playing trombone. I didn’t want to join the army. I was even more of a pacifist back then than I am now. As an artist, you want freedom. You want to change the world. I wanted peace, not war.”

"What I don’t understand is how anyone can claim ownership of a piece of land"

Amsterdam through her eyes

What is your favorite thing about Amsterdam?
“The richness of the city, with its many cultures and its architecture. It’s like an open-air museum.”

What’s your take on gentrification?
“If young people can no longer afford to live here, the city changes and loses relevance. You see this in Berlin, where young people are moving to Leipzig instead. That’s where things are happening now.”

Do you rent or own your home?
“I’d like to buy, but it’s nearly impossible. For young couples, it’s only an option if they inherit money.”

How quickly did you feel like an Amsterdammer?
“Six months after moving here, I already found myself annoyed by tourists on the bike paths. That’s when I felt like a real Amsterdammer.”

Nani's winning performance at the eurovision finals

"I was alone in Corsica but I flet like my father gave me strength to sing"

In November 2024, Nani Vazana represented the Netherlands at Liet International in Corsica. That morning, she learned her father had passed away. “He was in the hospital with pneumonia. I didn’t think he’d die. I got the news at 9:30 a.m., and by 10:30, I was at the final rehearsal. I was completely alone on Corsica, without family or bandmates, working with local musicians.”

The first flight back to Israel was four days later. “In Jewish tradition, the funeral happens the same day. I attended via WhatsApp video. That afternoon, after the funeral, was our final rehearsal. I was there physically but not emotionally.”

Her competition piece was about a rite of passage—the transition from life to death. “I had written it years earlier. During the final, I treated singing it as a ritual. It was the only way I could keep going. I had cried all day.

“I’m not religious, but during the performance, I felt my father’s presence. His energy was there, as if we were connected. Tears welled up, but I didn’t cry. He gave me the strength to sing.”

As the votes were announced, Vazana stood motionless on stage. “The drummer next to me kept nudging me: You’re going to win. My head was somewhere else entirely. When the host announced I had won, I didn’t react. After the third call, they said, ‘Nani, you have to come forward now.’”

FOllow Nani on social media:

Listen on spotify

Newsletter sign up

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Get new album ke haber
CD / LP / MP3