THE SHALVA BAND is comprised of eight talented musicians and vocalists with disabilities who began their journey at the Shalva National Center in Jerusalem.

The Band rose to international stardom following their performances on season six of the Israeli singing competition, "The Rising Star." The winner of this renown competition goes on to represent their country in Eurovision. The band wowed the audience, judges and the Israeli public leading to each of their performances going viral. After reaching the finale of the competition, the band dropped its bid to represent Israel in Eurovision in order to avoid performing on the Sabbath as some members of the band are Sabbath observant. Ultimately, the band was invited to perform at Eurovision's semi-finals competition in Tel Aviv before an estimated global viewing audience of 200 million.

The band wowed the Eurovision audience with a rendition of "A Million Dreams" from The Greatest Showman soundtrack. They received a long standing ovation at the end of their song, and host Bar Refaeli appeared to be holding back tears as she remarked on their performance. In a matter of minutes, The Shalva Band dominated the Eurovision conversation. Viewers from around the globe unanimously declared the Shalva Band, "the true winners of Eurovision 2019."

Shai Ben-Shushan, director of the band, shared, "When we first started playing together people wouldn't listen to us, they would just leave the room. We've made a huge change in Israeli society. Today, when we walk in the street, the Israeli people want to embrace us – not because we're a gimmick, but because we're good at what we do."

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