Ethiopian-Israeli pop singer Eden Alene hit an incredible B6 during the semi-finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.
That high note surpassed a previous Eurovision record held previously by Croatian singer Maja Blagdan, whose song included a G6 in 1996.
The 65th iteration of the contest was held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and wrapped up on May 22, 2021. The competition between 26 countries returned to a live stage for the first time since 2019, after being cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Italy won the competition for the first time since 1990 with rock band Maneskin. The Israeli contingent did not place in the top ten, although they were spared the fate of the UK, which placed last with zero points.
The 21-year-old Alene was born to Ethiopian-Jewish émigrés in Jerusalem. She won the Israeli TV show contest Rising Star in 2020, the winner of which becomes the nation’s Eurovision representative. In 2018, she also won the Israeli version of X Factor. The pop singer has released two singles in Israel so far.
You can check it out in the video. She hits the B6 at about the 2:54 mark.
Eden Alene sings “Set Me Free” (Music & Lyrics: Amit Mordechay, Ido Netzer, Noam Zlatin, Ron Carmi)
A History Of High Notes
- Middle C is C4, meaning Alene’s high note was nearly three octaves above it. At that range, the sounds are called whistle tones.
- A typical range for a soprano is considered to be about C4 to C6, although a coloratura soprano may reach as high as F6.
- In comparison to Alene’s B6, the highest note in the classical opera repertoire, up until recently, was the F6 from the Queen of the Night aria, “Der Hölle Rache” in Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute.
- In 2017, British composer Thomas Adès included an A6 in his opera The Exterminating Angel, making it the highest note in opera repertoire.
- Coloratura soprano Audrey Luna sang the A6 in Adès’ opera in 2017, setting a record for the highest note ever sung on the Metropolitan Opera stage.
- In pop music, singer Mariah Carey set a record with a G7 in her song “Emotions”, but that was surpassed by in 2004 by Brazilian singer Georgia Brown, who sang an incredible G10 on record.
- A G10 is technically not even a musical note anymore — it’s a frequency.
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