Marina Maximilian Blumin

Marina Maximilian Blumin (Hebrew: מארינה מקסימיליאן בלומין‎; born 15 December 1987), known as Marina Maximilian, is an Israeli singer-songwriter and actress. She was the runner up of the 5th season of Kokhav Nolad (Star is Born).

Marina was born in Dnipropetrovsk, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) on 15 December 1987. At the age of three, she immigrated to Israel with her parents. The family lived with friends in Ramat Gan before settling in the Pardes Katz neighbourhood of Bnei Brak. From a young age, she studied piano with her mother, Ella, a classical pianist, and sang in a choir. Marina later went to the conservatory where her mother taught.

Marina graduated from Ironi Alef high school in Tel Aviv. She began performing at jazz clubs at the age of 15, after pianist Rick Birman took her under his wing. She performed at the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Eilat. She sang with the Common Band, an Ethnic-Fusion-Rock-Jazz band in festivals and clubs, and performed a solo, Beit Sefer LeMiskhak ("Acting School") on Ohad Ben Avi's debut album.

Kokhav Nolad

In 2007, Marina auditioned for the 5th season of Kokhav Nolad and was accepted. During the show, she mostly sang Israeli pop and folk songs, adding her own jazz nuances. She sang "Halomot" ("Dreams") by Ruhama Raz, "Shir Ahuvat HaSapan" ("Song of the Sailor's Lover") by Rita, "Bluz Kna'ani" ("Canaan Blues") by Ehud Banai and "Vidui" ("Confession") by Alexander Penn (sung by Yehudit Ravitz). In the end, Marina qualified for the final along with Bo'az Ma'uda and Shlomi Bar'el, and came in second, with Nurit Galron's "Nifradnu Kakh" ("That's How We Parted"). The prize was a contract with Helicon CD Company.

Post Kokhav Nolad

Blumin did not serve in the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and was accused of "draft evasion", while actually, she had been given permit because of mental reasons and instead she had volunteered to teach children voice development and singing in the Ben Shemen Youth Village. In April 2008, she raised her first solo performance at the Yamei Zemer Festival in Holon, that was managed by Tzedi Tzarfati. In May 2008, she released a duet with Boaz Mauda called "Mi Haya Ma'amin". The duet became a hit in Israel. In June 2008 she released her first solo single, "Sof Sof".. Karmi (nee Blumin) decided not to release her Hebrew language album, instead recording an English language album. The first single, "Two Pigs", was released in January 2013 and a second single, "Tango", was released on the 29th of April. On 17 September 2014, it emerged that Israel's Radio 88FM, which is overseeing the selection of the country's artist for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, had approached Blumin to sing for the country at the 2015 Contest in Vienna. This never materialized.

Maximilian performed at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2017 Maccabiah Games on July 6, 2017.

Acting career

Blumin appeared in two Cameri Theater productions: The play Requiem (at age fifteen) and in the musical The Producers at eighteen. She also participated twice in the Acre Festival, where she sang in the play Schmetterling (Farewell, Butterfly), which won first prize in 2005; In 2006, she later participated in Rabak and wrote the music for it, for which she received honorable mention. Blumin currently stars in the daily drama Hasufim (meaning Exposed) on HOT 3, where she plays a successful correspondent who moves to the competing channel. She also plays a duty officer in the mystery series Timrot Ashan, also on HOT 3.

Played the role of Hila Bashan in the Israeli series Fauda, Season 3.