The 12 competitors who made it through to the grand final of the "Hallelujah" song contest were busy rehearsing and putting the finishing touches on their performances on Thursday.The final marks the end of the global song contest which saw 30 Jews aged 16 to 26 from around the world arrive in Israel to follow their dream of making it big in the music industry. Event organizers are hoping the competition will establish a new musical tradition that will strengthen ties among Diaspora Jews.var ord = window.ord || Math.floor(Math.random() * 1e16);document.write('');The winner will receive an $8,000 cash prize and record a duet with an Israeli artist that will be broadcast on local radio stations and Jewish radio stations worldwide. The two will also go on a concert tour of international Jewish communities. The runner-up will receive $4,000, and the third-place finalist will win $2,000. The contestants have been in Israel for the past two weeks, touring the country and discovering their Jewish roots through various trips and meetings. The 30 original contestants were whittled down to just 12 after last week's nail biting semi finals. The names of the finalists are as follows: Lorren Rettich, age 19 from Brazil Adam Kleinberg, age 21 from Mexico Julia Belyaeva, age 21 from Russia David Kobiashvili, age 25 from Russia Dale Rodman, age 23 from the US Eitan Kantor, age 19 from the US Andrey Land, age 25 from Russia Olivr Ghnassia, age 19 from Belgium Zara Tobias, age 19 from England Gustavo Guerchon, age 20 from Brazil Vedat Behar, age 21 from Turkey Victoria Verba, age 16 from Russia
