Being well-loved and recognized should no longer surprise the songstress, who still boasts a massive fan base in Israel and one of the longest-running careers in the industry. But for those in D.C. who didn't know her quite as well, [Rita] opened up about her her childhood, her family, and her heritage. But it wasn't only in her soliloquies that she expressed her personal side. Each song was an exercise in personal expression. In her cover of the Police hit "Roxanne," she made the song as her own. Accented with red lights and a violin, her delivery seemed more clearly articulated and more on the mark emotionally than the original.

"Roxanne" wasn't the only unconventional selection spliced among her big hits, such as "Tiftah Halon" and "Bo."

Rita's family came to Israel when she was eight, and she told the audience how her parents enticed her from Iran with promises of banana trees in every yard. But when she came to her new home in Ramat Hasharon, there were no banana trees. Instead, she found kids at school who teased her because of her accent. When she was older and successful and was about to perform "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav" before a group of world leaders, she recalled that eight-year-old child. She didn't get that banana tree, she thought, but looking at the crowd surrounding her, she realized she had much to be grateful for.