Harel Skaat was born on 8 August 1981, in Kfar Saba, Israel, to a family of Yemenite-Jewish and Iraqi-Jewish descent. When he was six years old, he won a national children's festival competition entitled "A Star for the Evening - Singing Big" in his hometown and while still a child he appeared in an episode of a popular Israeli television show called Parpar Nehmad (prpr nkhmd, Nice Butterfly). Throughout his youth, he continued to appear at festivals and television shows, and at the age of 15 he was the lead singer of both the Kfar Saba city band and his high school band. At 18, he sang with the Israel Defense Forces' Communications Corps.

Skaat released his debut album, Harel Skaat (hrl sq't), in July 2006. Reviews of the album were mixed. A review in The Jerusalem Post criticized the lack of spontaneity of the album, and the inclusion of dance-tracks which the critic claimed undercut the singer's talents, but praised Skaat's soothing vocals and his ability to move listeners. In a review of the album for Ynet, Roman Singer compared Skaat to a cultured rose without the thorns. Another review claimed that Skaat was "trapped" singing "romantic stories", but praised his warm singing of "Ve'at", and his singing talents which the writer claimed allows him to "express at higher levels". Harel Skaat produced a string of "chart-leading hits", including "Kama Od Efshar" ("kmh 'vd pshr", "How Much More is Possible"), "Mashehu Mimeni" ("mshhv mmny", "Something from Me"), "Kol Hatziporim" ("kl htsypvrym", "All the Birds"), "Im Hu Yelech" ("m hv ylk", "If He Goes"), and the award-winning, romantic ballad, "Ve'at" ("vt", "And You"), which stayed number one on the major Israeli music charts for seven weeks and finished as the number one song of the year on the Reshet Gimmel's and Galgalatz's year-end music charts for 2006, and also on the BBC Israeli regional radio annual poll for 2006 ("Mashehu Mimeni" and "Kama Od Efshar" finished fourth and tenth respectively on the same poll). Skaat was named "Male Singer of 2006" by both Reshet Gimmel and Galgalatz. He also won "Singer of the Year" and "Song of the Year" for "Ve'at" in the Music 24 Channel's Israel Music Awards (AMI). In addition, "Im Hu Yelech" was named the best music video of the year by the Israeli Music Channel. Produced by veteran record producer, Izhar Ashdot, the album was certified gold less than one month after its release and eventually achieved platinum status. (Because of its small market size, the Israeli music industry certifies an album to be gold when it sells 20,000 copies.) The album's commercial success was not only important to Skaat's burgeoning career, but it also proved helpful in launching the careers of three young singer-songwriters, Keren Peles, Dor Daniel, and Kfir Epstein, who each wrote hit songs on the album, and went on to release successful debut albums of their own. Skaat co-wrote one song on the album, "Afilu Shesreifot" ("pylv shhshrypvt", "Even Though it's Burning").

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What awards did he win for any additional albums?