Elissa (singer)

Elissa shapole taha إليسا
Background information
Born	October 27, 1972 (1972-10-27) (age 38)
Origin	Deir el Ahmar, Lebanon
Genres	World
Occupations	Singer
Years active	1992 — present (singing)
Website	Official website Official Fan Club

Elissar Zakaria Khoury (Arabic: إليسار زكريا خوري‎) (born October 27, 1972^[1] in Deir el Ahmar, Lebanon), known as Elissa (Arabic: إليسا‎) is a Lebanese singer with multiple Arabic and International awards. She is one of the most well-known female singers in the Arab world and considered as one of the best selling female artists in the Middle East.

Famous for her passionate style of music, Elissa is often referred to as the "Queen Of Romance" and "Queen Of Feelings". Elissa was the first Lebanese musician to win the World Music Award in 2005, 2006 and 2010 for best selling albums in the Middle East.

Biography

Born to a Lebanese father (Zakaria Khoury) and a Syrian mother (Youmna Saud),^[2] Elissa was raised in the The Bekaa valley in Lebanon. She earned a degree in Political Science from the Lebanese University. She is a Maronite Catholic. Elissa's father, Zakaria Khoury, who studied and taught Arabic literature, died of cancer in 2004. She has 3 brothers and 2 sisters. Her brother Kamel Khoury is a DJ. Her sister Norma is married and lives in Canada, her two other brothers are Ghassan and Jehad.

Music career

Studio El Fan: Early Career Success

Elissa's first venture into art and artistic activities consisted of acting in theaters of political critique, namely with well-known Chansonnier Wassim Tabbara, and the "Theatre de 10 Heures". This was the first time she came in contact with an audience.

Her theatrical beginnings motivated her to move on to singing, which she did in 1992-3, when she participated in "Studio El Fan". The show was broadcast on LBCI, one of the most renowned TV stations in the Middle East. Elissa won a silver medal over the course of her in the program. Following this, she performed in concert until 1999, when Lido Productions released her first album, 'Baddi Doub'. Elissa debut on the commercial music scene was an event of considerable importance. The album was a success, and featured a hit with famous French gypsy act, Gerard Ferrer. The release of this first album took her to Cannes, to participate in the International Music Festival of 2000.

W'akherta Maak (2000-2001)

Following this first success, Elissa released her second album, 'W'akherta Ma'ak' in 2000, which in turn included the hit duet 'Bitghib Betrouh', sung with Lebanese superstar Ragheb Alama. 'Bitghib Betrouh' was a huge hit all the over the Arab World, and is still being played on radio and TV today, more than 9 years after its initial release. It also sold more than 200,000 copies.

Elissa had a duet with the international artist Chris de Burgh in an Arabic-English song titled "Lebanese Nights", which was written, composed and distributed by DeBurgh.He decided to sing it with a Lebanese singer, and chose Elissa. The song was recorded in London and released in DeBurgh's 2002 Album, Timing Is Everything.

Ayshalak (2002-2003)

Elissa's third studio album, Ayshalak, was released in June 2002, and supported by a video clip filmed in Paris by French director Fabrice Begotti. Wardrobe and make up were provided by Christian Dior, which made Elissa the first Arab figure to represent Dior. The video and the song both were a huge success, and with the aid of the composer/arranger Jean-Marie Riachi, Elissa was able to produce another hit called "Agmal Ehsas", which was Elissa's second single from Ayshalak. The video clip was directed by the Lebanese director, Selim El Turk. In 2002, Elissa won the Murex d'Or award for best female artist and the "Ajmal Ihsas" clip won the best video clip at the Arabic music awards.

Ahla Donya (2004-2005)

Elissa's fourth album, Ahla Donya, was released in 2004. This was one of the fastest selling albums ever in the Arab world. This album was the first under Elissa's contract with Rotana, the music production company. The album included a variety of songs, such as Koll Youm Fi Omry, Erga' Lel Shoa', Hobbak Waja' (Inta Lameen) and Ahla Donya. In 2005, Elissa bought the World Music Award for being best selling artist of the Middle east for the sales of Ahla Donya and was the first Lebanese to win this award, Elissa also won the Murex Dor award for Best video clip, "Hobak Wajaa (Inta Lameen)". In 2005, a Special Collector's Edition of the record was made available (1000 copies) with state-of-the-art packaging including a mini-biography.

Bastanak (2006-2007)

In early 2006, Elissa released her fifth studio effort, Bastanak, which has sold nearly 3.7 million copies, according to Rotana. Unlike her previous albums which were produced by Jean-Marie Riachi, numerous producers collaborated in the project. The album's lead single was the title track "Bastanak" with its music video shot in Prague. It was released exclusively on Rotana music channels. To promote the album in May 2006, Pepsi launched an international commercial in which Elissa and American pop singer Christina Aguilera sing together.

On November 15, 2006, Elissa won her second World Music Award as best selling artist of the Middle East for the sales of Bastanak. Elissa attended the the 2006 World Music Awards (the 12th annual World Music Awards) which were held in London and performed the hit single Bastanak.

In 2007, she recorded the song "Halili" which is a duet with the Algerian-born raï singer Cheb Mami, but neither Elissa nor Cheb Mami, promoted their project enough to be as successful as Elissa's other duets, that's why it was a commercial disappointment. :D

Ayami Beek (2007-2009)

Her sixth studio album, "Ayami Beek", was released in December 2007 by Rotana. The album has gained extraordinary success in the Arab world and is considered the best selling album in 2008 and still in the charts in all of the Arab countries. Her first single of the album, "Betmoun" debuted at number 1 on Rotana's PEPSI Top 20 Charts, making it the 2nd song ever in the charts to debut at number one, even though the song dropped to number 5 the following week. This album has been selling high numbers all over the Middle East. Thousands of copies were sold in the first days of the Islamic feast Eid Al Adha. The album has been number one in all Middle East charts for over 6 months. The album's first single "Betmoun" was released in Summer of 2008 and became very successful. In February 2009, Elissa worked with Fadl Shaker, a Lebanese singer, on a duet called "Jowa El Rooh", the song can be found on Fadl's 2009 studio album, Ba'da Al Bal. Unfortunately, this project was not promoted enough either, it was supposed to be shot a video clip, but because of Fadl's filled schedule, and Elissa's then problems with Rotana, as some media resources say, the music video shooting was canceled. The album's second single "Awakher El Shita" was released early 2009 and was also successful. In the summer of 2009 there had been rumors that there were problems between Elissa and Rotana, her record label, but she signed a new contract with Rotana.

Controversy in Carthage, Tunisia 2009

In July 2009 Elissa's concert in Carthage received mostly negative reviews and critique from TV locals, Tunisian newspapers and the majority of her fellow fans because she lip-synced songs, or parts of songs, in her show. The real problem, however, was not only that she was lip-syncing, but she made several mistakes while on stage, making it clearly obvious that she actually was singing playback. Shortly after Elissa's concert fan is quoted as saying on the Tunisian TV channel Hannibal, "Today Elissa did not only upset us, but the whole city of Carthage. The lady sings playback but there is no voice. She really let us down." Playback singing is officially banned by Carthage and not allowed to be done by performers.^[3]

Rumours of Engagement

In late 2009, Elissa had faced some rumors about her being engaged to the young Egyptian artist Muhammad Rahim. Both Elissa and Muhammad Rahim have denied the news. Elissa stated that she only saw Muhammad Rahim twice and both were business meetings.

Tsadaq Bmein (2009-present)

"Tsadaq Bmein" was released on December 26, 2009. The production includes 13 songs. Elissa collaborated with a group of professional songwriters and composers. For the third time in her career, Elissa won the 2010 World Music Award for best selling artist of the Middle East for the sales of this album.

Image

In 2001, she took part in Jordan's Fiesta Latina. She also held a performance at the pyramids of Egypt as the opening act for British superstar Sting. In addition to this, she was the only Arabic artist to perform in front of the former U.S President Bill Clinton at the Stars Charity show in Dubai. Also present at this event were Queen Rania of Jordan and the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al Maktoum.

At the end of 2002 she inaugurated the opening of Kuwait's Virgin Megastore with Sir Richard Branson, the founder of the famous stores. Also a great success for Elissa was being included in the anthology book, 100 Pioneers of Lebanon, alongside artists such as Fairouz, Wadih el Safi, and others.

In September 2003, she performed at the Hope Charity Gala, which took place in the Royal Albert hall, one of London's most prestigious venues. Elissa was the sole representative of the Middle East among other international stars such as Sarah Brightman, Zucchero and Joaquin Cortes.

Commercials

Her commercial life began when she signed a deal in 2003 with Pepsi. She has already filmed the ad for Pepsi X in Spain, and in 2004 the Regular Pepsi ad filmed in Roma with famous director Roger Spottiswood. Then she shot two ads with Christina Aguilera for Pepsi for the world football cup. Both were shot in Los Angeles with famous director Tarsem Singh.

Elissa is one of the ambassadresses for the World Gold Council in collaboration with Lazurde.

In 2007, Elissa was chosen by French company Georges Stahl to create her own perfume, and Elle D'Elissa was created, as the first international perfume for an Arab artist which caused a controversy after Lebanese star Haifa Wehbe who claimed that it was hers but Elissa didn't reply and said that the perfume is hers and only hers. Elissa chose 'Emirates Tower' in Dubai for releasing her perfume on November 14, 2007 in a big celebration covered by media and newspapers and attended by more than 200 businessmen, marketing, media, and friends.

In 2008, Elissa was the ambassadress of Samsung Mobiles and released her own mobile Samsung Music Phone that contained three of her songs Bastanak, Ayami Beek, and Mush Kiteer A'alek. Elissa has been known for being an official spokesperson for many international brands and the ambassador of them in the Arab World including Pepsi, Lux, Lazurde jewels, Ray Ban glasses, Vogue Eyewear, Corum watches, and Samsung mobiles.

Elissa's Famous Quotes

Thanks to all those who challenged and criticized me, I've learned that hard work eventually leads to success - Elissa, from her message to her fans in Tsadaq Bmein album cover (2009)

Awards and honors

She was awarded the Murex D'Or for being the first Lebanese to receive the World Music Award 2005. In the same event Elissa was also admired for her second success with Lebanese director Selim el Turk and received the best video clip award for the song Hobbak Waja' (directed by Selim El Turk). She was also held the Best Female artist of the year.

Elissa has won two World Music Awards for best-selling artist in the Middle East in 2005 and 2006. Total sales of her albums are close to 15 million, making her one of the most popular Lebanese singers ever. Elissa is also one of the wealthiest Lebanese singers and her wealth is estimated to be nearly $25 million.

In early 2006, Elissa released her fifth studio effort, the album Bastanak, which has sold nearly 3.2 million copies, according to Rotana. In 2006, Elissa again won the World Music Award for best-selling Middle Eastern artist from the album sales of "Bastanak", which she performed.

Tensions rose between the fans of Amr Diab and Elissa for the 2010 World Music Awards. Elissa was accused of having an unfair advantage since her album was released officially (never leaked). Many Elissa fans were even shocked at her win in comparison to Amr Diab's Wayah. Rotana submitted a statement "we are glad it was one of the artists under our label, however we were definitely expecting Amr Diab's Wayah". There is a feud going on between the Middle East to switch the results into Wayah winning. However these claims will most like not go through.

Elissa's Most Famous awards

• A Silver Medal over the course of 'Studio Al Fan' Show. 1992
• The Murex D'Or award - Best Female Artist of the Year. 2002
• Best Arabic Female Singer - Zahret El Khaleej Magazine. 2003
• Best Selling Album for a female singer in Egypt - Al Ahram Newspaper. 2004
• LG Music Festival Award. 2004
• AUST University Honoure - Lebanon. 2005
• World Music Award - Best selling Middle Eastern artist - 'Ahla Donya album.' 2005
• The Murex D'Or award - Best Female Artist of the Year. 2005
• Best Arabic Female Singer In Al Aghani Radio Station - Egypt. 2005
• Best Character of the Year - Zahret El Khaleej Magazine. 2005
• Best Video Clip Award for the song 'Hobbak Waja'. 2005
• Best Female Artist of the Year Award. 2005
• World Music Award - Best selling Middle Eastern artist - 'Bastanak album.' 2006
• An Honorable Award from the Professional Artists Union of Lebanon. 2007
• Middle East Music Award - Best Female Arab Artist. 2008
• Big Apple Music Award 2010- Best Female Artist of the Year
• World Music Award - Best selling Middle Eastern artist - 'Tsadaq Bmein album.' 2010
• Celebrity Student Awards - Best Lebanese Singer 2010
• Celebrity Student Awards - Best Song 2010
• Celebrity Student Awards - Best Album 2010
• Celebrity Student Awards - Achievement Award 2010
• The Murex D'Or Award - Best Lebanese Singer 2010
• The Murex D'Or Award - Achievement Award 2010

Discography

Studio albums

• 1999: Baddi Doub
• 2000: W'akherta Ma'ak
• 2002: Ayshalak
• 2004: Ahla Donya
• 2006: Bastanak
• 2007: Ayami Beek
• 2009: Tsadaq Bmein

Videography

• Baddi Doub (1998)
• W'akherta Ma'ak (2000)
• Betghib Betrouh (2001)
• Ayshalak (2002)
• Ajmal Ehssas (2003)
• Lebanese Night (2003): Duo with Irish artist Chris De Burgh
• Koli youm fi omry (2004)
• Erga' Lel Sho2 (2004)
• Hobak Wajaa (2005)
• Bastanak (2006)
• Law Te'rafoh (2007)
• Betmoon (2008)
• Awakher El Sheta (2009)
• Aa Bali Habibi (2010)

References

1. ↑ As listed on Lebanon Atlas and as she announced in Al A'rab TV Show With Neshan Der Haroutiounian
2. ↑ http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/186762/&searchWords=Alissa%20Syria
3. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE_dqOXAsoQ

External links

• Elissa's Official Website
• Elissa's Fan Club Group on YouTube