Elissa (singer)

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Elissar M. Khoury (Elissa) إليسا
Elissa about to sign autographs.
Background information
Born	October 27, 1972 (1972-10-27) (age 35)
Origin	Deir el Ahmar, Lebanon
Genre(s)	Arabic, World
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	1992 — present
Website	/ Official website

Elissar M. Khoury (Arabic: إليسار زكريا خوري ), known as Elissa (Arabic: إليسا) is a Lebanese singer. She is one of the most well-known female singers in the Arab world. Khoury is a Maronite Catholic.

[edit] Musical career

Elissa started her singing career in 1992 on a talent show broadcasted on LBC, "Studio el Fan", in which she won the silver medal. After a long absence, she came back with a Spanish-Arabic single, titled "Badi Doub" in 1998. Her first album Baddi Doub was one of the largest-selling albums in Lebanon and the Middle East, selling over 150,000 copies.^{[citation needed]}The album's success resulted in her participation in the renowned International Music Festival in Cannes in 2000.^{[citation needed]}

Her second project in 2000 was a duet with Ragheb Alameh "Betghib Betrouh." The song was included in Elissa's second album W'akherta Ma'ak, which went on to sell more than 1,600,000 copies.^{[citation needed]}

Later on, Elissa was featured with the international artist Chris DeBurgh in an Arabic-English song titled "Lebanese Nights", which was written, composed and distributed by DeBurgh. He wrote this song while on his last visit to the country. 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.

Her third album Ayshalak was released in June 2002 supported by a video clip filmed in Paris by French director Fabrice Begotti, wardrobe and make up by Christian Dior. Elissa was the first Arab figure to represent Christian Dior. With the aid of the composer/arranger Jean-Marie Riachi, Elissa was able to follow with another hit "Agmal Ehsas" was Elissa's second single from Ayshalak. The video clip was directed by the Lebanese director, Selim El Turk. Together Elissa and Selim won the Murex D'Or for the best female artist and the best video clip.

At 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, as well as many other celebrities.

In September 2003, Elissa 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 Joaquín Cortés.

Elissa's fourth album, Ahla Donya was released in 2004. 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". The album received a 2005 World Music Award for best-selling album in the Middle East and North Africa. 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.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005 she released her fifth album, Bastanak Khalil Al-Araj was the first to discover her talent in video clips. Thus producing most of her clips in the dayy'a (day3a).

In 2007 she had a hit with the song "Halili", a duet with Cheb Mami.

Her sixth album called Ayami Beek was released in December 2007 by Rotana. The first singles from the album are "Awakher Al Sheta","Ayami beek" , "khod balak 3alaya" and "betmoun" The album has gained success in the arab world. The famous "Radio Sawa" has recently declared the album has sold more than 10.2 million copies all over the world a few months after its release^{[citation needed]} . It is expected that Elissa will win the world music awards for the third time due to a huge record sales for her last "masterpiece".^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 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.

In 2003 was her first deal with Pepsi which made her the official female star for Pepsi for the Arab World. It was followed in 2004 by a contract with Ray-Ban to promote their campaign. Further commercial campaigns included the contract with Lux, and a renewal for her contract with Pepsi. Elissa is an official spokesperson for Pepsi. In 2006 she co-starred with Christina Aguilera in a Pepsi Cola advertisement. In 2007, she promotes the new campaign of Vogue Eyewear in the Arab world named "Eliss fok elissa

[edit] Controversies

Elissa's video for the title track of her album, Baddi Doub caused controversy. In the video, Elissa is seen sitting on a bed wearing a white bedsheet. For years after the video, Elissa would be asked about the 'bedsheet incident' in interviews. Elissa mentioned that she was surprised on how much controversy this has caused, especially since she was almost completely covered up, and indeed there are other artists who wear far more 'revealing' outfits on TV. Not to be beaten, Elissa wore a similar ensamble for the title track of her next album, W'akherta Ma'ak.

Elissa is also known for accusing the singer, Amal Hijazi for imitating her style especially in the video of Hijazi's song, Bedawwar A Albi (Searching for my heart). Hijazi however denied the accusations, stressing that each of the singers has her own unique style. Hijazi added that her song was filmed long before Elissa's "Hubbak Waja" and had been airing on different satellite channels for some time at the time. In 2004, however, Hijazi put everything aside and made a personal visit to Elissa to give her condolences after the latter lost her father to cancer. Elissa welcomed Amal with open arms and expressed her gratitude towards Amal's attempt to stand by her side at such a troublesome time.

Elissa is also known for her rivalry with Haifa Wehbe. In 2004 during a candid interview with City Times, Elissa openly said that Haifa lacks the qualities of a good singer [1]. Elissa also went on to say that she isn't convinced with Amal Hijazi's voice. [2]

[edit] Awards and honors

Elissa was rewarded a 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.^{[citation needed]}

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 18 million, making her one of the most popular Lebanese singers ever.^{[citation needed]} Elissa is also one of the wealthiest Lebanese singers and her wealth is estimated to be nearly $31 million.^{[citation needed]}

In early 2006, Elissa released her fifth studio effort, the album Bastanak, which has sold nearly 6.2 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".

Elissa's fan base increases with every new album. Her concerts are always fully booked with sometimes a huge number of viewers that exceeds the capacity of the stage at which she is performing. Her official fan club page has more than 12,000 members since it relaunched in March 2006.

Bastanak, Elissa's latest album which created a lot of debate among all media representatives for its high production cost and international standards, brought Elissa a lot of success on a local, regional, and international scope of sales leading her to claim her second consecutive World Music Award.

Elissa performed Bastanak the smash hit from her latest album, dazzling the audience with a lovely performance, dedicating the award to her beloved country Lebanon - her Father's soul - and all her fans.

Her album Bastanak received a 2006 World Music Award for best-selling album in the Middle East.

[edit] Discography

Main article: Elissa discography

• 1998: Baddi Doub
• 2000: W'akherta Ma'ak
• 2002: Ayshalak
• 2004: Ahla Donya
• 2006: Bastanak
• 2007: Ayami Beek

[edit] Clips

• 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)
• Erga3 Lel Sho2 (2005)
• hobak wajaa (2005)
• Bastanak (2006)
• Law Ta3rafoh (2007)

[edit] External links

• Addicted2Elissa:Your Daily Source For Everything About Elissa By Elie Fahed
• Elissa Khoury Pictures
• Elissa Full Discography
• All About Elissa BY 3azef
• Download Elissa Albums
• Elissa's official website
• Rotana Records Arabia
• Elissa Lovers Elissa's Biggest Fan Website]
• Elissa (Lebanon.com)
• Elissa lyrics, lyrics translation and videos