Elissa (singer)
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This article is about the Lebanese singer. For the Canadian singer, see Elissa (Canadian singer).
Elissaإليسا
Born
October 27, 1972 (1972-10-27) (age 36)
Origin
Deir el Ahmar, Lebanon
Genre(s)
Arabic, World,Pop folk
Occupation(s)
Singer
Years active
1992 — present
Website
Official website
Official Fan Club
Elissar Z. 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. Born to a Lebanese father and a Syrian mother, Elissa was raised in the Bekaa valley. She earned a degree in Political Science from the Lebanese University. Elissa is a Maronite Catholic.
Elissa won the "World Music Award" award for "Best Selling Artist of the Middle East" in 2005 and 2006. She was the first Lebanese singer to win this award.
Contents[hide]
1 Music career
1.1 Originality Sincerity and Emotion
1.2 Early career success
1.3 Rise to fame
1.4 New projects
2 Image
3 Beauty and Fashion
4 Official Website
5 Controversies
6 Advertisements
7 Awards and honors
7.1 Elissa's most famous awards
8 Discography
9 Clips
10 References
11 External links
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[edit] Music career

[edit] Originality Sincerity and Emotion
Not many Arab divas have Elissa's combination of sincere interpretation, originality and emotion in their voices. Those became her trademarks, along with her "sweet and sour" husky tone of voice. Elissa's vocal range belongs to the mezzo-soprano register she started taking vocal exercices with the "Star Academy Lebanon" teacher and Vocal Coach Wadih Raad who showed her the way to sing without hurting her vocal cords nonetheless Wadih was very bright and careful in preserving her special timbre . The singer's talent is a 100% innate while others flaunt their vocal virtousity (backed by years of apprentischip of the complex Arabic music and Maquams), Elissa just grabs the mike and let go all of her feelings. Some may accuse her of singing out of tune, but Elissa is not just a meer conservatoire student doing her solfeggio homework, she is just reciting poetry. Grand names had praised Elissa's genuine performance. from Ragheb Alama who was the first to fall under Elissa's vocal spell saying she have got the timbre of the sensitive and sensuous woman on a such basis he asked to sing the duet with her,Majida El Roumi stated that she feels enormous pleasure while seeing Elissa on the stage. Likewise, Leila Ghofran declared that she is among Elissa's voice admirers especially because of her sensitive and authentic interpretaion, Marie Sleiman said that Elissa has got a lot of class, Micheline Khalifé also revealed her appreciation of Elissa's style and talent.

[edit] Early career success
Elissa's first forays into art and artistic activities consister of acting in theatres 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, the overwhelming warmth of which she immediately took to.
Her theatrical beginnings motivated her to move on to singing, which she did in 1992-3, when she participated in "Studio Al Fan". The show was broadcasted 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 tirelessly until 1999, when Lido Productions released her first album, 'Baddy Doub'. Elissa debut on the commercial music scene was an event of considerable importance. The album was a success, and featured a smash hit with famous French gypsy act, Gerard Ferrer. The release of this first album took her straight to Cannes, to participate in the International Music Festival of 2000.

[edit] Rise to fame
Following this first success, Elissa released her second album, 'W'akherta Maak' in 2000, which in turn included the hit duet 'Bitghib Betrouh', sung with Lebanese superstar Ragheb Alameh. 'Bitghib Betrouh' was a massive hit, and is still being played on radio and TV today, more than three years after its initial release, which is also went on to sell 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.
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. The video and the song both gained huge success, and with the aid of the composer/arranger Jean-Marie Riachi, Elissa was able to follow with another hit "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.
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 won the World Music Award as best selling artist of the Middle east for the sales of "Ahla Dounia" CD and was the first Lebanese to win this award. 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.
In early 2006, Elissa released her fifth studio effort, the album Bastanak, which has sold nearly 3.7 million copies, according to Rotana. In 2006 Elissa won for the second year in a row the World Music Award as best selling artist of the Middle East for the sales of "Bastanak" CD.
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 album has gained extraordinary success in the Arab world and is considered the most selling album in 2008 and still is 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 1 (Shatha's Rooh was the 1st song to debut an bumber 1), even though the song dropped to number 5 the following week.

[edit] New projects
Elissa's lastest video "Awakher El-Shita" has been released on the 20th of February. It's directed by [[Walid Nassif], the one who also directed "Bitmoun" clip. This song is from Elisa's lastest album "Ayami Beek". On the other hand, Elissa started preparing her 7th Studio Album which is untitled yet. Elissa and Fadel Shaker are preparing to shoot there duet with Saed EL-Marouk.

[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.
The end of 2002 carried the bang when 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 Joaquin Cortes.
Elissa's Fanbase increase dramatically with every event she attend/holds and with every new album. Her concerts are always fully booked with sometimes a huge number of viewers that exceeds the capacity of the stage she's performing at.

[edit] Beauty and Fashion
Alongside her special talent, Elissa is famous for her physique, She is the typical mediterannean beauty,with her dark hair that she refuses to dye in blond , her long neckline, her witty and lively hazel eyes, her fair carnation skin complexion, her diamond shaped face, her hour-glass figure, her imposing and majestic stature: she embodies an intriguing mixture of class, charism and genre. Elissa is a shy person whose timidness is often mistaken for snobism, but once she talks, her golden heart won't pass unnoticed, together with a lot of wit and humor.Elissa is the arabic world's first trendsetter idol: she was the first to adopt a more casual look: At a time where female singers would wear huge gowns excessively embroidered with shining and coloroful pearls, she opted for simple evening dresses that emphasized her slender silhouette, she wears a lot of Brand names prêt-à porter (Valentino, John Galliano, D&G , Michael Kors..but when it comes to haute couture she wears only Elie Saab's designs). she was the first to adopt the wavy retro hairstyles of the 30's and 40's and it was her who brought to fame (among the arabic gals and ladies) the smoky-eye make-up (by Bassam Fattouh) since her 2001 cover and music video Ayshalak , the vedio clip filmed in paris and her wardrobe was designed by Christian Dior as well as her makeupElissa was the first Arab figure to represent Christian Dior.Everybody was dazzled by this Vamp-Femme Fatale make-up which fitted her so well due to her feminine features and her diamond shaped face, eversince every arabic lady even singers went on relooking sessions, asking for and copying the Elissa's look.

[edit] Official Website
ElissaLB.com Elissa's Official website is one of the most visited official websites in the whole Arabian World. ElissaLB.com includes the complete biography of Elissa, her latest news, with videos, pictures, advertisements and performance. Elissa's Official Fan Club page hosts more than 15,000 fans since it re-launched in March 2006.

[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 bed sheet. For years after the video, Elissa would be asked about the 'bed sheet 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 ensemble for the title track of her next album, W'akherta Ma'ak.
Elissa is believed had once accused the singer Amal Hijazi for imitating her style, especially in the video of Hijazi's song, Bedawwar A Albi. 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 a while. In 2004, however, Hijazi put everything aside and made a personal visit to Elissa to give her condolences after she 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. Another opinion says that since her rise to fame, Amal does not miss one occasion without dashing Elissa who did not and will not reply, apparently some believe dashing Elissa will give their career a kick further up.
Elissa is also known for her enmity with Haifa Wehbe. Haifa started the fire when she compared the two singers to cars by saying that Elissa is an old car while she is a new one. Elissa refused to reply just saying: "When someone compares me to a car, is there anything left for me to say?". This enmity stopped when Nishan had Elissa live on his show and called Haifa. Both Elissa and Haifa were surprised, but assured people that there are no problems.
Another rivalry is hers with Lebanese singer Nawal Al Zoghbi when the latter accused Elissa in an indirect way of buying awards and ignoring fans in concerts. Subsequently, Elissa in a live interview asked about who might vanish her from musically, she stated that it might be Nawal Al Zoghbi because of her accusations and Hayfa Wehbe. Both Nawal and Haifa considered that silly and declared that they don't hold anything against Elissa.
Although Elissa has had many fights and problems with singers, composers, and musicians, she usually does not reply, or, when being accused, she usually says that it is their personal opinion and that she does not want to discuss it any further.

[edit] Advertisements
Elissa created a very high image for herself which made her become the most wanted artist for all prestigious brands.
Elissa's fantastic commercial life started in 2003, when she signed a deal with Pepsi. This contract, which was dear to her heart, made Elissa the official female star for Pepsi in the Arab world. 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.
Her second deal was with Ray Ban to run their campaign.
Elissa is the ambassadress 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.
For 2008 Elissa is 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.

[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.
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 19 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 $31 million.
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 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.

[edit] 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 Arabian Music Video for " Ajmal Ihsass " - Arabic Music Awards. 2004
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
An Exceptional Honorable Murex D'Or - Being the first Lebanese to receive the World Music Award 2005.
The Murex D'Or award - Best Female Artist of the Year. 2005
The Murex D'Or award - Best Arabic Music Video for "Hubbak Waja3". 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

[edit] Discography
Main article: Elissa discography
1999: Baddi Doub
2000: W'akherta Ma'ak
2002: Ayshalak
2004: Ahla Donya
2006: Bastanak
2007: Ayami Beek
2009: TBA

[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 (2004)
hobak wajaa (2005)
Bastanak (2006)
Law Ta3rafoh (2007)
Betmoon (2008)
Awakher el Sheta (2009)