She will perform her title “Evidemment” at Eurovision against 25 other competitors on Saturday May 13. But who is La Zarra, this singer with a celestial voice who will try, forty-six years later, to succeed Marie Myriam?
1. Québec
Born in 1987 in the suburbs of Montreal, La Zarra – whose real name is Fatima-Zahra Hafdi – grew up in a family of seven children, including six girls. She imagines herself a veterinarian or historian for a time because of her passion for ancient Egypt. Daughter of accountant parents of Moroccan origin, the one who is still called Fatima finally turns to hairdressing studies which she quickly abandons. Already, the desire to join Europe torments her and augurs her future trajectory.
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2. French rap, RnB and chanson
Very early on, La Zarra developed a passion for hip-hop and modern dance. Obsessed with the voices of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, she also finds herself in the technique and verses of rappers like Tupac, Notorius BIG or the group IAM. Growing up, it was the stars of Marseille rap (Jul, Soprano, SCH) who thrilled the singer who ” understands music by instinct “. All these influences, La Zarra is not afraid to merge them as in 2020 when she publishes on her YouTube channel a cover of the tube « With ammonia » of PNL, a kind of medley combining the song with “My God » by Edith Piaf. Combining rap and French song, evoking diametrically opposed universes, La Zarra takes up the challenge and her bewitching voice charms an audience who still know her very little.
3 – A rapid and dazzling success
For the one who has never taken singing lessons, the adventure begins in 2016, when she chooses the song and leaves her country for France. It was his meeting with Canadian producer Benny Adam that opened the doors to the music industry. Pushing her to her limits, the producer manages to get her to interpret “So That You Still Love Me” by Celine Dion. Immediately under the spell of this singular voice, Adam arranges to meet her the next day before sending her to France. In France, the young woman feels there quickly ” at home “as she confides to the” Parisian “. Its name is La Zarra – in reference to Victor Hugo’s poem “Lazarra”: “She is young and laughing, and sings her song…” . The singer is put in touch with the rapper Niro. Together, they record a first duet “White Spring” which meets with success and launches his career.
4. “French Lady Gaga”
From this “White Spring” synonymous with renewal, record companies began to take an interest in La Zarra. It’s with Polydor, who sees her as ” a French-style Lady Gaga, capable of appealing to rap fans as well », that she signs her first contract. From Lady Gaga, La Zarra has the aura and the gift to show off ever more colorful and impressive outfits. His first album “Traîtrise”, released in the midst of a pandemic, also mixes genres like Gaga. Cultivating this taste for glamor and mystery, La Zarra casts doubt on an age that she has long refused to reveal (she would have been born on August 25, 1987).
5. A taste for French songs.
If La Zarra was immersed in a hip-hop universe, this did not prevent him from developing a passion for pop and French song. Voluntarily citing Sinatra, Barbara, Céline Dion or Aznavour among his models, the autodidact with a smooth voice is inspired by the Roaring Twenties or cabaret atmospheres. Her name also expresses her admiration for Edith Piaf, La Môme, to whom she pays homage with her tremolos and the “r” that she rolls with sensuality. Her strong voice, oscillating between modernity and tradition, recalls Indila or Stromae who also knew how to redefine the genre thanks to electropop contributions and oriental influences. Sometimes described as kitsch, La Zarra continues to perpetuate a heritage, right down to the title of its song composed for Eurovision, “Evidemment”, a nod to France Gall and the song by Michel Berger.
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6. « Girl power »
« I have no right not to win Eurovision “. It is with these words that the « Queen » (as her fans call her) expresses all the ambition and perfectionism she shows. Sometimes tough, always a perfectionist and a competitor, La Zarra doesn’t stop until she’s satisfied. I don’t let go, like a pit bull. » An asset for the Quebecer who manages to combine the life of an artist, a “strong woman” and a mother. Invested, La Zarra wishes to have an eye on all the elements of his artistic process “ Me, I like to control what I do. I’m involved in everything “, she explained to the” Journal du Québec “in 2021. Jérôme Labory, its former artistic director, also paints the portrait of a woman” extraordinary, a real diva, between Booba for the businesswoman side, and Marilyn Monroe for the “girl power” side and hypersensitivity ».
7. Diva
However, La Zarra did not leave only good memories in the music industry. For many of her former collaborators, her diva look is the reflection of a strong and resolutely rebellious character. Between 2016 and 2020, the singer binds with different record companies with which the current will never really manage to pass. Before going on stage, she does not hesitate to make her wishes known, whether for technical details or glasses of champagne or Japanese whiskey. A capricious starlet attitude that annoys in the ranks of the structures where she had difficulty working as a team. Very demanding, La Zarra sometimes pushes the cork too far, not hesitating to expose on the networks his annoyance in the face of very dirty hotel rooms compared to ” a voice as wonderful as mine ».
8. Attacks
« She is completely perched, she stayed away from other artists, and not to mention her sequence on stage… lunar “, remembers for” the Parisian “a member of another team present at the Victoires de la Musique, where La Zarra misses the reward. Mute and frustrated, the singer did not wish to greet anyone. It was then on social networks that she suffered repeated attacks. Saturday, May 6 in Amsterdam, La Zarra decides at the last moment to cancel his appearance at the “Eurovision In Concert” because of ” family reasons “. Cloistered in her hotel, the Canadian is unaware that social networks are igniting with accusatory, violent and racist reactions. Among the reproaches made to him: his casualness and a lack of legitimacy.
9. Automatically qualified for Eurovision
On January 12, 2023, France Télévisions announced that La Zarra would represent France at 67e Eurovision Song Contest 2023. Saturday May 13, the performer will perform on stage in Liverpool in front of 180 million viewers in the hope of winning France, shunned since 1977. Favorite of Alexandra Redde-Amiel (entertainment director of France Télévisions) La Zarra did not even go through the Eurovision France program which had made it possible to select Bilal Hassani in previous years and the improbable Breton electro group Alvan & Ahez which had finished at the 24e place in the ranking of the 2022 edition. Qualified automatically – France being one of the five largest financial contributors – La Zarra will perform « Obviously “ its electropop title with melancholy overtones.
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10. To succeed Marie Myriam?
On the Liverpool stage during rehearsals, the Quebec singer performed the title she will defend on Saturday in the final. In front of the press and a conquered public, the French delegation did not skimp on the means, wishing to offer a memorable performance. It is therefore on a raised platform 3 meters high, adorned with a black sequined dress that La Zarra made her deep voice resonate.
Placed in third position of the favorites of the classification by the bookmakers, La Zarra is confident. Proud of the work accomplished and of her song, she considers herself to have ” already won ». “I want to be happy with my performance. I want it to be vocally impeccable, that there is no fault, that we manage to understand the essence of the song… If I manage to do that, I will have no regrets”, she confided to “20 Minutes”.
It remains to wish good luck to La Zarra to win a competition that France has often been encouraged to lose according to the revelations of Laurent Bigot, former boss of France 2. Indeed, it would seem that the position of outsider is privileged in order to avoid having to finance the next edition…
