Amir Haddad

Amir Haddad עמיר חדד
Haddad in 2016
Background information
Birth name	Laurent Amir Khlifa Khedider Haddad
Born	(1984-06-20) 20 June 1984[1] Paris, France
Origin	Israel
Genres	Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Warner Music France
Associated acts	Patrick Bruel
Website	amirhaddadofficial.com

Laurent Amir Khlifa Khedider Haddad (Hebrew: לורן עמיר חליפה חדידר חדד‎‎, born 20 June 1984 in Paris, France^[2]), better known as Amir Haddad (Hebrew: עמיר חדד‎‎), or simply as Amir, is a French-Israeli singer and songwriter.^[3] He took part in 2006 in the Israeli music competition Kokhav Nolad, released his album Vayehi in 2011 and was a finalist in French competition The Voice: la plus belle voix as part of Team Jenifer finishing third in the competition. He represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "J'ai cherché", which finished in 6th place.

Early life

Haddad was born in Paris, France to Sephardic Jewish parents from Tunisia and Morocco.^[4] He grew up in Sarcelles (Val-d'Oise) and immigrated to Israel in 1992 at the age of 8 as part of Aliyah and residing in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv district.^[4] He sang as a young child in the synagogue and in various social events.

Amir was born with a hearing loss of 50% and only hears the left side.^[5][6]

Career

2006–13: Kokhav Nolad & Vayehi

Amir in 2016

He came to fame in 2006 with his participation in the fourth season of the Israeli song competition Kokhav Nolad (in Hebrew כוכב נולד meaning A Star is Born),^[7] the Israeli equivalent of the Pop Idol held May to September 2006. He was the first candidate to sing mostly French language songs during the audition. He advanced for 4 stages before being eliminated.^[4]

The series was won by Jacko Eisenberg. Not winning in the season, he finished his obligatory military service in the Israeli Defence Forces and continued his studies in dentistry in Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Jerusalem graduating in 2012. His song Kache limtso mili, the Hebrew version of Patrick Bruel's French hit J'te l'dis quand même, came alongside a music video. Bruel loved his rendition and invited him to sing it with him in a grand event in Raanana Park on 23 May 2008 in front of 8000 spectators.^[2] He sang it yet again much later in 2013, during the gala in tribute of Anaelle Ledoroth in Paris on 27 May 2013. In 2011, he released his debut studio album Vayehi co-written by Haddad and Omri Dagan^[3] during the years when Amir was a university student.^[8] The album included his already popular version of "Kache limtso milim". He also revived a 1990s hit Désenchantée by French artist Mylène Farmer. Haddad's version was produced by the famous Israeli producer Offer Nissim.^[8] Meanwhile, he pursued his passion in music.

At the end of the competition, Haddad was signed to a French label.^[4] creating following in France, Switzerland, USA and Brazil in addition to Israel, cooperated with a number of artists, notably Shlomi Shabat, Haim Moshe, Dudu Aharon, Gad Elbaz and Eyal Golan.

2014–15: The Voice: la plus belle voix

In 2014, he took part in season 3 of the French television series The Voice: la plus belle voix^[7][9] broadcast on TF1 from 11 January 2014 to 10 May 2014. In the blind auditions, Haddad sang "Candle in the Wind" from Elton John with all four coaches, Garou, Mika, Jenifer and Florent Pagny turning their chairs.^[10] Haddad chose to be part of Team Jenifer.^[11] He made it to the Final where he finished third.

Performances

Amir toured France with other The Voice finalists. He also appeared in compilation album Forever Gentleman 2, in the concert by charity association Leurs voix pour l'espoir in Olympia, Paris, appeared in the #OBJETPUBLIC calendar of the magazine Public and many other appearances. He also released a music video for "Candle in the Wind", a song he had interpreted during the blind auditions in The Voice. He is preparing a first album in French.^[12] In 2015, he released the hit single "Oasis" under the mononym Amir charting in SNEP, the French Singles Chart.

2016–present: Eurovision and Au cœur de moi

Amir performing at Eurovision 2016

In 2016 he was selected by French public broadcaster France 2 to represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden.^[13] Amir's song was chosen internally by France 2 by a committee headed by France 2 entertainment director Nathalie André and the newly appointed French Head of Delegation for the Eurovision Song Contest Edoardo Grassi after having received 280 submissions. The song titled "J'ai cherché" is co-written by Amir himself, Nazim Khaled and Johan Errami and contains lyrics in a bilingual mix of French and English.^[14]

France 2 had originally planned to reveal the entry on 12 March 2016, however, information that Amir would represent France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was leaked on 25 February 2016 during the D8 talk show programme Touche pas à mon poste!, hosted by Cyril Hanouna.^[15] "J'ai cherché" was edited and remixed by Skydancers and Nazim Khaled at the request of the French broadcaster since the song exceeded three minutes in its original version, which had already been released as the first single from Amir's forthcoming album.^[16] The entry was formally presented to the public on 12 March 2016 during the France 2 programme The DiCaire Show, hosted by Véronic DiCaire.^[17]

The song finished 6th overall in the grand final with 257 points, France's best placing since 2002 and the country's highest-scoring entry in their contest history. He released his second studio album Au cœur de moi on 29 April 2016, the album has peaked at number 6 on the French Albums Chart and has been certified platinum, the album has also charted in Belgium and Switzerland.

Personal life

On 7 July 2014, Amir married Lital, his longtime companion in Israel.^[18]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

Awards and Nominations

References

Notes

Sources

External links

• Official website
• Media related to Amir Haddad at Wikimedia Commons

France in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participation 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Artists 1950s Mathé Altéry (1956) Dany Dauberson (1956) Paule Desjardins André Claveau Jean Philippe 1960s Jacqueline Boyer Jean-Paul Mauric Isabelle Aubret Alain Barrière Rachel Guy Mardel Dominique Walter Noëlle Cordier Isabelle Aubret Frida Boccara 1970s Guy Bonnet Serge Lama Betty Mars Martine Clemenceau Dani Nicole Rieu Catherine Ferry Marie Myriam Joël Prévost Anne-Marie David 1980s Profil Jean Gabilou 1982 Guy Bonnet Annick Thoumazeau Roger Bens Cocktail Chic Christine Minier Gérard Lenorman Nathalie Pâque 1990s Joëlle Ursull Amina Kali Patrick Fiori Nina Morato Nathalie Santamaria Dan Ar Braz & l'Héritage des Celtes Fanny Marie Line Nayah 2000s Sofia Mestari Natasha St-Pier Sandrine François Louisa Baïleche Jonatan Cerrada Ortal Virginie Pouchain Les Fatals Picards Sébastien Tellier Patricia Kaas 2010s Jessy Matador Amaury Vassili Anggun Amandine Bourgeois Twin Twin Lisa Angell Amir
Songs 1950s "Le temps perdu" (1956) "Il est là" (1956) "La belle amour" "Dors, mon amour" "Oui, oui, oui, oui" 1960s "Tom Pillibi" "Printemps, avril carillonne" "Un premier amour" "Elle était si jolie" "Le chant de Mallory" "N'avoue jamais" "Chez nous" "Il doit faire beau là-bas" "La source" "Un jour, un enfant" 1970s "Marie-Blanche" "Un jardin sur la terre" "Comé-comédie" "Sans toi" La vie à vingt-cinq ans "Et bonjour à toi l'artiste" "Un, deux, trois" "L'oiseau et l'enfant" "Il y aura toujours des violons" "Je suis l'enfant soleil" 1980s "Hé, hé M'sieurs dames" "Humanahum" 1982 "Vivre" "Autant d'amoureux que d'étoiles" "Femme dans ses rêves aussi" "Européennes" "Les mots d'amour n'ont pas de dimanche" "Chanteur de charme" "J'ai volé la vie" 1990s "White and Black Blues" "C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison" "Monté la riviè" "Mama Corsica" "Je suis un vrai garçon" "Il me donne rendez-vous" "Diwanit Bugale" "Sentiments songes" "Où aller" "Je veux donner ma voix" 2000s "On aura le ciel" "Je n'ai que mon âme" "Il faut du temps" "Monts et merveilles" "À chaque pas" "Chacun pense à soi" "Il était temps" "L'amour à la française" "Divine" "Et s'il fallait le faire" 2010s "Allez Ola Olé" "Sognu" "Echo (You and I)" "L'enfer et moi" "Moustache" "N'oubliez pas" "J'ai cherché"
(Note: Entries scored out are when France did not compete)