Elissiar M. Khoury

known as Elissa is a Lebanese star singer. She is one of the best-known female singers in the Arab world.

Background

Elissa was born on October 27, 1972 in Deir el Ahmar in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon. She received a Bachelor of Political Science degree from the Lebanese University. She began her artistic career with the "Théatre de 10 heures" political satire group and the performer Wassim Tabbara.

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. The album's success resulted in her participation in the renowned International Music Festival in Cannes in 2000.

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. 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. The video and song were huge successes, and 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 Joaquin Cortes.

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.

Her current (2007) hit is called Halili and is a duet with Cheb Mami.

                                                                                                إليسار زكريا خوري

 وشهرتها إليسا ([[27 أكتوبر 1978])، ولدت في لبنان في دير الأحمر، حاصلة على البكالوريس في العلوم السياسية، بدايتها الفنية كانت بعام 1992 حيث شاركت في برنامج ستوديو الفن وحصلت من خلاله على الجائزة الذهبية. لكن بداية دخولها الفعلية بعالم الفن كانت بعام 1998 عندما صدر ألبومها الأول وهو بدي دوب. وبعام 2000 صدر ألبومها الثاني والذي حمل اسم اخرتا معك والذي كان يضم أيضاً أعنيه مشتركة بينها وبين المغني راغب علامة. وبعام 2002 صدر ألبومها الثالث والذي حمل اسم عايشالك وهو الألبوم الذي اخذ صدى كبير بالعالم العربي، وفي عام 2004 أصدرت ألبوم أحلى دنيا وكان تعاونها الأول مع شركة روتانا حيث نالت جائزة 2005 World Music Awards عن أفضل ألبوم من حيث المبيعات في الشرق الأوسط ، ثم صدر سنة 2006 ألبومها الخامس والذي حقق نجاحا منقطع النظير والذي نالت عليه كذلك وللمرة الثانية على التوالي جائزة World Music Awards 2006 .