Dalida, an International Diva, Who Invaded the Hearts of Millions of Fans All Around the Globe
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Dalida, an International Diva, who invaded the hearts of millions of fans all around the globe. Even though she's dead 22 years Back, Dalida’s albums are still best sellers in many countries, and new generations that were born after her death are addicted to her since, as they say, she's the symbol of the perfect woman. For them she's the strong ambitious lady that followed her dreams, despite all the problems, and achieved them, but at the same time she's the sensual woman, full of emotion which was shown clearly in her songs. Let us have a quick idea about her life, and the most important events that happened. Dalida was born in Egypt, in 17 January 1933 under the name of Yolanda Christina Gigliotti. Her family is originated from Italy, but they were living in Cairo because the father, Pietro, was first violinist in the Cairo Opera. Dalida spent all her childhood in the neighborhood of Shoubra, which was a very poor and popular place. She had a problem in the eyes, and her friends at school used to call her 4-eyes because she had to put eyeglasses. This hurt her a lot and she used to cry, but there was this nun at school that always consoled her by telling her that she has the most beautiful eyes in the world and that she will be the most marvelous girl in the world. Dalida always dreamed of Fame, she always wanted to be a star and arrive to Hollywood. In 1951, she entered a beauty pageant. Then in 1954 she won the Miss Egypt competition. To note that she participated in both competitions without telling her family, because she knew already that they will not accept and she did not want anything to stop her of taking any opportunity in order to be famous. In 1954, on Christmas Eve, Dalida left her mom and family in tears when she decided to go to Paris. She accepted the ticket from a director that encouraged her to try her chance in France, since at that time she did not have the money to pay for the travel fees. Paris was the dreamland for her, there, she assumed that will start her professional carrier in Cinema after a small participation in an Egyptian movie earlier that year. She thought success is easy and in the plane she was practicing on signing autographs. Living in France was not as easy as the young lady thought.. Time was passing without getting any role in the French cinema. She had to work in order to survive in this expensive country. here they advised her to sing in pubs or cabarets. In order to do that, she had to take singing lessons. The remarquable thing is that her singing teacher was shocked.. He used to tell her it's not enough to have a nice voice.. You sing very bad and you will never be a singer. The young ambitious lady, alone in a foreign country cried so many nights but insisted of succeeding, and she was to hard on herself more that her teacher was. She used to practice in a non stop way. In one night when she was singing she was noticed by one producer (Eddy Barclay) and the owner of a radio (Lucien Morrisse). From the first time they heard her, they recognized that she will be there chance for success and fortune. they offered for her all the help needed, and they were responsible of producing for her first big hit Bambino in 1956. The sing invaded the hearts of the European audience and had an exceptional success. It was THE big step that opened the doors of fame to Dalida. The next step was singing in the Olympia, the most important theater in France, with Charles Aznavour. then in 1957 another great hit was launched which is Gondolier. the success was her companion in all the songs that she launched after like "Come Prima (Tu Me Donnes)", "Ciao Ciao Bambina", and "Garde-Moi la Dernière Danse". Dalida toured extensively from 1958 through the early 1960s, playing dates in France, Egypt, Italy and United States. Her tour of Egypt and Italy spread her fame outside of France and Dalida soon became well-known throughout Europe. However, her tour of America was less successful and fame eluded her in English-speaking markets. In 1961, Dalida performed a month of shows at the Olympia, with each selling out completely.[1] Shortly afterwards Dalida embarked upon a tour of Hong Kong and Vietnam. Throughout the 1960s Dalida would frequently perform sell-out shows at The Olympia, and international dates became more frequent. In December 1968, she was awarded the Médaille de la Présidence de la République by Général de Gaulle, the only person from the music industry to have received this accolade. The early 1970s became a transitional period for the singer, highlighted by some of her most successful singles . After gaining a keen interest in academia in the mid- 1960s she chose to sing songs with more profound lyrics. Bruno Coquatrix was dubious about Dalida’s career evolution, and was hesitant to book her for a series of performances in 1971. Dalida hired the hall herself, and her show was met with an impressive public response. In 1973, a French version of the Italian song "Paroles Paroles", originally performed by Mina, was recorded by Dalida and her close friend Alain Delon. The song became a big hit and was the number one single in France and Japan. The follow up, "Il Venait d’Avoir Dix-Huit Ans", reached number one in nine countries, and sold three and a half million copies in Germany. "Gigi l’Amoroso", released in 1974, would actually perform better in the charts than its predecessor, reaching number one in 12 countries. Touring would follow this period of unprecedented sales, with Dalida performing in Japan, Canada and Germany. In February 1975, French music critics presented the singer with the prestigious Prix de l'Académie du Disque Français. 1976 saw another career reinvention for Dalida; releasing what is widely regarded as the first French disco single, "J’attendrai". Around the same time, the popularity of the variety show in France was soaring, and Dalida made many television appearances during this period, not only in France but across Europe. In 1978, she recorded "Salma Ya Salama", a traditional Egyptian folk song which due to its chart success was translated into Arabic, French, Italian, and German languages. The success of "Salma Ya Salama" was followed by the first French medley single, "Génération ‘78", a disco-fused combination of her biggest hit singles to date. It also became the first French single to be accompanied by a video clip. During this disco period, Dalida would earn a gay audience, a following which is still maintained today. In November, Dalida performed a Broadway-themed show at Carnegie Hall in New York, choreographed by Lester Wilson, who created the dance routines for John Travolta in the previous year’s cinema smash Saturday Night Fever. Two years later, following the success of "Monday Tuesday... Laissez-Moi Danser" in Summer 1979, she would replicate the show at the Palais des Sports, and each show sold-out, encouraging the singer to embark on a national tour which lasted until the autumn. In the same year, the lengthy "Gigi in Paradisco", a follow-up to the earlier "Gigi l’Amoroso", was released. 1981 marked the release of "Rio do Brasil", and several dates were played at The Olympia, emulating her successful 1980 tour. On the night of her first performance she became the first singer to be awarded a diamond disc, in recognition of her record sales which at that point in her career had exceeded 86 million. Dalida spent much of 1982 and 1984 on tour, releasing the album "Les P'tits Mots" in 1983 which featured hit singles in both "Lucas" and "Mourir Sur Scène". The album "Dali" was released in 1984, and was accompanied by the release of several singles, including "Soleil", "Pour te Dire Je T’aime", a cover of Stevie Wonder’s "I Just Called to Say I Love You", and "Kalimba de Luna", originally recorded by Tony Esposito. All three achieved moderate chart success, and her next 1986 album, "Le visage de l'amour", would become her last album of completely new recordings (except the final song being "Mourir Sur Scène"). Dalida underwent two major ophthalmic (bi 3inaya) operations in 1985, forcing her to put her career on hiatus. In 1986, she would play the role of a young grandmother in the Youssef Chahine film Le Sixième Jour, for which she received favorable critical response. Dalida's professinal life was a serie of non-stop successes. but on the other hand her personnal life was a misery. she first married Lucien Morrisse, the man who discovered her, but after a short period they divorced. Then she met luigi tanco, the love of her life, who committed suicide after his lost (with Dalida) in a singing competition in 1967. Dalida wanted to join him, she tried also to suicide one month following Tanco's death but she was saved at the last moment. few years later her ex-husband committed suicide. at the mid 70's she met Richard Chanfray with whom she stayed 9 years before breaking up with him, and two years later he also suicides. at the age of 1954, Dalida realized that she sacrificed the life of the woman, in order to let the Star Dalida live and stay eternal.