Hiba tawaji photos
Hiba Tawaji
Hiba Tawaji | |
|---|---|
Hiba at AL ULA | |
| Birth name | Hiba Michel Tawaji |
| Born | () 10 December (age&#;37) Achrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon |
| Origin | Lebanese |
| Genres | Arabic music, jazz, opera, funk, pop music |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actress, director |
| Years active | –present |
Musical artist
Hiba Michel Tawaji (Arabic: هبة ميشال طوجي; born 10 December ) is a Lebanese singer, actress, and director.
Since , she has established herself in the Lebanese and Arab music scene with her 4-octave vocal range.
She started her career playing the main female role in Rahbani musicals. She also participated in the fourth season of France's version of The Voice, in which she was coached by Mika and reached the semi-finals. After The Voice, she signed with Mercury Records in On 30 May , it was announced Tawaji would join the cast of Notre-Dame de Paris as Esmeralda in the revival of the musical.[1] She has since toured with the cast and performed internationally.
Tawaji has also pursued her Arabic career with four studio albums produced by Oussama Rahbani and numerous projects on the Lebanese and Arab levels, including in Egypt, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia, where she was the first woman to sing on stage following an easing of restrictions on women's rights.
Tawaji is now signed to Universal Music Arabia, in partnership with Universal Music Group and Republic Records.
Early life and education
Born in Achrafieh, Beirut to Lebanese Orthodox parents Michel and Adele, she grew up in Elissar, a neighborhood of Mazraat Yachouh in the Matn District. She trained at an early age in opera and classical singing, then in modern style.
From and until , Tawaji studied at the Athenee de Beyrouth school and received a literary baccalaureate.
From until , she took singing lessons and solfeggio at Ecole des Arts Ghassan Yammine. She then went to Saint Joseph University of Beirut, IESAV, and majored in audio-visual and cinematographic studies, earning her B.A. in Tawaji also trained in directing and acting.
She obtained her bachelor's degree in with a short movie written and directed by her, titled The Rope. It won many prizes in film festivals across the Arab World (ZUMEFF, NDU Film Festival, Outbox Film Festival, etc.).
Career
– Early career and musical debut
Singing in French, English, and Arabic, Tawaji was noticed by producers and composers in the Middle East.
Fascinated by the genius of the Rahbani family, she sought to contact Oussama Rahbani who was impressed by her audition and immediately became her producer. Tawaji has insisted on different occasions that her collaboration with Rahbani is lifelong and that no contract exists to govern their projects together.[2]
In , Tawaji released her first single, "Metl El Rih" (Like the Wind), which received extensive airtime on TV channels across Lebanon.
She cemented her position as a promising newcomer on the musical scene with her acclaimed second single, "Helm" (Dream), to which she directed the music video herself. Both songs were a product of her collaboration with the Rahbani family. In the meantime, Tawaji launched her stage career by debuting in as the protagonist in the musical The Return of the Phoenix by Mansour and Oussama Rahbani, played in Byblos and Dubai, alongside Ghassan Saliba, Antoine Kerbage, and Takla Chamoun.[3] The following year, she also reprised the main role in the musical Sayf alongside Saliba.
Between May and July , she took vocal lessons with Emmy Award winner Gwen Conley in New York. In that same period, she followed a three-month intensive acting workshop at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York. She returned to Lebanon and appeared in other musicals by the Rahbanis, Don Quixote and Moulouk Al Tawaef.
In , Tawaji released her first album La Bidayi Wala Nihayi, in collaboration with Oussama Rahbani.
The eponymous single is an Arabic version of "The Windmills of Your Mind" (Les Moulins de mon Coeur) written by Michel Legrand and received considerable airplay in Lebanon and the Arab world, propelling Tawaji to recognition from the public. The record also contained the songs "Zat Ellafti", with pop influences, and "La Tkelli Ennak Meshtakli" which is reminiscent of Fairuz's music in her later jazzy era with her son Ziad.
Hiba Tawaji's second album, Ya Habibi, was released in and was also positively received as it was carried by the singles "Khalas" and "Awwal Ma Cheftou". The record also comprises Tawaji's version of the song "Helwa ya baladi", first performed by Dalida.
Tawaji has also performed in and with the National Symphonic Orchestra of Ukraine, headlining shows in Lebanon, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
She also released in the official tribute song to the Lebanese Army on its 69th anniversary, Metl El Chajar Mazrouiin.
– Appearance on The Voice and career in France
In January , Tawaji took part in the fourth season of The Voice: la plus belle voix, France's version of The Voice. In the blind auditions, she auditioned with a bilingual version of "La Bidayi Wala Nihayi", leading all four judges to turn their chairs.
Tawaji opted to be in Team Mika. The blind audition was broadcast on day 3 of the auditions on 24 January
In the Battles Round, Tawaji faced Nög, another contestant in Mika's team, singing "Mon amie la rose" by Françoise Hardy.
Oussama rahbani and hiba tawaji engaged employees fight
Since , she has established herself in the Lebanese and Arab music scene with her 4-octave vocal range. She started her career playing the main female role in Rahbani musicals. She also participated in the fourth season of France's version of The Voice , in which she was coached by Mika and reached the semi-finals. After The Voice , she signed with Mercury Records in On 30 May , it was announced Tawaji would join the cast of Notre-Dame de Paris as Esmeralda in the revival of the musical.Mika elected to proceed to the next round with Tawaji, while Nög was stolen by fellow coach Zazie. During the "L'Épreuve ultime" round, she performed "Fighter" by Christina Aguilera, ending up in the Top 4 of Team Mika. In the live rounds, she sang "Everytime" by Britney Spears and was saved by public vote as a top pick from Team Mika. In the second live round, she sang "Amoureuse" from Véronique Sanson again ending as public favourite from Team Mika with the biggest number of votes.
Mika also opted to keep David Thibault as Top 2 in his team.
In the semi-finals held on April 18, she confronted David Thibault in a bid to represent Team Mika in the final. She sang "Pas là" from Vianney, but lost to Thibault in the public vote, with the latter qualifying to the final. Tawaji ended up finishing joint 5th to 8th place for the season.
Following her appearance on the show, Tawaji was signed to Mercury Records in and released her first single in French, "Comme un symbole", which she performed on The Voice as a musical guest on the eleventh episode of the fifth season. Her versatile vocal abilities and experience on stage attracted the attention of the producers of Notre-Dame de Paris, Riccardo Cocciante, and Luc Plamondon, who offered her to reprise Hélène Ségara's legendary role of Esmeralda in the musical for its first official revival, which opened at the Palais des Congrès in Paris in November She then proceeded on tour with the cast, performing sold-out shows in Taiwan, China, Turkey, Russia, Canada, South Korea, Switzerland, the UK, the United States, and Belgium, in addition to a tour of France and her home country of Lebanon, where the musical headlined the Jounieh International Festival.
As of , Tawaji has still been performing with the cast of the musical, most recently in New York City.
In , Tawaji collaborated with Disney and sang "Nuits d'Arabie" from Aladdin on the French album We Love Disney compilation best of.
Hiba tawaji songs: Fascinated by the genius of the Rahbani family, she sought to contact Oussama Rahbani who was impressed by her audition and immediately became her producer. Tawaji has insisted on different occasions that her collaboration with Rahbani is lifelong and that no contract exists to govern their projects together. [2].
– Hiba Tawaji 30 and global activities
In , Tawaji announced the release of her new project with Oussama Rahbani, titled Hiba Tawaji 30, honoring her 30th birthday. The album's release was preceded by Tawaji's release of the patriotic song "Bghannilak Ya Watani", whose music video, directed by Tawaji, showcases a better vision of Lebanon in the future.
Hiba Tawaji 30 consists of 30 songs on two CDs. The first CD contains 15 original songs, most of them written by Ghadi Rahbani with five songs written by Oussama Rahbani. The second disc is a compilation of Tawaji's best previous works as well as covers of Umm Kulthum and Sayed Darwish.
Hiba tawaji songs download He also revealed what it has been like to work with famous family members like his father Mansour, his brother Marwan and his aunt, the legendary singer Fairuz. Having earned a reputation for being tough on his tutees, Oussama explains that burgeoning artists should be receptive and adaptable if they are to be successful. He also warns against the trappings of overnight fame, adding that reality shows do not guarantee long-term celebrity or popularity. The composer-producer also mentors the Lebanese soprano Hiba Tawaji, who took part in the French version of The Voice in Tawaji has since performed in numerous plays produced by Oussama and his brother Marwan, plus recorded a series of studio albums with them.The last song of Tawaji's new album, additionally, was produced by Disney for the animated series Elena of Avalor, for which she dubbed the singing role of main character Princess Elena in Arabic. The album was released on 30 March
In April , Tawaji was featured on the track "Solidarité" (Solidarity) by French-Lebanese artist Matthieu Chedid, which appears on his album Lamomali.
The ten years of collaboration between Hiba Tawaji and Oussama Rahbani were celebrated by the two artists during a live show called TEN, which was exclusively performed on stage as the closing act of the Cedars International Festival in Bsharri, Lebanon, on 5 August The production featured more than dancers choreographed by Pascale Sayegh Zgheib and was performed with the Lebanese Orchestra conducted by Oussama Rahbani.[4]
Hiba Tawaji's renowned and respected status was solidified as she was selected, in December , to be the first female artist ever to take the stage in Saudi Arabia, following women's rights reforms in Saudi Arabia undertaken by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Her historic performance was broadcast and reported by international media all around the world for breaking taboos and was highlighted as an achievement in the battle of women in the Arab world towards freedom and equality in society. On that occasion, she re-released a special version of her song "Min Elli Byekhtar" (Who Chooses), accompanied by a music video celebrating the lifting of the driving ban on women in Saudi Arabia.
Following this event, Tawaji performed a special Christmas concert—which she has since made a yearly tradition—and released a Christmas-special album titled Hallelujah, produced by Oussama Rahbani. The next year, she was the singer of the official soundtrack for the series Tarik, which premiered during Ramadan in The Ramadan season represents the peak of TV audiences yearly.
The song, also called "Tarik", was listened to by broad audiences in the Arabic-speaking world and became Tawaji's most popular song. "Tarik" boosted Tawaji's career as it showcased her versatility and ability to also tap into mainstream genres far from her jazzy, orchestral, and lyrical influences.[5] That year, she also performed a sold-out concert at the Dubai Opera as part of a Rahbani night and released a remake of the song "Lil Sabiyi Al Malaki", the official song of the Miss Lebanon pageant, whose rights were transferred to MTV under Rima Fakih's direction.
Collaborating with Disney for the third time, Hiba Tawaji was selected to dub Naomi Scott's voice as Jasmine in the French version of the Aladdin live-action remake, providing both speaking and singing vocals. She featured on the official soundtrack of the movie, notably with the songs "Ce rêve bleu" (A Whole New World) and "Parler" (Speechless).
In also, Tawaji was invited by international tenor Andrea Bocelli to perform together at a concert as part of the Cedars International Festival in Lebanon. The concert was broadcast live on Lebanese television.
marked Hiba Tawaji's debut on TV screens as an actress, as the lead role in Arab series Hawas (Obsession) alongside Syrian star Abed Fahed.
Oussama rahbani and hiba tawaji engaged employees Hiba Tawaji has been turning heads since she debuted her stage career in as the protagonist in the musical The Return of the Phoenix. Hiba cemented her position as a pillar of this legacy, starring in the last four musicals made by the Rahbanis. In parallel with her theatrical debut, she launched her solo career in with the release of her first album La Bidayi Wala Nihayi Neither the Beginning Nor the End , which was followed over the years by three other albums: Ya Habibi My Darling in , Hiba Tawaji 30 in , and her most recent Levanting pop album Bad Sneen After Years in Armed with a fierce passion for her work throughout this journey, Hiba Tawaji found herself celebrating one milestone after another, not least of which was her impressive participation in the French version of The Voice in A post shared by Billboard Arabia billboardarabia.She also performed the official soundtrack of the series Lahza Ya Rayt (If only one moment). In , she released the song Aylan in memory of the three-year old clandestine migration victim Aylan Kurdi.
–present: Signing at Universal, international recognition and Baad Sneen
In , Tawaji signed a record deal with Universal Music Arabia, a division of Republic Records and Universal Music Group.
She is managed by Lebanese-Canadian executive Wassim "SAL" Slaiby, the CEO of the label, which he launched to promote Arabic music on a global scale. On 7 October , Tawaji released her first single under UMA called "Que Será Será" (Law Nebka Sawa) featuring Puerto Rican star Luis Fonsi. The music video accompanying the song reached 3 million views on YouTube within three days of its release.
Oussama rahbani and hiba tawaji engaged employees wife Lebanese singer and actress Hiba Tawaji has always admired local music legend Oussama Rahbani. Tawaji was chosen to participate in this unique tribute to the Rahbani works. From there his will to adapt and orchestrate the popular French song sprang into being. Rahbani needed someone with a powerful, yet sensual, voice to interpret this composition. Enter Tawaji.She also conducted a one-time concert open to public for free, called Night of Hope, in the first large musical event after the Beirut explosion. As part of the cultural revival efforts amidst the political and economic crisis Lebanon is facing, the Rahbani-produced performance took place at the Forum de Beyrouth and was broadcast live on MTV Lebanon.
The singer performed a duet with Elissa, one of the country's most well-known artists. She also headlined a concert in Dubai as a part of the festivities for the luxury brand Louis Vuitton's th anniversary.
In February , Tawaji released Habibi Khalas, second single from her upcoming album. The track is penned by long-time collaborator Oussama Rahbani and Adonis frontman Anthony Khoury and is accompanied by a music video shot in Paris.
Tawaji released her studio album Baad Sneen in May , her first one under her Universal deal. The record was published with the music video of the eponymous third single, in which Tawaji performs in the Egyptian dialect.
Personal life
On 19 September , she married the French-Lebanese musician Ibrahim Maalouf.
In , she gave birth to their son, Nael. In , she announced on Instagram that Maalouf and herself have welcomed their second child, a daughter named Rita Aya.[6]
Influences and artistic legacy
Tawaji has received much praise for her versatile vocal abilities, as she has performed in numerous genres such as opera, Arabic pop, Western pop, jazz, blues, Tarab, Latin genres, and French variété, as well as religious hymns.
She cites Dalida, Lara Fabian, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Léo Ferré, Daniel Lévi, and Charles Aznavour as her influences since childhood, alongside her personal favorite Mariah Carey, but stated she has never limited her music preferences to one genre.
In her concerts, she has also tapped into the jazz genre, performing "I Can Explain" by Rachelle Ferrell, using the whistle register.
Tawaji is also known to shoot spontaneous behind-the-scenes documentaries of her projects and concerts, directed by Nader Mousally and released on YouTube.
Discography
Albums
- Sayf (صيف ), produced by Oussama Rahbani
- La Bidayi Wala Nihayi(لا بداية ولا نهاية), produced by Oussama Rahbani
- Don Quixote, produced by Oussama Rahbani
- Ya Habibi(يا حبيبي), produced by Oussama Rahbani
- Notre Dame de Paris (official soundtrack album)
- Hiba Tawaji 30, double album, produced by Oussama Rahbani
- Hallelujah, Christmas album produced by Oussama Rahbani
- Aladdin (official soundtrack album)
- Baad Sneen
Filmography
As a director
- Al Habla (The Rope), starring Nazih Youssef (short movie)
As an actress
- Hawas (Obsession), starring Hiba Tawaji and Abed Fahed, directed by Mohamad Lotfy (TV series)
As a voice actress
- Elena of Avalor, the Arabic version of the Disney animated series, singing
- Aladdin, the French version of the Disney live-action movie, speaking and singing
- Les mystères de la chorale, French TV movie produced by France 3, singing
Musical theater
- – The Return of the Phoenix(عودة الفينيق) by Oussama Rahbani, performed as part of the Byblos International Festival and in Dubai, then in residency at the Casino du Liban[7]
- – Sayf (صيف ) by Mansour Rahbani and Oussama Rahbani, performed as part of the Byblos International Festival, then in residency at the Casino du Liban[8]
- – Moulouk Al Tawaef(ملوك الطوائف) by Oussama Rahbani, occasionally performed as part of multiple festivals in the Arab world (Qatar, Tunisia, Lebanon)
- Don Quixote by Marwan Rahbani, Ghadi Rahbani and Oussama Rahbani, performed as part of the Byblos International Festival[9]
- – Notre-Dame de Paris by Riccardo Cocciante and Luc Plamondon, worldwide tour