Amir Haddad
Laurent Amir Khlifa Khedider Haddad (, born 20 June 1984), better known as Amir Haddad (), or simply as Amir, is a French-Israeli singer and songwriter. 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 "" 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 to Maghrebi Jewish parents from Tunisia and Morocco. He grew up in  Sarcelles (Val-d'Oise) and immigrated to Israel in 1992 at the age of eight as part of Aliyah; the family settled in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv. 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 out of his left ear. Career. 2006–13: "Kokhav Nolad" & "Vayehi". 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), 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. 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 graduating in 2012. His song "Kache limtso milim", the Hebrew version of Patrick Bruel's French hit "J'te l'dis quand même", came alongside a music video. Bruel loved Amir's rendition so much he invited him to sing it with  him in a grand event in Raanana Park on 23 May 2008 in front of 8000 spectators. 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, Amir Haddad released his debut studio album "Vayehi" co-written by himself and Omri Dagan during the years when Amir was a university student. 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. Meanwhile, he pursued his passion in music. At the end of the competition, Haddad was signed to a French label, creating a following in France, Switzerland, the United States and Brazil in addition to Israel. He 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 of the French television series "" 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. Haddad chose to be part of Team Jenifer. 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. In 2015, he released the hit single "Oasis" under the mononym Amir charting in SNEP, the French Singles Chart. 2016–17: Eurovision and "Au cœur de moi". In 2016 he was selected by French public broadcaster France 2 to represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden. 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. 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. "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. The entry was formally presented to the public on 12 March 2016 during the France 2 programme "The DiCaire Show", hosted by Véronic DiCaire. 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 double platinum, the album has also charted in Belgium  and Switzerland, earning a gold certification in Switzerland. "On dirait" was released as the third single from the album on 29 August 2016. The song has peaked at number 15 on the French Singles Chart and on June 17, 2017, won the Chanson de l'Année prize at the Fête de la Musique event in Nîmes. "Au cœur de moi" was released as the fourth single from the album on 6 February 2017. 2017–present: "Addictions". He joined Stéphane Bern and Marianne James as a commentator for France 2 at the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kiev  on May 13. Also in 2017, Amir collaborated with OneRepublic on the French remix of their new single "No Vacancy". On 25 August 2017, he released "États d'Amour" as the lead single from his third studio album, which will be released on 27 October 2017. On 7 September 2017 he announced that his third studio album would be titled "Addictions". He served as one of the domestic jury members for the semifinals of "Destination Eurovision" along with Christophe Willem and Isabelle Boulay to help France choose its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon. Due to other commitments , he was unable to attend the final and was replaced by his Eurovision successor Alma. Along with 2019 Swedish Eurovision representative John Lundvik and famed Swedish composers Peter Boström and Thomas G:son, Amir helped co-write the song "Mon alliée (The Best in Me)" for Tom Leeb, who was chosen to represent France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, before it was cancelled. Personal life. On 7 July 2014, Amir married Lital, his longtime companion in Israel. Their first child, a son named Mikhaël, was born on 8 February 2019. Philanthropy. Amir has been part of  the Les Enfoirés troupe since 2017.