Fatima-Zahra Hafdi (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: فاطمة الزهراء حافظي; born 25 August 1988), known professionally as La Zarra (), is a Canadian singer based in France. She represented France in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2023 The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, as , the winner of the with the song "Stefania (song), Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to host the eve ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

with the song "

Évidemment Évidemment may refer to: * "Évidemment" (France Gall song), 1988 * "Évidemment" (La Zarra song), 2023 * "Évidemment", a song by Orelsan and Angèle, 2022 * ''Évidemment'', an album by France Gall Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall (9 ...

", finishing in 16th place.

Biography

Hafdi was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada, to parents from

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. During her childhood, she lived between

and

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie, Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the South Shore (Montreal), south shore o ...

, where her family finally settled. She rose to prominence in 2016, when she released her debut single "Printemps blanc", in collaboration with French rapper Niro. In 2021, her fame increased with the single "Tu t'en iras", which was regularly broadcast on radio and television. The single was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

by the

Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique SNEP (, in English National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym SNICOP, the organisation was established in ...

(SNEP). In the same year, La Zarra was nominated for the

NRJ Music Awards An NRJ Music Award (commonly abbreviated as an NMA) is an award presented by the French radio station NRJ to honor the best in the French and worldwide music industry. The awards ceremony, created in 2000 by NRJ in partnership with the televisi ...

, the leading French music awards, as Francophone revelation of the year, boosted in part by the success of her debut album ''Traîtrise''. On 12 January 2023, she was chosen by

France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (form ...

to represent France in the

, becoming the second Canadian singer to represent the country after

Natasha St-Pier Natasha St-Pier (born 10 February 1981) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and television presenter. She is of Acadian heritage, and grew up in the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River valley of New Brunswick, but has spent most of ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. She placed sixteenth out of twenty-six countries in the Grand Final, with 104 points. In 2024, she performed

Diane Tell Diane Tell (born 24 December 1959) is a Canadian musician who was born in Quebec City, Quebec. Tell entered the Val d’Or conservatory at the age of six. She continued her studies at the Montréal conservatory and then at CEGEP Saint-Laurent, ...

's "Si j'étais un homme" at the ceremony inducting Tell into the

Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame () is a Canadian non-profit organization, founded in 1998 by Frank Davies, that inducts Canadians into their ''Hall of Fame'' within three different categories: songwriters, songs, and those others who have m ...

. In 2025, over 70 past

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...

participants, including La Zarra, signed an open letter to the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

(EBU) demanding that Israel be banned from the contest.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zarra, La 21st-century Canadian women singers Canadian women pop singers 1987 births Living people Canadian people of Moroccan descent Singers from Montreal Polydor Records artists Canadian expatriates in France French-language singers of Canada Eurovision Song Contest entrants