Elissar Z. Khoury, known as Elissa is an Arab Lebanese singer. Elissa was born in Deir al-Ahmar and gained a degree in Political Science from the Lebanese University.
Elissa's debut into artistic activities consist of acting in theaters of political critique, namely with well-known Chansonnier Wassim Tabbara, and the "Theatre de 10 Heures".
Her theatrical beginnings motivated her to move on to singing, which she did in 1992-1993, when she participated in "Studio Al Fan" on LBCI and won a silver medal. Following this, she performed in concerts tirelessly until 1999, when Lido Productions released her 1st album, 'Baddy Doub'. The album was a success, and featured a smash hit with famous French gypsy act, Gerard Ferrer.
Following this first success, Elissa released her 2nd album, 'W'akherta Maak' in 2000, which in turn included the hit duet 'Bitghib Betrouh', sung with Lebanese superstar Ragheb Alameh. Later on, Elissa was featured with the international artist Chris De Burgh in an Arabic-English song titled “Lebanese Nights”. Her 3rd 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 the song both gained huge success, and with the aid of the composer/arranger Jean-Marie Riachi, Elissa was able to follow with another hit "Agmal Ehsas", which was Elissa's second single from Ayshalak. The video clip was directed by the Lebanese director, Selim El Turk.In 2002, Elissa won the Murex d'Or award for best female artist and the "Ajmal Ihsas" clip won the best video clip at the Arabic music awards.
Elissa’s 4th album, "Ahla Donya" was released in 2004 for the first time with Rotana. In 2006, Elissa released her 5th album "Bastanak". In 2006, Elissa won for the second year in a row the World Music Award as best selling artist of the Middle East for the sales of "Bastanak" CD.
Her 6th album "Ayami Beek" was released in December 2007 by Rotana. Then she released in the begining of 2010 her 7th album "Tisaddak Bimeen".
Elissa's commercial life started in 2003, when she signed a deal with Pepsi. Her second deal was with Ray Ban to run their campaign, and she is the ambassadress for the world gold council in collaboration with Lazurde.
In 2007, Elissa was chosen by French company Georges Stahl to create her perfume, and Elle d'elissa was created. She also made deals with other brands such as: Lux, Samsung, Vogue and Corum watches.
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