Shatha Hassoun
Shatha Amjad Al-Hassoun (Arabic: شذى أمجد الحسون; born 3 March 1981 in Casablanca, Morocco), better known as Shatha Hassoun (Arabic: شذى حسون), is an Arab singer of Iraqi and Moroccan ancestry, who rose to fame as the winner of the 4th season of the pan-Arab television talent show Star Academy Arab World. She was the first Arab woman to win the competition.[2] She is currently one of the most popular singers in both the Middle East and Maghreb region, and is referred to as the "daughter of Mesopotamia".[3]
Shatha Hassoun | |
|---|---|
 Shatha Hassoun in the Murex d'or Ceremony holding her trophy, 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Shatha Amjad Al-Hassoun شذى أمجد الحسون |
| Born | 3 March 1981[1] Casablanca, Morocco |
| Origin | Iraq |
| Genres | Iraqi music, Arabic, World |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, actor, writer |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Website | shathahassoun |
Early life
Hassoun was born to an Iraqi father who is a well-known reporter from Hillah, and a Moroccan mother who is a history teacher from Safi. Growing up, Hassoun divided her time between Morocco and France.[4] She studied English Literature in Casablanca and continued her university studies in Tangier where she joined the program of Hotel and Tourism Management. Then she continued her studies in France where she gained her master's degree.
Hassoun has the ability to sing in many Eurasian languages including Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Italian and German.[5][6][7][8]
Her family, which includes her parents and her only brother, reside in Morocco while she currently lives in Dubai.
Career
Aftermath of Star Academy
In 2007 Hassoun won Star Academy 4, making her the first female winner. Her performance of Lebanese singer Fairouz's song "Baghdad" earned her 54.8%[3] of the vote which enabled her to reach the finals. Along with the four finalists, Hassoun won the competition by receiving 40 percent of the votes.[9]
Soon after winning the competition, Hassoun released her first single entitled "Rooh", which was written and composed by Lebanese songwriter Nikola Saada Nikhla. It was the first song to ever debut at number one on Rotana's PEPSI Top 20 charts, as it stayed at number for two weeks then peaking again at number one. The second song, "Asmallah Asmallah" or "Ebin Bladi", was written and composed by the Iraqi poet, Karim Al Iraqi as a gift to the Iraqi people and The Iraqi national football team which won the Asian Cup 2007. "Oushaq" was written and composed by the Lebanese singer Marwan Khoury. Hassoun also revived several traditional Iraqi songs; "Allela 7elowa" and "Aleik As'al" as a duo with Ilham al-Madfai. She also released an Iraqi song, "Mza'elni", that was written by Amar Almarhon and composed by Mohand Mehsen, and "Lo alf mara" which was the first song composed by Melhem Barakat for a non-Lebanese artist. Hassoun is also working with the Iraqi poet Karim Al Iraqi to produce new Iraqi songs,who has worked with the likes of Kazem al Saher. Hassoun has worked with Salah Al-Sharnoby, Ramy Ayach, Assi El Helani, Abadi Aljawher and George Wassouf for a common art work .
Acting
Away from the singing, Hassoun has participated in an Iraqi-Syrian-Egyptian television series called Rasael Men Ragol Mayet (letters from a dead man), alongside Syrian actor Ghassan Masoud and many Iraqi actors. The series talks about the problems of Iraqi society between 1979 and 2005. Directed by Hassan Hosny, the series was filmed in Syria and aired exclusive on Al-Baghdadia TV in the month of Ramadan 2008.
2009–present
In late July 2009, Shatha achieved her life dream and the dream of fans when she went to her country's capital Baghdad and sang there in two big charity concerts for the children of Iraq, the first one in Al-elowea club and second one in Hunting Club, then she hold a press conference in Baghdad where she talked about her joyful to be a first Iraqi and Arab singer who visited Baghdad after war 2003 despite the unstable security in Baghdad and Predict murder in 2009 from one of Astrologer.
Hassoun is working on her album that is going to include songs in the Iraqi, Lebanese, Gulf, Moroccan, and Egyptian dialects. Her main goal is—as she said in an interview—to represent her beloved country Iraq in the best way.
Hassoun filmed her music video for the song "O'd 3rgoub" with the late Lebanese director Yehia Saade in Beirut and has toured across North America, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Sweden and Egypt.
In 2010 she held a concert in Dubai alongside Fares Karam.
Commercials
Shatha Hassoun has also appeared in two television advertisements for the Iraqi mobile company, Zain.
1-During StarAc Arab 4,Shatha had won "the top 1 of the week" as the best student in week 13 in all respects (Evaluation,Study-Hard,Involve in classes,Deal with students ...etc.),So the academic administration surprise her with a unique gift which was filming a TV advertisement for new SMS service in Zain(MTC Atheer-Previously) and as a national support by sing a traditional Iraqi song in modern style alongside the famous Iraqi singer Ilham al-Madfai who love shatha's voice
2-After Shatha Hassoun winning in Star Academy and when the Iraqi national football team won the Asian Cup 2007, Zain deal with Shatha and 3 players from the team in a second Mobile advertisement,The work talk about optimism for New Iraq after its wars and tragedies in the past through several shots of Reconstruction of Iraq and they performed the anthem.
Awards
- 2007 Murex D'or Award – Best Uprising Artist (held in Casino du Liban)
- 2008 DG Festival Award – Best Rising Female Singer
- 2008 Art Festival Award- Best Rising Female Singer
- 2009 Murex D'or Award
Discography
Singles
| Title | Year Release |
|---|---|
| "Smallah Smallah"/"Ebin Bladi" | 2007 |
| "ROUH" | 2007 |
| "Eshaq" | 2008 |
| "Aleik As'al" | 2008 (commercial) |
| "Allela 7elowa" | 2008 |
| "Mza'elni" | 2009 |
| "Law Alf Marra" | 2009 |
| "Ba3 7waya" | 2010 |
| "Wa'ed Argoob" | 2010 |
| "Shofi baink o baina" | 2010 |
| "Alsaa'aa" | 2010 |
| "Sha3lha" | 2011 |
First Album ( Wajh Thani )
| Title | Year Release |
|---|---|
| "Mo Kader" | 2012 |
| "Mno el Ma3nda Madi" | 2012 |
| "Alaa eldeen" | 2012 |
| " Ya 3ma" | 2012 |
| "khaloh" | 2012 |
| "khalk hn" | 2012 |
| "T3al A5tobni" | 2012 |
| "Ma Abeek" | 2012 |
| " Tsadg wala matsadeg" | 2012 |
| "Wajh Thani" | 2012 |
| "Sha3lha" | 2011 |
| " Al Kalam el Jare7" | 2012 |
Filmography
Television
- Rasael Men Ragol Mayet (Letters from a dead man) – 2008
- so you think you can dance
References
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- WALEG: Shatha First Live Interview Archived 11 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- http://6doi.net/videos/shada-hassoun-an-inspiration-for-iraq.html Shada Hassoun: An Inspiration For Iraq
- http://www.al-shorfa.com/cocoon/meii/xhtml/en_GB/features/meii/features/2009/08/14/feature-02 Shatha Hassoun performs in Baghdad
- "Idol TV show contestant unites war-weary Iraqis". CNN. 29 March 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
- "Iraq unites over talent show star". BBC News. 31 March 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2007.
- "Shada Hassoun is an Iraqi Idol". Desicritics.org. 5 April 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2007.
- "Singing the same tune on Iraq". The Christian Science Monitor. 13 April 2007. Retrieved 13 April 2007.
- Singer transcends sectarian tensions in her father’s native country
