Rika Zaraï.

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BENAROCH / SIPA

A great figure of the variety, very popular in France from the 1960s to the 1980s!

Israeli singer with five gold records Rika Zaraï died on Wednesday following a stroke.

The five hits that made his “beautiful sabra accent” so successful.

"Hava Naguila"

If this Wednesday, the French Embassy in Israel salutes a singer who "sang Israel and Jerusalem with passion and dedication", it is because the star popularized in Francophonie the classics of the Israeli repertoire, such as

Yerushalayim shel zahav

(

Jerusalem city of gold

),

Hallelujah

, with which she won the 1979 Eurovision Grand Prix or

Hava Nagila

, one of the first titles she recorded with

L'olivier

at Barclay, then in search of artists with accents.

"So I sing"

So je chante

is the French version of the song

Vivo cantando

interpreted by Salomé during the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest where the latter represented Spain.

Thanks to her interpretation, Rica Zaraï took 3rd place on the French charts in August 1969.

"Casatchok"

Casatchok

is a song inspired by the Russian song

Katyusha

arranged by Boris Rubaschkin.

The record is the 11th best-selling album of 1969, and becomes one of the Israeli's biggest hits.

"Shirtless"

Rika Zaraï brought back her biggest hit from one of her trips to Tahiti.

This song is the work of Gérard La Viny of Guadeloupe origin, who recorded it in 1958. The good humor of this chorus seduced the singer, victim of a serious accident in 1969. This song was also covered by the Compagnie Créole and Julien Clerc.

"Flower time"

Originally, an old song of Russian gypsy folklore, taken up by traveling singers and deposited in 1926 by the Russian composer Boris Fomine.

This song has known a thousand versions: in English, Spanish and French, etc.

Dalida, the other star with an accent from the 1960s, also covered it in French.

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Rika Zaraï, the Israeli singer of "Casatchok" or "Without shirt, without pants", is dead

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