Canadian singer of Moroccan origins, Lazara (Getty Images)
France -
A Canadian singer of Moroccan origins sparked widespread reactions on social media platforms after she accused the French delegation and France Television - during the Eurovision contest - of practicing racism against her because of her origins.
The singer Lazzara said during her statements on the podcast, “I was brunette when they came to take me. But I had to be blonde, Marilyn Monroe, so there is pressure. The head of the delegation, Alexandra Reddy-Amel, called me very angry at night: You should dye your hair. You are Arab. "With brown hair you look very Arab. When you're blonde, you look less Arab, and the French don't like Arabs."
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the french delegation told la zarra to dye her hair blonde so she would look less arab.
this is soo disgustingly racist pic.twitter.com/Dljn8vxfWM
— v (@tuteniras) March 10, 2024
The France Television Complex refused to make any comment to the Le Parisien newspaper, but it strongly denied these accusations, which it described as defamatory, and maintained its full rights to prosecute Lazara - whose real name is Fatima Zahraa Hefzi - judicially.
Activists and bloggers were divided across social media platforms, between one denouncing the incident and expressing solidarity with the artist of Moroccan origins, and another attacking her and accusing her of fabricating rumors only in order to justify her failure in the competition and her ranking in 16th place.
Alors I don't know if it's the same in all your photos that are mostly blonde...
https://t.co/hwrW411Ypc
— Maître Cyno (@cynorrhodons) March 14, 2024
“It is truly a Nazi fantasy to want to represent the French with blond hair and blue eyes all the time, while in reality most French people (who were born indigenous) have brown hair,” blogger Irie wrote on her X account.
Another blogger named Jimmy called out, saying, “If you support this big racist, Alexandra Reddy-Amel, who is the head of the delegation, please unfollow me and remind her that she did absolutely nothing for France in the Eurovision contest.”
If you are very racist towards Alexandra Redde Amiel, please feel free to
accept that there is no redemption from all over France to Eurovision.
ARA is not RIEN sans Barbara Pravi who has written the music chansons of JESC and Voilà
There is nothing wrong with this tyranniser https://t.co/c8qyqAlpZw
- Jimmƴ 🦉 (@Myjsdibule) March 10, 2024
Blogger Karima considered Hefzy's comments truly pathetic because she always looked blonde in a large number of her albums.
#LaZarra has beautiful blonde hair on your albums and clips.
Your message is available #FranceTelevisions.
- Kerima (@kkerima) March 14, 2024
Le Parisien newspaper reported that Lazzara actually looked blonde in 2021 when she released her first album, but before the Eurovision contest, she looked very brunette.
Who is Lazara?
Fatima Zahraa Hefzy (born August 25, 1987), known as Lazara, is a Canadian singer and songwriter of Moroccan parents. She lived her childhood in Montreal and went on to sing in France.
She represented France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool with a song, finishing 16th.
Zara launched into the world of singing in 2016, when she released her first song.
She rose to fame in 2016, when she released her first single, “Printemps blanc,” a collaboration with French rapper Nero.
In 2021, her fame increased with the song “You'll Go Away” (Tu t'en iras), which was regularly broadcast on radio and television.
In the same year, Lazzara was nominated for the leading French music awards NRJ as Francophone Reveal of the Year partly fueled by the success of her debut album (Traîtrise).
On January 12, 2023, she was selected by France Télévisions to represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, becoming the second Canadian singer to represent the country after Natasha St-Pierre in 2001.
Eurovision contest
Eurovision is the Eurovision Song Contest, organized by the European Broadcasting Union and featuring participants selected by EBU member broadcasters representing their countries from across Europe and beyond.
Each participating broadcaster has until mid-March to choose a song and artist to perform.
The song and artist can be chosen through a 3-minute artistic presentation.
Participants then compete in the Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place in May every year.
The competition format consists of 3 live shows: the first semi-final (Tuesday evening), the second semi-final (Thursday evening) and the grand final (Saturday night's spectacle).
Participating broadcasters work to prepare which acts will advance from the semi-finals of the show, in the hope of securing a ticket to the grand final on Saturday night, where they will join the so-called "Big Five" broadcasters and the host broadcasters (usually the country broadcaster).
The "Big Five" are the participating broadcasters from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, the group of countries that, through their broadcasters, make the largest financial contribution to the organization of the competition.
One of the most famous winners of the competition is French singer Celine Dion, who won the Swiss Cup in 1988.
In 2022, 161 million viewers watched the competition on television, with a larger number of viewers online.
Source: Al Jazeera