Singer Amir Haddad splits his time between two countries: France – where he gained fame by competing in "The Voice" – and Israel – where he grew up and started his musical career by participating in the "Kokhav Nolad" singing competition.
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Nevertheless, despite taking part in the fourth season of Kokhav Nolad – having memorably fainted on stage during a live broadcast – Haddad enjoys relative anonymity in Israel.
"I have two contradicting wishes," he told Israel Hayom. "On the one hand, just like any other artist, I want to be famous and share my work with as many people as possible, and Israel is my home, so it is certainly a top priority for me. On the other hand, I seem to have a certain privilege that few others do.
"When I come to Israel, I can walk the streets wearing flip flops and pajamas. I come here to relax. It is my tranquil place, just a four-hour flight from Paris."
Haddad went from studying dentistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to gaining fame in France and even representing the country at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden with the song "J'ai cherché," finishing in 6th place.
Most recently, he collaborated on a duet with famous Australian singer Sia.
"I was supposed to participate in a TV show, which turned out, was on International Women's Day," Haddad said. "I was offered to sing a song and dedicate it to women. I sang Sia's 'Unstoppable.'
"I am a big fan of Sia and I've mentioned in interviews that she has inspired me a lot. A few hours later, I found out that she had shared my performance on social media. I wrote her a thank you message, and we began to be in touch. We realized that we had a strong human and artistic connection."
Amir collaborated with Sia on a remix version of her song titled "1+1", featured in her latest album, "Music – Songs from and Inspired by the Motion Picture." Unfortunately, however, the two had to collaborate from afar, as the coronavirus pandemic did not allow for a meeting.
"Because of COVID, we had to do it remotely," Haddad said. "But we created the song as if we were next to each other, in the spirit of the time. Besides becoming popular in Israel, Warner [label company] informed me that it was also played in Germany, Romania, England, United States, and even Lebanon.
"It's really cool to witness how music gets created, but not knowing the places it would reach."
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