Bilal Hassani
Hassani in 2023
Hassani in 2023
Background information
Born (1999-09-09) 9 September 1999 (age 24)
Orsay, Île-de-France, France
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, vlogger
Labels
  • House of Hassani
  • Low Wood

Bilal Hassani (Arabic: بلال حسني, romanized: Bilāl Ḥasnī; French: [asani]; born 9 September 1999) is a French singer-songwriter and YouTuber.[1][2] She[a] represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Roi", finishing in 16th place.

Early life

Hassani was born in Orsay, Paris Region to a Moroccan family from Casablanca.[3][4] Her mother is a French citizen,[5] while her father lives in Singapore.[6][7] She has an older brother, Taha, who was born in 1995.[8] She obtained her literary baccalaureate in 2017.[9]

Musical career

In 2005, at the age of five, Hassani began singing lessons.[6]

In 2015, encouraged by her friend Nemo Schiffman, a finalist of the first season, Hassani participated in the second season of The Voice Kids and introduced herself in the blind auditions by singing a cover of "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst, a singer whom she admires.[10][11][12] She joined the team of judge Patrick Fiori.[11] She was eliminated during the battle rounds by Swany Patrac.[13]

In 2018, the LGBT magazine Têtu designated Hassani as one of the "30 LGBT+ [people] who move France". The magazine described her as "an icon for French LGBT+ youth".[14]

Eurovision Song Contest

On 6 December 2018, Hassani was announced to be among the 18 candidates participating in Destination Eurovision, the French national selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest which was broadcast on France 2, with this edition choosing the representative of France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, which took place in Tel Aviv, Israel in May 2019.[2][15][16]

On 20 December 2018, an excerpt from her song for the competition was released, the song titled "Roi" and written with the duo and 2018 winner of Destination Eurovision Madame Monsieur.[17] The song was described to be about self-acceptance.[18] On 4 January 2019, "Roi" was made available on all music platforms,[19] and by 14 January, it had exceeded 3 million views. The newspaper Le Monde wrote that Hassani "leaves no one indifferent".[20]

The initial front runner to represent France at Eurovision,[21] Hassani began a media tour for Destination Eurovision on media outlets such as NRJ,[22] Quotidien,[23] and France Inter. On 12 January 2019, she won the semi-final by winning 58 out of 60 points awarded by the international jury, and winning 57 points (the highest score) from the French public. She totaled 115 points and qualified for the final, alongside Chimène Badi (66 points), Silvàn Areg (59 points) and Aysat (40 points).[24] She won the final on 26 January 2019, with a total of 200 points including 150 of the French public while she was ranked fifth with the International Jury vote, with 50 points.[25]

At the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 final, in Israel, Hassani performed the song "Roi", and placed 16th, with 105 points.

She made a cameo appearance in the 2020 film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.

Personal life

On 23 June 2017, Hassani publicly came out as part of the LGBTQ+ community, the day before she attended the Paris Pride.[26][27][28] Hassani is genderqueer and uses she/he pronouns.[29][30]

Controversies

Starting in December 2018, Hassani became the victim of cyber-harassment and has received homophobic and transphobic attacks and death threats.[31][6] In response, the organizations Urgence Homophobie and Stop Homophobia joined forces to take legal action against anyone who has insulted, discriminated against or threatened Hassani on social networks, including Twitter.[32] By 27 January 2019, the two organizations already identified 1,500 insulting, discriminating or hateful tweets because of her sexual orientation and/or physical appearance.[28] Hassani later filed a complaint to those who may be potentially identified with these lawsuits, citing "insults, incitement to hatred and violence and homophobic threats".[33]

On 1 February 2019, i24NEWS unveiled former Twitter tweets published on Hassani's account in 2014, accusing Israel of crimes against humanity and taking the defence of Dieudonné, a French comedian known for his antisemitic sketches. A few hours later, the singer claimed on a video not to be the author of these tweets, which would have been written by a relative with access to her account, adding that she was 14 years old at the time.[34][35] Soon after, a parody video from 2018 resurfaced, about the latest attacks committed in France, which gave rise to a new controversy.[36] The senator of the Alpes Maritimes, Henri Leroy, requested that Bilal be "dismissed urgently from the contest".[37]

Hassani is controversial in traditionalist Catholic circles. In December 2021, she appeared on the cover of the LGBT magazine Têtu in a representation reminiscent of an icon of the Virgin Mary.[38] On 5 April 2023, Hassani was forced to cancel a concert planned in a former basilica that became a concert hall in Metz after threats from a group of far-right radical Catholics.[39]

Discography

Studio albums

Title Details Peak chart positions Units
FRA
[40] 		BEL
(WA)
[41]
Kingdom 24 68
Contre soirée
  • Released: 6 November 2020
  • Label: Low Wood
  • Formats: CD, digital download, streaming
 36 —
Théorème
  • Released: 7 October 2022
  • Label: House of Hassani
  • Formats: CD, digital download, streaming
 43
[45]		 —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released.

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
FRA
[40] 		BEL
(WA)
[41]
"Wanna Be" 2016 — — Non-album singles
"Follow Me" 2017 — —
"House Down" — —
"Shadows" 2018 — —
"Heaven with You"
(with Anton Wick) 		— —
"Hot City"
(with Leon Markcus) 		— —
"Mash Up"
(Copines x Tout oublier) 		— —
"Roi" 2019 23
[46]		 —[b] Kingdom
"Jaloux" — —
"Fais beleck" — —
"Je danse encore" — —
"Fais le vide" 2020 — — Contre soirée
"Dead Bae" — —
"Tom" — —
"Lights Off" 2021 — — Non-album singles
"Baby" — —
"Il ou elle" 2022 — — Théorème
"Transfert trottinette" — —
"Tout est OK" — —
"Iconic"[48] 2023 — — Non-album single
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released.

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Result
2019 NRJ Music Awards Francophone Breakthrough of the Year Won

Notes

  1. ^ Hassani uses both she/her and he/him as personal pronouns. This article uses she/her pronouns for simplicity and understanding.
  2. ^ "Roi" did not enter the Ultratop (Wallonia) charts, but peaked at number 4 on the Ultratip Chart.[47]

References

  1. ^ "The Voice Kids : Bilal Hassani adoré par Janet Jackson et Amel Bent" (in French). www.purepeople.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Bilal Hassani candidat de la France à l'Eurovision ? Le youtubeur confirmé à Destination Eurovision" (in French). purebreak.com. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  3. ^ Clavaud-Mégevand, Coline (2018-10-03). "Qui est Bilal Hassani, l'influenceur et chanteur qui a séduit Janet Jackson ?". Glamour (in French). Archived from the original on 2019-01-04. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  4. ^ "Muslim Eurovision contestant receives death threats - Europe". 31 January 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-02-01. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  5. ^ @fraiches (2019-01-15). "Hassani assume sa féminité jusque dans son look. Il rend hommage à sa mère dans #DARONNEpic.twitter.com/kQ6aQ0zvX6" (in French). FRAICHES. Archived from the original on 2019-02-26. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  6. ^ a b c "Eurovision : Bilal Hassani, idole des ados et cible des homophobes" (in French). Télérama.fr. 16 January 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-02-03. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  7. ^ "Eurovision 2019 : qui est Bilal Hassani, le chanteur qui représentera la France avec la chanson "Roi" ?" (in French). LCI. 27 January 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-01-27. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  8. ^ Bilal Hassani. "Je vous présente mon frère !". YouTube (in French). Archived from the original on 2019-02-26. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
  9. ^ Bilal Hassani. "Mon parcours scolaire chaotique !". Youtube. Archived from the original on 2019-09-28. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  10. ^ Holden, Steve (11 March 2019). "Eurovision 2019: The acts to look out for in Tel Aviv". BBC News. BBC. Archived from the original on 6 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  11. ^ a b "The Voice Kids : Une mini-Aretha Franklin, un Conchita Wurst bluffant". Purepeople (in French). 3 October 2015. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  12. ^ Benoît Daragon (27 January 2019). "Bilal Hassani en route vers l'Eurovision". Le Parisien (in French). Archived from the original on 27 January 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  13. ^ "The Voice Kids : Bilal Hassani adoré par Janet Jackson et Amel Bent". purepeople.com (in French). Archived from the original on 2019-01-27. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  14. ^ Patri, Alexis (Winter 2018). "Les 30 LGBT+ qui bougent la France". Têtu (in French). No. 217. pp. 52–62.
  15. ^ "Destination Eurovision 2019 : Emmanuel Moire, Chimène Badi, Bilal Hassani… Voici les 18 candidats en compétition ! - actu - Télé 2 semaines". www.programme.tv/news (in French). 6 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-02-11. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  16. ^ "Pourquoi ce que dit André Manoukian sur Bilal Hassani est maladroit". The Huffington Post (in French). 2019-01-14. Archived from the original on 2019-02-03. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  17. ^ "Roi - Bilal Hassani - France 2 - 20-12-2018". www.france.tv (in French). 20 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-01-04. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  18. ^ ""Destination Eurovision": "Ma chanson parle d'acceptation de soi", confie Bilal Hassani". www.20minutes.fr (in French). 20 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-01-04. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  19. ^ ""Roi" : Bilal Hassani dévoile sa chanson mélancolique pour l'Eurovision 2019". purebreak.com (in French). Archived from the original on 2019-01-07. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  20. ^ Morgane Tual (14 January 2019). "Qui est Bilal Hassani, le youtubeur aux portes de l'Eurovision ?". Le Monde.fr. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  21. ^ "Eurovision : Bilal Hassani, celui qu'on n'attendait pas". Le Parisien (in French). 2019-01-06. Archived from the original on 2019-01-13. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  22. ^ "Bilal Hassani en live avec Roi chez Mikl sur NRJ". NRJ (in French). Archived from the original on 2019-01-11. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
  23. ^ "Quotidien, deuxième partie du 10 janvier 2019". TMC (in French). 2018-12-29. Archived from the original on 2019-01-13. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  24. ^ Herbert, Emily (12 January 2019). "France: Destination Eurovision Semi-Final One Results". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  25. ^ Farren, Neil (26 January 2019). "France: Bilal Hassani to Eurovision 2019". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 27 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  26. ^ "Youtube : Bilal Hassani, son coming-out bouleversant !". Public.fr (in French). 26 June 2017. Archived from the original on 2019-01-04. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  27. ^ "Bilal Hassani, le YouTubeur et chanteur de 18 ans fait son coming-out". TÊTU (in French). 2017-06-28. Archived from the original on 2019-01-21. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  28. ^ a b "Le youtubeur Bilal Hassani, idole queer des jeunes, représentera la France à l'Eurovision". Le Monde (in French). 2019-01-27. Archived from the original on 2019-01-27. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
  29. ^ "Bilal Hassani (@iambilalhassani)". Archived from the original on 2022-07-14.
  30. ^ "Bilal Hassani, "Il ou elle" : "L'idée du genre m'est obsolète"". tetu.com/ (in French). Archived from the original on 2023-04-06. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  31. ^ Myriam Roche (2018-11-16). "Ces députés interpellent Twitter après le cyber-harcèlement d'un YouTubeur". The Huffington Post (in French). Archived from the original on 2019-01-07. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  32. ^ "Le youtubeur Bilal Hassani, idole queer des jeunes, représentera la France à l'Eurovision". Le Monde (in French). 2019-01-27. Archived from the original on 2019-01-29. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  33. ^ "Bilal Hassani, représentant français à l'Eurovision, porte plainte pour menaces homophobes". Le Monde (in French). 2019-01-29. Archived from the original on 2019-01-29. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  34. ^ "Eurovision: Bilal Hassani dément avoir posté des tweets anti-Israël en 2014" [Eurovision: Bilal Hassani denies posting anti-Israel tweets in 2014]. i24news (in French). 2019-02-02. Archived from the original on 2019-02-01. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  35. ^ "VIDÉO - "Ces propos, c'est pas les miens" : Bilal Hassani se défend après la polémique sur son tweet contre Israël" [VIDEO - "These words are not mine": Bilal Hassani defends herself after the controversy over her tweet against Israel]. LCI (in French). 2019-02-02. Archived from the original on 2019-02-03. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  36. ^ Média, Prisma (2 February 2019). "Bilal Hassani (Eurovision) : après ses tweets polémiques, une vidéo de 2018 sur les attentats en France indigne les internautes - Voici". Voici.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2019-02-03. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  37. ^ "Un sénateur demande le retrait de Bilal Hassani de l'Eurovision suite à la diffusion d'une vidéo gênante". ladepeche.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2019-02-04. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  38. ^ "Bilal Hassani représenté en "Christ" sur la Une de "Têtu" fait scandale". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2023-04-07. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  39. ^ "Annulation du concert de Bilal Hassani dans une église à Metz : "ça commençait à être inquiétant surtout pour mon public"". France 3 Grand Est (in French). 5 April 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-04-11. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  40. ^ a b "lescharts.com - Discographie Bilal Hassani". lescharts.com. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  41. ^ a b "ultratop.be - Bilal Hassani discography". Ultratop. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  42. ^ "France: Bilal Hassani Releasing Debut Album in April". EuroViox. 4 March 2019. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  43. ^ Raïo, Stéphanie (8 March 2019). "Bilal Hassani sort un album avant sa participation à l'Eurovision". Le Figaro (in French). Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  44. ^ Min, 7 Janvier 2020 | 9 H. 12 (2020-01-07). "Angèle, Nekfeu et Johnny Hallyday en tête des meilleures ventes d'albums en 2019". aficia (in French). Archived from the original on 2020-01-11. Retrieved 2020-01-09.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  45. ^ "Top Albums (Week 41, 2022)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  46. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles (téléchargement + streaming) – SNEP (Week 6, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  47. ^ "Bilal Hassani - Roi Charts history". Ultratop. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  48. ^ "New music this week (part 2): Songs from Eleni Foureira, Bilal Hassani, Dami Im and more". Wiwibloggs. 21 May 2023. Archived from the original on 12 March 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2023.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bilal Hassani.
Preceded byMadame Monsieurwith "Mercy" France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Succeeded byTom Leebwith "Mon alliée (The Best in Me)"
France in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 2019
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