Fady Maalouf

Fady Maalouf

Fady Maalouf
Background information
Born (1979-04-20) April 20, 1979
Zahlé, Lebanon
Origin German of Lebanese origin
Genres Pop
Occupation(s) Singer, Fashion Designer
Years active 2008–present
Labels Sony BMG
Timezone Records
Website fadymaalouf.de

Fady Maalouf (Arabic: فادي معلوف‎‎ pronounced Fādī Maʿlūf) (born on April 20, 1979 in Zahlé, Lebanon) is a Lebanese-German pop singer. He is known as runner up of the fifth season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar, the German version of Pop Idol. He has released three albums to date, Blessed (2008), Into the Light (2010), and City of Gold (2012).

Early life

Maalouf was born to a Lebanese family and his father Mounir Maalouf had German roots. He started at a very early age to show interest in music and singing. He sang in a church children's choir and took some piano lessons. Later on he received professional voice training with a vocal coach. At age of 17, he started performing as a club singer in piano bars, night clubs, as well as events and galas in Lebanon. He also made some Arabic language songs using the artistic name Alex, including the single "Ya leil" written and composed by Fady Maalouf himself, accompanied by a music video[1] and a cover of "Hebbina Hebbina" from Farid al-Atrash

Besides singing, he studied fashion design, earned a degree and made an internship with the now famous Lebanese international fashion designer Elie Saab. He also lived for a time in a French town near Bordeaux, France.[2] and shared his time between Lebanon and France. During the civil war in Lebanon, he was wounded by shrapnel in his face and had to undergo a series of facial operations for recovery. When in 2006 the political situation in Beirut worsened, he went to his half-brother in Germany where he worked in Hamburg as a barista (espresso specialist).

DSDS

Fady Maalouf (2008)

Having lived in Hamburg for only 10 months, upon insistence from his friends, he auditioned for the German reality show Deutschland sucht den Superstar (DSDS, the German version of Pop Idol or Superstar) in autumn 2007. He reached the finals of the show, where on 17 May 2008 he competed against Thomas Godoj in finale where Maalouf received 37.8% of the public votes finishing in the second place.

The song "Blessed" was written for Fady by Jörgen Elofsson and Peer Åström, to be released as the winning song in case Fady won. Elofsson and Åströma were a songwriter team of international standing, who have worked with such names as Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, Madonna, Britney Spears, Cyndi Lauper, Il Divo, and especially Céline Dion. The song was produced by Alex Christensen, who has worked with artists such as Justin Timberlake, Tom Jones, Paul Anka or Michael Bolton. He sang the song on May 17, 2008, in the final showdown between him and Thomas Godoj who eventually won.

DSDS performances

Date Topic of the Show Song Original Artist Place/Percentage
March 8, 2008 Top 15 Show: Jetzt oder nie "Home" Michael Bublé 8,55% (2/15)
March 15, 2008 Current Hits "Helpless When She Smiles" Backstreet Boys 7,08% (4/10)
March 22, 2008 Greatest Film Hits "She's Like the Wind" Patrick Swayze 21,09% (2/9)
April 5, 2008 Mariah Carey and Take That "Back for Good" Take That 8,54% (3/8)
April 12, 2008 Greatest Hits "Your Song" Elton John 13,91% (3/7)
April 19, 2008 Judges' Choice "We Have a Dream" Pop Idol 12,98% (3/6)
April 26, 2008 Party Songs and Ballads "Never Gonna Give You Up" Rick Astley 16,69% (2/5)
"All by Myself" Eric Carmen
May 3, 2008 Germany vs. England "Und Wenn Ein Lied" Söhne Mannheims 19,22% (3/4)
"Breathe Easy" Blue
May 10, 2008 No. 1 Hits, The Beatles, Dedications... "You Raise Me Up" Westlife 30,32% (2/3)
"Yesterday" The Beatles
"Feeling Good" Michael Bublé
May 17, 2008 Final "Careless Whisper" George Michael 2/2 by 37,80%
"She's Like the Wind" Patrick Swayze
"Blessed" Fady Maalouf

Career

Fady Maalouf performing in Cologne 2011

Even though Fady did not win the DSDS title, his extraordinary voice and his charming personality had won him the hearts of an enormous fan base, which then, in an unprecedented effort, organized a letters, mails and phone call campaign with Sony BMG, demanding the release of Fady Maalouf's title "Blessed", performed during the final show.

After a contract with Columbia, a subsidiary of Sony BMG Music Entertainment "Blessed" was released on 4 July 2008 as a single and went straight to no. 2 in the German single charts.

The album, also named Blessed including 14 tracks, was released on 25 July 2008, and went as well straight to no. 2 in the German album charts. These simultaneous single and album charts positions made Maalouf the most successful DSDS finalist of all time.

On 21 November 2008, Maalouf released a new single called "Amazed", a cover of a hit by the band Lonestar. This single CD included the song "Vole mon âme", the French version of "Show Me Your Love" to which Maalouf wrote the French language lyrics himself.

On 28 November 2008, Sony Music Entertainment released a new edition of Maalouf's album Blessed, including a double CD package and new unreleased tracks.

On 12 March 2010, he had his follow up album Into the Light and released the title song as a single.

In 2011, he collaborated with Russian pop singer Valeriya and toured Europe with her, recording a Russian-language song with her entitled "Ty Grustish".

In 2012, he released his third studio album entitled City of Gold, containing English, French with a special Arabic language song "Neyla" co-written by Fady Maalouf, Bernd Klimpel and Charlie Mason. Video was edited and directed by Judith Klinger and Fady Maalouf.

Personal life

Besides singing, Maalouf is a songwriter and a music producer. He is also a designer and a painter. After some health issues, he became a vegetarian, then a vegan.

He is also involved in charity. Soon after his success, Fady Maalouf helped to establish a charity organization Blessed E.V., named after his successful debut single "Blessed". It donates aid relief for people in need, especially in states of emergency such as war, famine and natural disaster or otherwise in distress, irrespective of their religious, political or ideological orientation. It is also active in advancement of the public healthcare and development aid.[3]

Discography

Albums

Year Title Peak Chart positions[4] Notes
GER AUT SUI
2008 Blessed
  • Date released: 25 July 2008
  • Date released: 28 November 2008 (Blessed (new edition, 2 CDs))
  • Record label: Columbia
 2[5] 7 7[6]
2010 Into the Light
  • Date released: 12 March 2010
  • Record label: Columbia
 33 42 -
2012 City of Gold
  • Date released: 16 November 2012
  • Record label: Fuego
 - - -

Singles

Year Title Peak Chart positions[4] Album
GER AUT SUI LTU
2008 "Blessed" 2[7] 8[8] 11[6] 5 Blessed
2008 "Amazed" 26 52 - -
2009 "Show Me Your Love" - - - - Blessed - New Edition
2010 "Into the Light" 44 72 - - Into the Light
2012 "Neyla" - - - - City of Gold
2013 "Wenn es still um uns wird..."
(featuring C'est Lena!)		 - - - - TBA
Other songs

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ↑ Music video for "Ya Leil" with Fady Maalouf under the name Alex
  2. ↑ Fady Maalouf Live: Biography section
  3. ↑ Blessed E.V. : About the charity
  4. 1 2 Sources: GER AUT SUI
  5. ↑ http://www.gfk-entertainment.com/news/coldplay-und-fady-maalouf-starten-am-besten.html
  6. 1 2 http://hitparade.ch/weekchart.asp
  7. ↑ http://www.rp-online.de/public/article/gesellschaft/leute/590373/Casting-Stars-stuermen-Charts.html
  8. ↑ http://charts.orf.at/oe3/single/2008/woche28/main
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