Hélène Ségara - French Singer

Hélène Ségara (born Hélène Rizzo, on 26 February 1971) is a French female singer.

She always wanted to become a singer when younger, so she left school and family at the age of 14.

Then she had many successive jobs including performances in the piano bars of the French Riviera. At 18, she gave birth to Raphael, her first son. Her repertoire was expanding, with many musical influences and over a thousand songs. In 1993, a first single entitled "Loin" was released, but didn't meet success.

In 1996, accompanied by her young son, she moved to Paris where she met Christian Loigerot, who became one of her composers. She also met the famous producer Orlando, Dalida's brother, who supervised and gave new impetus to her career. Almost she was marked by the experience and professionalism of this mentor, she remains under contract with her first producer.

Ségara began to have success with "Je vous aime adieu", the first single from her debut album, Cœur de verre (1996), and the duet "Vivo per lei", performed with Andrea Bocelli. She then played the role of Esmeralda in the musical Notre-Dame de Paris, composed by Richard Cocciante. While she was auditioned for this role in 1997, she was selected in 1999, following the withdrawal of the Israeli singer Noa. "When the fate knocks at the door for a second time, we must not let it get away", said Ségara.

However, her career was jeopardised when Dr. J. Abitbol diagnosed her a cyst on the vocal cords, while she continued to perform in a show. During a show in Canada, she lost her voice. Her producer then resold her contract to Orlando while Dr. J. Abitbol carried out a laser operation to treat the singer's vocal cords.

After her convalescence, she recorded her second album, Au Nom d'une femme in 2000. The album topped the charts, and became Diamonddisc. Five singles from this album were all successful. Ségara then began a concert tour that lasted about two years. A video recording of the concert she gave at the Olympia in Paris on this occasion was released. According to a poll made by the IFOP, Segara was at the time the favourite French singer of the French people.