Today, we introduce you to Ali, a young singer of Lebanese origin. He recently participated in the Eurovision competition: You decide 2021 and went all the way to the final. On this occasion, we met him and we were able to discuss this first great experience but also about his childhood in Lebanon, his friendship with Hyphen Hyphen. Discover without delay the interview of this promising artist with multi-facets.
Just Focus. Hello Ali! Can you start by introducing yourself?
Ali. Yes of course! My name is Ali, I am 29 years old. I was a finalist for Eurovision France, It's up to you. I've been in France for 6 years. I was born, I grew up in Lebanon, in Beirut. I grew up in an environment where it was a bit of a period of war, so I grew up a little bit under the bombs. And when I went out at night, in the evening or during the day, I was clearly risking my life.
Of course, these are things that affect a lot of people and so in the place where I grew up, I personally wasn't very encouraged to become an artist or singer. I grew up being encouraged to become a doctor, lawyer or architect, of course, because you have to secure your future. So I studied interior architecture. Then I decided to leave Lebanon and follow my path, to realize my dreams. I moved to Paris after a stint in Milan, to realize and develop my universe full of fashion, singing, music, art and so here I am today.
Just Focus. How did you experience the arrival in Milan and then in France?
Ali. The first time I came to Europe was to visit the France. I was in sixth grade, it was to celebrate the centenary of the French Secular Mission, my school, and when I arrived here, there was something. I knew I was going to end up living here, I felt it. When I left Lebanon, I arrived in Italy to pursue the end of my studies. It was a first step to be able to leave my country. It was very good, I loved it. I loved Italy. It is a beautiful country, but France remains for me the country that opened its arms to me and adopted me. It will always remain in my heart, a place that is amazing.
Just Focus. It was like a no-brainer, did you know you had to go on with your life in France?
Ali. In fact, in my head it was already drawn. Obviously, we dream, we dream a lot when we are young. We think, "Actually, it's never going to happen." But now, we believe in it and we do everything we can to do it and we get there.
Just Focus. There was this path a little bit mapped out with these studies of interior architecture and a life in a country a little complicated. But did you know deep down that you wanted to make music and something around art?
Ali. The artistic fiber, I always had it. And I knew that at some point, I don't know if it was a feeling inside, but I knew I was going to dedicate my life to it. I needed to express myself, I need to express myself! And so I knew I was going to make music. How? How do you do that? I didn't know, because I had never taken singing lessons, I didn't know how it was going to go, but I knew I was going to do it. I think talking to the universe and working really hard here I am. Today, I have the chance to finally realize the majority of my dreams because at the same time I am working on my music projects and in parallel I have just launched my ready-to-wear brand, my first collection. I work in fashion in parallel too.
Just Focus. What is your brand called?
Ali. My brand is called Zalzali, which is my last name. 
Just Focus. So you started music when you arrived in France?
Ali. I started music when I was little, I started music in the shower (laughs).
Just Focus. And where did you take your first music lessons?
Ali. So here was my very first singing lessons. I had done small workshops or small masterclasses when I was in Lebanon. I worked on some small prods. But the first time I really took singing lessons was a few months ago, thanks to a teacher called Mickael, who has a school here in Paris called Broadway in Paris. I started with him and it was my very first class, a few months ago.
Just Focus. You release covers every Sunday on your Youtube channel and on Instagram, was the goal to show a little your universe, your musical identity, who you were to finally introduce yourself to the public?
Ali. That's exactly it! In fact, I told myself that today, the world, because it's my first musical speech with my title Paris tells me Yalla Ya Helo, does not know Ali's universe. So I wanted to give a tasting of my universe. What I do is I take songs that I like above all, that I like and I rewrite the lyrics. I shoot them with this universe that I have in my head, full of dreams, full of clouds, full of colors.
Just Focus. Precisely, we can discover that you cover the songs in French. Was it really symbolic for you?
Ali. Yes, it's also because it's a challenge. I've always wondered what great songs like this could be, what they could become if we translated them into French. And frankly, it was really a discovery, even for me, because when I rewrote the texts, sometimes they were translations that sounded like the real words. And other times, I would rewrite them based on a personal story or feeling. I give you the example of Lady Gaga's Alejandro where she tells the story of someone who leaves and has affairs with different people. Whereas me in my text, I talk about a person who wakes up every day, every morning with a different personality. It turns out that in the end we discover that, Alejandro, Roberto, Fernando, are all the personalities that this person wanted to be. It's like being told, you're never going to be Alejandro in your life, you're never going to be Fernando in your life and in fact, it creates this kind of schizophrenia. So every day, that person became someone they had been forbidden to be.
Just Focus. It really echoes what you may have felt when you were younger.
Ali. It surely echoes things I've had to experience in my life. By wanting to be, what I was told I would never be. Like for example, you'll never be a singer or, you don't sing well enough or, you'll never be an artist. And today, here I am actually!
Just Focus. It's a nice revenge.
Ali. Always, it always comes from here (laughs).
Just Focus. So it was really the best way, these covers in which you took up your story, to introduce yourself. Do you plan to release your album afterwards?
Ali. To be very honest, this is just the beginning of the adventure. I started with Paris tells me, and this is only the beginning! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwfpWiBJCHQ&ab_channel=Ali
Just Focus. Which artists would you like to collaborate with?
Ali. Or the! So I would like to collaborate with a lot of artists and for very different reasons. I would like to collaborate with Grimes for example, because I find her incredible. With Perfume Genius, because his universe is phew. I'd like to collaborate with Billie Eilish because I think what she manages to release is just phew and because it's Billie Eilish! There's one person I would have loved to collaborate with, but that person is no longer with us, and that's Queen, Freddie Mercury. He is the only artist with whom, unfortunately, this is not possible. At least in a physical way.
Just Focus. Speaking of artists with whom you would like to collaborate, what are your sources of inspiration?
Ali. So my sources of inspiration, they come from many, many things. Whether it's musically or writing lyrics. I'm someone who has listened to so many different musical genres. When I was very young, I listened to rock, then I listened to a lot of pop. And then it was musicals, jazz, electro. I have so many sources of inspiration. As a person, I'm quite a theatrical person, so there's always that ingredient. For all the things I write, it can be a woman looking at her phone on the subway. Like the color of the birds in the rainforests I watch on TV. Or the rhythm I find in vegetables when I go shopping.
Just Focus. Is it really a daily source of inspiration?
Ali. It is above all and above all things that I live. In fact, what I am saying today is as if it were a small newspaper. Music is for me a refuge where I try to find myself, where I try to express myself. So generally, it's really things that I've experienced or, that I'm living or, that people I've met have experienced and that inspires me. It always comes from life, from the life we all have.
Just Focus. You were a finalist in the competition to represent the France at Eurovision. How did you decide to enroll in this program and how did you prepare for it?
Ali. We decided it with Hyphen Hyphen, the band with whom I wrote Paris tells me. First and foremost, we're friends, so we started having fun and creating something. Hyphen Hyphen were touched by my story. And they were touched one night when we sang together. It was in an apartment, before Covid of course (laughs). We sang together and we thought, 'But why don't we write my story in music?' So we decided to do it, we started writing, having fun and all of a sudden, we ended up as finalists. We asked ourselves: "If we represent a title like that, what would be the best way and what would be the best channel for that?" In fact, it's Eurovision! It's the biggest stage with the biggest audience, so go ahead or go home. How did I prepare? I think I started preparing myself from the moment I was born. It was very hard to have enough courage to do it, because speaking up whether musically or artistically, it takes a lot of courage. Sometimes we try to shoot people so that they do not express themselves. Today, I feel brave like never before and I am ready to give my all.
Just Focus. Can you tell us about the meeting with Hyphen Hypen, what it changed for you and the writing of this song.
Ali. Hyphen Hyphen, we met through friends and it matched directly. Sometimes it is energies that, when they meet, there is something that happens. And that was exactly it!When I was telling a little bit about my past, my journey, that's where they saw in me, and for that, I'm so grateful. They saw in me a kind of light, that I had something to say and they gave me the chance to be able to do it and it was just too beautiful.
Just Focus. They saw something you yourself couldn't see yet?
Ali. That I didn't see or that I didn't have enough confidence to show it. They awakened something in me that I was trying to put to sleep and they were right! 
Just Focus. What were the milestones in the Eurovision final?
Ali. So for Eurovision on January 30, there was the prime on France 2 at 21:05 precise, live, with a large jury panel. During this prime, there were the votes of the public. It happened in two parts. The first part was 100% public vote. And the second part was 50% public vote, 50% jury vote.
Just Focus. Weren't you too stressed as the verdict approached?
Ali. How stressed? I crossed half the globe to get to France and live from my passion (laughs). Of course! Well, it wasn't stress, I was excited, it's not the same. In fact, you know when you have a horse race and they are behind the barriers. We were waiting for the light to be green so we could start running. I felt like that. And I couldn't wait!
Just Focus. And if not, how are you coping with this Covid crisis? Isn't it too complicated?
Ali. So of course, like everyone else. Especially for any kind of show, concert, I find it so tragic. But on the other hand, for my part, I am still happy that we have programs on TV that allow us to continue to promote culture and that also allow us to perform. As an artist who has just spoken, to still be able to talk to people, even if it's virtually, to be able to share what I have to say with them.
Just Focus. You have your clothing brand as well as your early career in music. Would you like to do other things in the art world?
Ali. I think I'm already doing a lot. I'm already doing things that I love and I'd obviously like to do maybe even more. For me, when someone wants to express themselves and has something to say, the way to express it can be endless. Today, I touch fashion, I touch music, I also touch painting, I do a lot of watercolor, design and who knows. I would also like to touch the realization, one day. Who knows?! But in any case, any kind of creation stimulates me.
Just Focus. Ali, thank you for this interview! Do you have a word for the end?
Ali. First of all, I would like to thank you, it's nice to have given me your time. I hope you and everyone likes my title. I want to tell everyone one thing. It's that, no matter what life puts in your way, we all have to make peace and you really have to get through all that and Yalla! Thank you Ali for this beautiful interview! We hope to see you again soon. We wish you many beautiful things. See you soon You can find Ali on his instagram page @aliouicestbienlui
