User:Elenora.C/sandbox1

This is my sandbox number 1, created with a view to a rewriting of the Dalida article.

Artistic career

Following her second place in the Bathing Beauty 1954 contest (variant of Miss Egypt) and the dissemination of photos in the press, Iolanda, a model at the time, received a proposal from Niazi Moustapha to shoot in a feature film called A glass and a Cigarette. She accepts and will subsequently shoot 2 other films. On December 25 of the same year, she decided to try her luck in Paris and become a film star in France. She chooses a pseudonym: Dalila. Despite everything, she won no contract. She then decides to sing and earn a living by performing in Parisian cabarets.

Beginnings in the music hall (1955-1957)

In September 1955, she was hired at the Drap d'Or and also performed in another cabaret, the Villa d'Este. During one of her performances in April 1956, the director of the Olympia Bruno Coquatrix, who attended this one, suggested that he participate in the "Numbers 1 of tomorrow" which would take place in his music hall. She decides to go there and is noticed by the producer Eddy Barclay as well as by the artistic director of the radio station Europe N°1 Lucien Morisse. On May 2, 1956, she signed a contract with the French Phonographic Company Barclay, obliging her to guarantee the exclusivity of her recordings to the firm until May 2, 1957, both nationally and abroad. At the same time, the singer agrees to a global and fixed fee of 4% of royalties. Meanwhile Dalila has become Dalida, under the wise advice of author and screenwriter Alfred Marchand in order to avoid any allusion to biblical texts. In November 1956, the first records to be released were prosaically named Dalida sings N°1 and Dalida sings N°2. They include songs like Madonna or even La violetera. These two opuses together sell for some tens of thousands of 45 rpm records. This is far from the success expected by the label; Eddy Barlcay and Lucien Morisse having hoped that their new performer would join the wave of "exotic singers" that overwhelmed France. The Spanish singer Gloria Lasso was the pioneer of this movement until then. Nevertheless, a title whose primacy had been promised to her was attributed to Dalida: "Bambino". This recording becomes her first success and sells 175,000 copies. Dalida's career was then launched. Her first steps at the Olympia were in addition to Charles Aznavour's program. On March 22, 1957, she signed a contract with Radio-Spectacles, in other words, with Bruno Coquatrix the director of the Olympia, for the 57/58 season as an "American star" with an option for the 58/59 season in as "First star". She also performed at the Bobino Theater and her initial contract with Barlcay was extended for 3 years. On September 9, 1957, while Dalida was opening for Gilbert Bécaud at the Olympia, Eddy Barlcay presented him with her first gold record for "Bambino".

Career in France and abroad (1957-1967)

From 1957 to 1960, the artist enjoyed many popular successes, including "Gondolier", "Le jour où la pluie viendra" (more than a million records sold worldwide, including 850,000 in Germany), "Histoire d'un amour" (23,000 copies sold in Lebanon), "Come prima", "The Gypsies", "Dans le bleu du ciel bleu" (Volare), "Les enfants du Pirée" (over half a million copies sold worldwide). Dalida ranks first in French-speaking countries and then manages to rank in Italy, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. Hired by Bruno Coquatrix, she provides galas in the Province and abroad. To become international, her recordings are made in several languages. On December 26, 1958, the singer left for New York where Eddy Barclay's representatives were waiting for her to set up the launch of her latest recordings. A week later, one hundred and fifty New York Disc Jockeys came together to organize the broadcast of her title "The Gypsies" on all "on the air" stations. Dalida was quickly spotted by Norman Grantz, producer of Ella Fitzgerald, who offered her a fifteen-year contract with the USA. Nevertheless, attached to Paris, grateful to Eddy Barlcay and beginning a romance with Lucien Morisse, she abandoned the idea of an American career that was too restrictive. Back in France, on February 27, 1959, she received the "Bravos du Music-hall" alongside Yves Montand. She also received later a Golden Wolf and a platinum Oscar in Italy for her song Les gypsies; a silver lion in Germany for "Am Tag Als Der Regen Kam". Dalida continued her stage appearances and performed at the Théâtre de l'étoile from September 23 to October 12, 1959, where she met with a certain ovation.

However, the year 1960 marked the emergence of Yé-yé in France. Faced with the new rising generations, the old ones fear falling into disuse. Constrained, the singer adapts and adds to her repertoire fashionable titles like "Itsi bitsi petit bikini" or "La leçon de twist" that she shares with Johnny Hallyday. A strategy that will in fact make her elected first female star in the annual referendum of Europe n°1. Invited in February 1961 to Tehran by Empress Farah, she held a private concert in front of the Shah of Iran and his relatives. No less than thirty-two songs will be performed. A few months after her return, newly married Dalida leaves Lucien Morisse. This will not be without consequence in her career. Because of his function as music programmer for the Europe N°1 station, he only broadcasts the B sides of the artist's new opuses. Some adaptations of foreign songs reserved for her are finally delivered to competing singers. Her Olympia in December 1961 then became a symbolic opportunity for her to assert her ability to exist alone as an artist.

At the same time as her career as a singer, she became an actress again and appeared in 3 films, notably in L'inconnu de Hong-Kong alongside Serge Gainsbourg in 1963. They sang together "Les rues de mon Paris". Similarly, she also received the Oscar de la chanson de Radio Monte-Carlo for the sixth time in a row. Back to the song and to establish her popularity, she is the star of the podium of the Tour de France 1964 and sings every evening in various cities. Antoine Blondint says: “A miracle of exchange happens. There is a dialogue there that makes the singer a sower of refrains. She looks like Marianne, the lady in the Phrygian cap of postage stamps. ". On September 17, the singer was awarded a platinum disc for her sales by Eddy Barclay, in the presence of Charles Aznavour. The successes follow one another. "Zorba's Dance" and "Bonsoir mon amour" (two productions from 1965) lead her to be classified in many countries such as Italy, Argentina, Turkey or Brazil where she obtained the Chico Viola prize instituted by the Emissoras Unidas do Brasil. Dalida begins a series of recitals in the French West Indies from Fort-de-France to Guadeloupe.

From 1965, the artist mainly met her public in Italy. There, she became number 1 in sales several times with titles like "Il silenzio" (1965), "Bang Bang" (1966), "Mama" (1967). In January 1967, she participated in the Sanremo Festival during which she supported her lover Luigi Tenco. Together they defend the song "Ciao Amore, Ciao". However, they will not be retained. After which, Luigi commits suicide. After three months of absence in the audiovisual landscape because of the drama in Sanremo that she experienced, restored, she decided to make her comeback in a French program called Le Palmarès des chansons. Following this drama, the singer sees herself changing in the way she interprets her songs. The press declares: "Dalida killed Mademoiselle Bambino. She has the image of a healthy and vigorous beauty, but also that of a broken heart. ".

Disagreement with the Barclay record company (1968–1970)

In 1968, Dalida took part in the show Partitissima, a sort of competition which she won with her song Dan dan dan. The latter will reach the 19th place in sales. On February 5, 1969, she was awarded the MIDEM prize, being the female artist who sold the most records in Italy. At the same time, in Czechoslovakia, her album Dalida? Dalida! becomes the best-selling of the year. Despite everything, a disagreement began to arise during this period with her producer Eddy Barlcay. Dalida feels wronged in terms of copyright. Also, due to a popularity that waned in France during the second half of the 1960s, Eddy Barlcay no longer entrusted her with the premiere of adaptations of foreign songs. Although she may have had some success with "Le temps des fleurs". After 15 years of collaboration, Dalida decides not to renew her contract and to create her own label with her brother Bruno Gigliotti, alias Orlando. According to Philippe Crocq, correspondent for the weekly Billboard and responsible for advertising sales in France who worked with Barlcay, and Jean Mareska, press officer at the Barlcay international record service, Dalida will have sold 15,000,000 records in total under this label. With International Show, her first success as an independent producer is "Darla dirladada". It's an adaptation of an original Greek title. During its first week of operation, 75,000 copies will be sold in France. Subsequently, the singer opted for a repertoire of deeper and more realistic songs such as "Avec le temps", composed by Léo Ferré.

International success under the Sonopresse brand (1971-1975)

Dalida is developing her repertoire. From now on, she combines realistic song and popular tunes. From 1971 to 1974, she recorded several successes such as "The Godfather" in 1972, "Paroles… Paroles" in 1973 (in duet with her former lover Alain Delon), "The Great Gigi L'Amoroso" and "He must have been eighteen" in 1974. By the same token, her name entered the charts again in a large number of countries: Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Canada. During her Musicorama of January 13, 1975 taking place at the Olympia, Sonopresse, the firm which distributes her records, gives her four gold records to salute her sales. Nearly 4,600,000 records were sold during the first four years of collaboration. Meanwhile, Canada recognizes the female interpreter as the second most popular person of the year behind Elvis Presley.

Decline and loss of popularity in France (1981-1987)

In 1981, Dalida supports François Mitterrand who is seeking the presidency of the French Republic. She has a long friendship with him. After coming to power, the singer is neglected and a cabal is mounted against her to divide her audience.She then decides to lead a world tour and is discreet in France, where she no longer wins sales. She performed partly in Greece from June 5 to 10, 1981 at the Stadium in front of 16,000 people, then left for 3 days in Egypt before going to Berlin, etc... However, her latest productions failed to enter the French Top 50 and the younger generations, who for the most part turned away from disco, which had become obsolete, did not adhere to the singer's attempts to reconquer her. Even so, her popularity did not wane in Germany where she won the Goldene Europa (1981) but also in Turkey where she won the Golden Butterfly (1985). Ironically, her old disco productions sold several hundred thousand copies in the USSR during the same period. In 1985, Pierre Bellemare launched an appeal to many artists on behalf of Line Renaud who was at the head of the association of artists against AIDS. Dalida becomes a supporter of the cause.

Posthumous career (1987-2000's)

On May 3, 1987, Dalida decided to end her life. Throughout the years, the singer's brother and producer opted for various commercial techniques in order to perpetuate his sister's repertoire (reissues, remixes, etc...). Throughout the period 1987-2007, many successful productions were created. Among others, "Dalida master series", "The Orlando years", "40 golden successes". Indeed, 10 years after the departure of the singer, more than 1.2 million records will be sold in one year. In 2017, between 80,000 and 100,000 copies in France. Until 2008, sales made after her death reached 8,000,000 units. Numerous exhibitions will also be devoted to her.

Record sales

The singer is renowned for having sold several million records. Her albums have been released in nearly forty countries. One estimate puts her sales at over $100 million. During her career, her sales have been recognized by more than 70 gold, platinum and diamond discs awarded by various labels and competent organizations around the world.

Detailed record sales (non-exhaustive list)

Period	Location	Distribution company	units sold
1956-1970	World	Barlcay	more 15,000,000
1971-1974		Sonopresse	nearly 4,600,000
1956-2004	Middle East	-	20,000,000
1956-2022	France	Various	nearly 16,000,000 (11,000,000 singles and 5,000,000 albums )
1957-1970	Italy	Barlcay - Jolly - RCA Italiana	over 3,000,000
1959	Germany	Barlcay - Ariola	over 850,000
1973-1976	Japan	Seven Seas	Between 200,000 and 300,000
1974-1975	Swiss	Sonopresse - Omega	over 100,000
	Canada	Able	over 150,000
1974-1980's	Russia (USSR)	Melodiya	nearly 1,500,000