Quebec singer La Zarra has seen better days. The Montreal-born artist, who will represent France in next month’s Eurovision Song Contest, fell adrift just minutes before taking the stage in Amsterdam last Saturday. A “personal problem” and even a “professional burnout” are talked about behind the scenes to explain this about-face.
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The French media are making a big fuss about this story today. La Zarra was scheduled to appear alongside the 27 other contestants in Saturday night’s Eurovision in Concert show in Amsterdam. This concert was supposed to be the grand prelude to the Eurovision final, which will take place in Liverpool on May 13th.
According to TF1 Info, the organizers of the competition mentioned that the singer informed them about a “personal issue” that initially forced them to postpone their performance until the end of the evening. But she eventually had to call it all off. She also retired for the next day’s concert in London.
In an interview with Le Parisien a few hours earlier on Saturday, La Zarra had confided that she had been losing her voice for six months, adding that she had only been feeling good for the past three weeks. “I’m not going to lie, I have ups and downs from the competition. Sometimes I tell myself I’m going to win and sometimes it’s too much. But I’m here to do my best,” she said.
On Sunday, Fatima Zahra Hafdi, as her real name is, thanked the public on social media “for all the messages of love and support that you have received since last night.”
“I would have loved to have been with you all, but sometimes life decides differently,” she continued. So it will take me a few days to process these difficult times. These moments of intimacy will be important to me. Thank you for your kindness. See you in Liverpool. I love you.”
In Montreal, the team managing the singer’s ocean-side career, Universal Music Canada, told the Journal that the entire promotional period planned for La Zarra ahead of the Eurovision final has just ended.
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