Not looking too Arab": how the industry tried to erase the Moroccan identity of La Zarra

According to La Presse, her former multinational dictated her every artistic choice before the Eurovision Song Contest. Fatima-Zahra Hafdi, her real name, had to modify her hair color and control her public speeches in order to "not look too Arab".

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At the beginning of her career, the artist kept her Moroccan roots secret out of pure instinct for protection. She refused to be confined to a pejorative identity or to provide arguments to her detractors against her community. However, she claims to have never felt ashamed of her family history.

These heavy identity constraints have seriously deteriorated her mental health, causing panic attacks and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Without a clear break, she believes she would have fallen "even more into Xanax and alcohol", to the point of dying. Her controversial gesture at Eurovision was ultimately a vital emergency exit. "My gesture, more or less conscious, was a blessing," she emphasizes to explain her desire to distance herself from a toxic environment.

After a reconstruction phase in Morocco and Italy, the mother has set up her own production structure. Accompanied by the singer Dominique Fils-Aimé on the administrative side, she has financed her project thanks to grants and her savings, definitively freeing herself from the industry’s injunctions.

On Bladi.net: La Zarra and Loreen, two Moroccans at Eurovision 2023

Her new opus, Der Himmel, now fully incorporates Arabizing sounds, mixed with French song and flamenco. The artist, who no longer seeks glory at all costs, now wishes to prioritize the stage at her own pace in order to preserve a balance with her mental health.