Pugnacious and determined, Nâdiya is attempting yet another comeback. (Credit: DR.)
Mr. and Mrs. Zighem have always watched Lebanese television. This Algerian couple often tuned in to LBCI and, in the 2000s, never missed an episode of the pan-Arab "Star Academy."Sometimes, to their surprise, they would see their young Nadia, energetic and proud, electrifying the audience with her martial songs.At the time, their daughter was shining in France, and even beyond. Not as Nadia Zighem, but as "Nâdiya." Why that spelling? Nâdi, in Arabic, means "the one who calls." Ya, a particle used before Allah to address him..."There you go!" smiles the artist as she provides the explanation to this predictable, slightly silly question. Mystical references slip into every answer from the singer, an icon of a generation, who is making a comeback at age 52.Far from the hip-hop aesthetic of her famous...
Mr. and Mrs. Zighem have always watched Lebanese television. This Algerian couple often tuned in to LBCI and, in the 2000s, never missed an episode of the pan-Arab "Star Academy."Sometimes, to their surprise, they would see their young Nadia, energetic and proud, electrifying the audience with her martial songs.At the time, their daughter was shining in France, and even beyond. Not as Nadia Zighem, but as "Nâdiya." Why that spelling? Nâdi, in Arabic, means "the one who calls." Ya, a particle used before Allah to address him..."There you go!" smiles the artist as she provides the explanation to this predictable, slightly silly question. Mystical references slip into every answer from the singer, an icon of a generation, who is making a comeback at age 52.Far from the hip-hop aesthetic of her...
