Biography
Amina Annabi (Arabic: أمينة العنابي, romanized: Amīna al-ʿAnnābī; born 5 March 1962) is a French-Tunisian singer-songwriter and actress. She finished second in the tied Eurovision Song Contest 1991, held in Rome, after a countback, scoring equal 146 points alongside Carola from Sweden.
Music
After recording an album with the Japanese musician Yasuaki Shimizu, she became extremely popular in Japan where she even toured in 1987. She did lead vocals on a track by Haruomi Hosono and she launched a career in cinema.
The same year she recorded her debut album, Yalil (Night) produced by Martin Meissonnier. The album received excellent reviews and it was released in 22 countries around the world. It was also released in the USA where it peaked at No. 5 at the Billboard world music charts.
In 1991, Amina won 'Le prix Piaf' as Best Female Singer of the Year, then she went on… to get involved in Peter Gabriel's peace project during the Gulf War. Joining a host of international stars in the studio, Amina took part in the recording of an EP which featured a new version of John Lennon's “Give Peace a Chance”. The same year she participated in the Eurovision Song Contest held in Rome with one song of her own, entitled “Le Dernier qui a parlé...”. She finished 2nd with the same number of points as the winner, following a tie-break procedure.. This remains France's highest placement since 1977, equalled in 2021 by Barbara Pravi with “Voilà”.
Right after the Eurovision Contest, Amina recorded her second album, Wa di yé (Love is Unique) and she toured around France to promote it.
In 1994 Malcolm McLaren asked Amina to guest on his album, Paris, along with Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Hardy. After that Amina took a long break travelling to her homeland and she was back in 1999 with new albums and concerts around the globe.
She read the French jury's votes during the final of Sweden's Eurovision qualifier Melodifestivalen 2010.
Cinema
Amina's first film credit was as a supporting role in the 1990 film Maman. Later that same year she joined an international cast led by John Malkovich and Debra Winger, where she played the role of a naked prostitute in the Bernardo Bertolucci movie The Sheltering Sky.
In 1992 she took part in Claude Lelouch's great fresco La Belle Histoire, where she played a sister to Jesus Christ. In 1993 she appeared in Nicholas Klotz' The Sacred Night.
In 1993 Amina got her first lead female role opposite Spanish star Miguel Bosé in La Nuit sacrée.
Later that year she got involved with an English film entitled The Hour of the Pig (released in the US as The Advocate) where she plays a Moor that strips naked to offer herself to the movie's main character, the lawyer defending animals accused of witchcraft, in order to save a pig that is their only source of food for the coming winter.
Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky chose Amina to play in his film Ulysse, which was broadcast on US networks.
2Discography
| Artist | Title | Year | Format | Classification | Gem, favourite, must-listen | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Amina | Belly Dance | ©1989 ℗1990 | CD Maxi-Single, Promo | French-speaking | |
 | Amina | Le Dernier Qui A Parlé... | © & ℗1991 | Vinyl 7", 45 RPM, Single, Stereo | French-speaking |
5Songs
| Song | Year | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Belly Dance | 1990 |
|
| Gallouli | 1990 |
|
| Le Cercle Rouge | 1990 |
|
| Le Dernier Qui A Parlé... | 1991 |
|
| Neila | 1991 |
|