Anoushka

Vartanoush Garbis Selim (Egyptian Arabic: ڤرتانوش جاربيس سليم; born March 9, 1960), better known by her stage name Anoushka (Arabic: أنوشكا), is an Egyptian singer and actress.

Early life

She was born in Cairo, Egypt, to an Egyptian Armenian father and an Armenian mother. She had her secondary school education in the Armenian Gulbenkian School in Boulaq neighborhood in Cairo and continued to study Business Administration at American University in Cairo. After graduation she worked in a foreign investment company and later on in the advertising firm Tarek Nour as a singer on advertisements.

Career

She took in an international song competition organized by International Federation of Festival Organizations (FIDOF) singing an original French song, lyrics by Gamal Abdel Halim Hasan and music by Kamel Cherif. Her first Egyptian public song was in a children's television program teaching Arabic language directed by Fehmi Abdel Hamid. She went on to take part in 1987 and 1988 in international festivals in Finland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Turkey, France and Latin America. In Turkey, she won first prize with "Habbytak" and in the Francophonie competitions in France with her own composition "Ya Habibi (Oh my Love)" in French and "Ya Leyl (Oh Night)" also in French composed by Midhat el Khawla.

She went on to release many albums in Arabic becoming a pan-Arab sensation and was awarded by the Egyptian Minister of Tourism for her efforts in promoting Egyptian music in the Arab world and worldwide. She also took part in many national, pan-Arab and international music events.

She had the lead role in an operetta entitled "El Ward we Fosoulu" (in Egyptian Arabic "الورد وفصوله") in the Children Day festivities. She is a prolific actress, rose to fame most notably in "El-Tawous" (in Egyptian Arabic "الطاووس") with the prominent movie star Salah Zulfikar in 1991. Afterwards, the prominent film director Salah Abu Seif chose her to participate in the movie "Al-Sayed Kaf" (in Egyptian Arabic "السيد كاف"), then her acting works continued including "Qanoon Al-Maraghi" (in Egyptian Arabic "قانون المراغي") among others.

Discography

• Habbaytak Egyptian Arabic حبيتك
• Nadani Egyptian Arabic ناداني
• Tigi Tghanni Egyptian Arabic تيجي تغنّي
• Abayyan Zayn Egyptian Arabic أبيّن زين
• Keddab Egyptian Arabic كدّاب

Filmography

Anoushka has also played roles in many Egyptian films including:

• Es Sayyed Kaf Egyptian Arabic السيد كاف, directed by the Egyptian film director Salah Abu Seif
• Man Atlaqa Haazihi el Rousasa? Arabic من أطلق هذه الرصاصة
• "Hepta هبتا”

TV shows

She has played roles in many Egyptian TV Shows including:

• El Tawous الطاووس
• El Marsa wa El Bahar المرسى و البحار
• Qanoun Al Maraghi قانون المراغي
• Ferquet Nagui Atallah فرقة ناجي عطالله
• El Sayeda El Oula السيدة الاولى
• Saraya Abdeen سرايا عابدين
• Mamlakat Youssef Al Maghraby مملكة يوسف المغربي
• Grand Hotel جراند اوتيل
• Sokut Horr سقوط حر
• Halawat El Donia حلاوة الدنيا