Ishtar

Ishtar is a name of at least four acts: 1) A pseudonym of Arabic-Israeli pop / worldbeat singer Eti Zach (b. 10 Nov 1968, Kiryat Ata, Israel - Hebrew: ??????, aka Ishtar Alabina), who sings in Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish, French, Bulgarian and English. She began performing in 1982 (at fourteen years old), made her recording d?but on Alabina's "Alabina" album (Nov 1996, Atoll - aka Alab?na's "Alabina") and her latest original is the solo album "Je Sais D'où Je Viens" (Oct 2005, Atoll - best known as Ishtar Alabina's "Je Sais D'o? Je Viens").

1) A pseudonym of Arabic-Israeli pop / worldbeat singer Eti Zach (b. 10 Nov 1968, Kiryat Ata, Israel - Hebrew: ??????, aka Ishtar Alabina), who sings in Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish, French, Bulgarian and English. She began performing in 1982 (at fourteen years old), made her recording d?but on Alabina's "Alabina" album (Nov 1996, Atoll - aka Alab?na's "Alabina") and her latest original is the solo album "Je Sais D'où Je Viens" (Oct 2005, Atoll - best known as Ishtar Alabina's "Je Sais D'o? Je Viens").

Zach is best known as Alabina's lead vocalist and for solo pop hits, e.g. C'est la vie (aka "C'est La Vie" and Ishtar Alabina's "C'est La Vie"), Last Kiss (aka Ishtar Alabina's Last kiss) and "Habibi (Sawah)" (aka Ishtar Alabina's Habibi (Sawah)).

Once she moved to France, Ishtar began working as a back up vocalist for several flamenco type acts. It was here she was discovered by Charles Ibgui who, enamored with her voice, introduced her to Los Ni?os de Sara. She joined the group as a lead vocalist and together they performed under the name Alabina.

Alabina soon became a world wide success charting in the top 10 and top 40 several times in the US alone.

Alabina had found success mixing Flamenco, Arabic, Pop, and Dance sounds. Los Ni?os de Sara usually sang in Spanish while Ishtar would sing in Spanish, Arabic, French, Hebrew, or a mix of the languages ? several songs were sung in Spanish and Arabic.

Despite Alabina's success after two albums Ishtar decided to do a solo project of her own (though still a member of the group); Los Ni?os de Sara also began to release CDs of their own.

In November, 2000 La Voix d'Alabina (The Voice of Alabina) was released. It stepped up the Oriental pop sound while mixing in some traditional Arabic sounds and dance beats. Nine out of the twelve songs were mainly in French though Arabic, Spanish, English, and Hebrew were mixed in on various songs (for example Last Kiss was in English). Several of the tracks found dance floor success, including Last Kiss.

Zach continued to tour the world with Alabina for the next few years as she worked on her second album, "Truly - Emet" (Jul 2003, Atoll - aka "Truly Emet" and Ishtar Alabina's "Truly Emet"). This time with most of the songs being in Hebrew. However she decided to sing more songs in mixes of Arabic and Hebrew to show that there could be harmony between the two cultures. Truly Emet was again a dance floor success especially the songs C'est La Vie, and again Last Kiss.

A few more performances were done with Alabina, though as of 2005, the group had seemed to disband by no longer actively performing or releasing new music.

Zach's third album, "Je Sais d'o? Je Viens" (I know from where I come - Oct 2005), this time the music was still Oriental pop, however much less dance. More hip hop-type beats were stirred in with the Arabic music. Most of the songs were sung in Arabic, four were sung in French, and a few in English, while Spanish and Hebrew could be found throughout the album. Again she found dance success with such singles as Habibi (Sawah), which for the first time in her career featured a rapper JMI Sissoko.

Shortly after a greatest hits CD, The Alabina Years, was released, featuring a mix of Ishtar's solo hits, her Alabina hits, and some new English tracks as well.

Zach currently lives in France and is working on promoting her album.

Sites: He.Wikipedia

2) A Belgian folk band who represented Belgium at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest with the song O Julissi, sung in an imaginary language. They competed in the first semi-final on May 20, 2008.
Ishtar makes music that goes straight to the heart. Strong melodies that take you away into an other world. The vocal and instrumental arrangements are based on authentic musical material from the 11th century up to the present time. Little jewels from the treasury of European folk music.

The songs that Ishtar presents easily cross linguistic and cultural borders.

Each song tells a story, each melody is a testimony. Lovers have always communicated their feelings by singing them. Ishtar distils this message and offers the elixir in a surprising new musical form.

Ishtar is a gr'oup of 6 professional musicians. Their friendship, their passion for music and their fascination for foreign folkmusic lead to positive chemistry. They named their group after the ancient Babylonian goddess of love, fertility, reincarnation and war : Ishtar

In 2005 they released their first cd Troubamour and in 2008 O Julissi. They have a very good live reputation both in Belgium and the rest of Europe.

3) A black metal band from Sweden, which issued a CD called Diabolical Hymn in 1998.

4) A Korean heavy metal band.