Elle était si jolie - Rika Zaraï

Rika Zaraï was 25 years old when she recorded this EP. It features four tracks and it included a version of the French entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1963, 'Elle était si jolie'. 

The beautiful colour picture sleeve of this EP is intact, but unfortunately the disc comes with its flaws. Fortunately 'Elle était si jolie' can be played on this, otherwise I would have been very disappointed.

My collection: 7" single no. 7439
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 9 November 2024
Tracks: 'Tournez manèges', 'Elle était si jolie' / 'Demain c'est dimanche', 'Pourquoi je t'aime'

Aba-nibi - Rika Zarai

Throughout her career, Rika Zarai has recorded Eurovision covers, starting with Alors je chante in 1969 - a single I bought five years ago. In 1978, she recorded a cover version of Israel's winning Eurovision song A-ba-ni-bi, originally performed by Izhar Cohen and the Alpha-Beta.

There is a big difference between the original version and this one: Rika performs the song with French lyrics, written by Pierre Delanoë.

My collection: 7" single no. 5482
Found: eBay.co.uk, received July 31, 2014
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Aba-nibi' / 'Et meme plus'

Alors je chante - Rika Zarai

Rika Zarai was born on February 19, 1938 in Jerusalem, Israel. She became famous in 1969 with this single, 'Alors je chante', a French cover version of the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest song 'Vivo cantando' by Salome, one of the four winners of that year's edition.

Interestingly, the original version did not chart in the Netherlands, but this version did. 'Alors je chante' peaked at number 10 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 3652

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 18, 2009

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Alors je chante' / 'Un mur a Jerusalem'