Aline Lahoud, born 2nd March 1981, is a Lebanese singer, and the daughter of well-known singer Salwa Katrib. She was selected to sing for Lebanon at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in Kyiv, where the nation had been due to make its debut appearance in the competition. However, she was miss out following Lebanon's abrupt decision to withdraw. March 2 is the 61st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (62nd in leap years). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Eurovision Song Contest 2005 logo. ... Kiev (Київ, Kyiv, in Ukrainian; Киев, Kiev, in Russian) is the capital and largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper river. ...

Aline honed her natural talent by studying singing and dramatic art between 1997 and 1999. By 2002, she had graduated from university with a BA in Communication Arts, majoring in Screenplay and Directing Studies. In recent years, she has supplemented her burgeoning singing career by acting in plays, directing short films, and in 2003 moved on to work as assistant director on a full length film, Mes Cousines et Moi. 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A Bachelor of Arts (B.A. or A.B., from the Latin Artium Baccalaureus) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or program in the arts and/or sciences. ... A screenplay or script is a blueprint for producing a motion picture. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

At a time when the idea of Lebanon finally taking up its right to enter the Eurovision Song Contest was being seriously floated, Aline left herself ideally placed to be one of the beneficiaries by winning the international prize at the Megahit festival in Turkey, in collaboration with prolific song-writer Jad Rahbani. The Lebanese selectors quickly looked to the same combination to conjure up some of the same magic on the Eurovision stage in Kyiv. Running since 1956, the Eurovision Song Contest is an annual televised song contest with participants from numerous countries whose national television broadcasters are members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). ...

Reflecting Lebanon's long-standing place in the international francophone orbit, the lyrics of the country's proposed first Eurovision entry were in French, a language in which Aline is fluent. The song was entitled "Quand tout s'enfuit", and as a debut entry would have begun its quest for victory in the semi-final on 19 May, from which only ten entries will progress to join the pre-qualified countries in the grand final on 21 May. The late decision to withdraw was taken after the Lebanese broadcasters conceded to the European Broadcasting Union that they could not guarantee they would uphold the fairness of the event by transmitting it without selective interruption, an implicit reference to the requirement of screening the performance of Shiri Maymon, the representative of Israel. A francophone is a person who speaks French natively or by adoption (i. ... May 19 is the 139th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (140th in leap years). ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (142nd in leap years). ... The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), known in French as LUnion Européenne de Radio-Télévision (UER), and unrelated to the European Union, was formed February 12, 1950 by 23 broadcasting organizations from Europe and the Mediterranean at a conference in the coastal resort of Torquay in Devon... Shiri Maymon, sometimes spelt Shiri Maimon, is an Israeli singer, and has been selected to represent her country in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, to be held in Kyiv. ...

External links

• Lebanon's Eurovision page