Alma (French singer)

2.1. Childhood and Education

Alexandra Maquet was born on September 27, 1988, in Lyon, France. She is the eldest of four daughters born to Alain Maquet, a businessman, and Marie-Pierre Maquet, a painter and contemporary artist known as MPM. From a young age, Alma showed an inclination towards music, beginning to sing and play the piano during her childhood. At the age of 16, her family relocated to Miami. After spending a year attending an American high school, she made the decision to return to France independently. She pursued higher education at IESEG School of Management in Lille, where she successfully earned a master's degree in Business Administration and Management in 2011. During her studies, she spent over a year as an exchange student at FEA-USP in São Paulo, Brazil, where she became proficient in Portuguese. Following her graduation from IESEG, Alma worked as an assistant manager for Abercrombie & Fitch in Milan in 2011. Subsequently, she moved to Brussels, where she began to compose music, marking the initial steps in her musical journey. In addition to her native French, she is fluent in English, Italian, and Portuguese.

2.2. Early Career Development

Alma's musical career officially began in 2012 when she started publishing her compositions online. One of her earliest works was "Gone," a song dedicated to the memory of a close friend from her elementary school, Collège de Marcq, who had passed away in a traffic accident in 2009. This song was recorded at Studio Dada and released on YouTube on January 14, 2012. She followed this with the release of "Again" on February 3, 2012, and "Elsewhere" on May 19, 2012. These early releases garnered positive reviews from French online music magazines such as Bulle Sonore and La Bande Sonore.

Her first public performances took place on May 13 and June 3, 2012, at Rooster's Bar in Brussels. Accompanied by guitarist Alain Goossens, she performed a mix of original compositions and covers. Their renditions of popular songs, including Lana Del Rey's "Video Games", Tears for Fears' "Mad World", and Nadeah's "Odile", were recorded at Avalon Studios in Brussels and subsequently uploaded to YouTube and her newly established official Facebook page. To further hone her musical skills, Alma enrolled at ACP la Manufacture Chanson, where she trained in singing and composing techniques. She also gave training concerts at Les Jeudis Chanson in the autumn of 2012.

Alma's talent was recognized by Chris Corazza and Donatien Guillon of Chic Acoustic, leading to a radio broadcast on December 10, 2012. This was followed by an interview and a one-hour concert at Le Malibv in Paris on December 12, 2012. She continued to perform, holding a concert at Le Connetable in Paris on April 27, 2013, and participating in the closing concert of ACP la Manufacture Chanson at the restaurant Les Trois Baudets in Paris on June 14, 2013. During this period, she also focused on promotion; Téléssonne broadcast a video portrait featuring excerpts from her songs. It was around this time that she began to use the artist name "Alma." Vigie Discographique conducted a video interview with her and recorded four songs-"Libido," "Mr Unsatisfaction," "Sitting down," and "What do you want from me"-at the Pixel Room Studio in Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, which were then published on YouTube. On June 29, 2013, she released a cover of Julia Stone and Benjamin Biolay's "Let´s Forget" in collaboration with Benjamin Ollive. On September 19, 2013, she was a guest on the RadioVL program Ça reste entre nous, where she gave an interview to promote her first major concert. This concert was held on a concert boat, La Péniche, in Lille on September 27-28, 2013.

Edoardo Grassi, who was then working for Carson Productions, extended an invitation to Alma to join the weekly television show Les Chansons d'abord on France 3, hosted by Natasha St-Pier. She became a regular participant from December 1, 2013, to June 15, 2014. In her debut appearance on the program, she performed the song "Entre nous" and received commendation from Celine Dion. In December 2013, a successful crowdfunding campaign was launched on Kissbankers to fund the recording of the duet "Trinquons" with Benjamin Ollive at Studio Davout. The single "Trinquons" was subsequently released on February 26, 2014. In early 2014, while on Les Chansons d'abord, Alma met the composer and singer Nazim Khaled, leading to a significant musical collaboration between them. Throughout the remainder of 2014, they composed several songs, including "Requiem", which Nazim Khaled wrote in late October 2014. Alma first performed "Requiem" at the La Créative festival for emerging French performers at La Bellevilloise de Paris on January 24, 2015. Additionally, in July and August 2014, Alma appeared as an actor in Odah & Dako's online comedy video series, Punchlife.

3.1. Eurovision Song Contest 2017

On April 10, 2015, Alma signed a contract with Warner Music France, marking a major step in her professional career. Her collaboration with Nazim Khaled continued throughout 2015 and 2016, resulting in the single "La chute est lente," released on June 10, 2016, and the song "Ivre." An acoustic version of "Ivre" was made available on Alma's official YouTube channel on January 7, 2017. From September 2016 to February 2017, she performed as an opening act for six of Amir Haddad's concerts.

In December 2016, Alma was informed by Edoardo Grassi, who had been the head of the French delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest since September 2015, that her song "Requiem" had been selected as the French entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. On February 9, 2017, she was officially announced as the French representative for the contest. The song "Requiem" was composed by Nazim Khaled and Alma herself. As France is a member of the "Big Five" nations, Alma automatically qualified for the Grand Final. The final was held on May 13, 2017, in Kyiv, Ukraine, where Alma finished in twelfth place.

3.2. Debut Album Ma peau aime

Alma's debut studio album, titled Ma peau aime, was released on May 5, 2017. The album features 13 songs, including the previously released singles "La chute est lente" and "Requiem." It also contains the specific Eurovision version of "Requiem" and the song "Ivre." Upon its release, Ma peau aime achieved commercial success, peaking at number 33 on the French Albums Chart.

3.3. Eurovision Roles and Commentary

Beyond her own participation as a contestant, Alma remained involved with the Eurovision Song Contest in various capacities. On January 27, 2018, she served as a member of the domestic jury for the final of Destination Eurovision, which is France's national selection show for the contest. She stepped in as a substitute for her predecessor, Amir, who was unable to participate due to prior commitments. In May 2018, Alma took on the role of a commentator for France 2 during the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. She provided commentary alongside Stéphane Bern and fellow Destination Eurovision judge Christophe Willem.

5.1. Studio Albums

5.2. Singles

"-" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released.