Amel Bent Bachir (Arabic: آمال بنت بشير; born 21 June 1985), better known by her stage name Amel Bent (French pronunciation:[a.mɛlbɛnt]), is a French pop singer who gained fame after reaching the semi-finals of season 2 of French TV singing competition Nouvelle Star. She is best-selling artist to come from that competition.
Amel Bent grew up in the Paris suburb of La Courneuve[1] with her Algerian father and Moroccan mother. She has a brother and a sister.[1][2] Her career jump started after making it to the semi-finals of the reality TV show Nouvelle Star 2, France's version of Pop Idol. Although her performance did not make it to the finals, she was still noticed by some of the show's producers, and would end up making her début album later that year, titled: Un Jour d'été, released in late 2004. The album would sell more than 550,000 copies in France alone,[3] but the success of the album would ultimately be derived from the single "Ma philosophie", which would sell more than 500,000 copies, staying at the No. 1 slot in France for more than six weeks during and after sales.
In 2012, Bent was one of the contestants during the Third Season of Danse avec les stars. She and her partner Christophe Licata finished in second place, but won the celebrity dancing show's Christmas special.[4]
