She was born as Yolande Christina Gigliotti in 1933 near the Egyptian capital Cairo. Her parents came from Calabria. After she was voted Miss Egypt at the age of 22 she got smaller film roles. But that wasn't enough for her. In 1955 she set off for Paris "with a suitcase full of dreams and little money", as she often told later, appeared at a singing competition, was discovered and recorded her first single: "Bambino". The piece became a hit and earned her a gold record in 1956. Many more were to follow. Under the exotic stage name Dalida she recorded more than 800 songs in French, English, German, Italian, Greek, Spanish and Arabic and sold about 150 million records worldwide.