Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, professionally known as Dalida, was a French singer and actress, born in Egypt to Italian parents. She won the Miss Egypt beauty contest in 1954 and began a 31-year singing career in 1956, selling 170 million albums and singles worldwide. Dalida earned 45 gold record awards and a pair of platinum records for her sales in Europe, the Middle East, and Japan, and was the first singer to receive a diamond disc.. A superstar in France and much of the rest of Europe, Dalida enjoyed hit records in three different decades.