Breaking New Territory

Moroccan-Canadian singer and 30 Under 30 alumna Faouzia is having her biggest year yet and enjoying newfound fame in China. As her stardom rises, she’s now exploring new projects and possibilities.

- Samar Khouri

Faouzia Ouihya is having her biggest year yet. In October, the 24-year-old Moroccan Canadian singer-songwriter was back in Changsha, China, filming another live singing show, this time as a judge for The Next Singer. "I was very honored that they saw me as a benchmark and a standard singer after only being here for three months. And I wanted to continue my journey in China because I also have so many shows here. So I wanted to continue building and continue expanding here," says Faouzia.

Just a few months earlier, the Forbes Middle East 30 Under 30 2023 listee was on stage belting out her powerful vocals to ballads and dance floor anthems as a participant on China's popular televised singing competition Singer 2024 after its four-year hiatus alongside six other established artists. "I told myself this would be a great way to meet people in China, to expand into a different audience in China. And also it was a great way for me to get over my stage fright because I have really bad stage fright. And I thought what better way to get over that than to just sing in front of millions of people every Friday night," she explains. The Gen-Z star finished in fourth place and earned the nickname 'Yaya' by the public. It was her first singing competition showand she was the first participant born after the year 2000. Since then, Faouzia has taken center stage in the market.

Crossing borders

In June 2024, Hunan TV revealed that there were over 160 top Faouzia-related searched topics across its network. According to her team, she has gained more than 1.85 million followers across her Chinese social channels since Singer 2024 began and has seen her streams in China grow from 350,000 to up to six million weekly.