Quiet in the art world broken by star appearances

Carole Samaha is scheduled to perform on a cruise in the Bahamas in October. [File/Al-Shorfa]

Carole Samaha is scheduled to perform on a cruise in the Bahamas in October. [File/Al-Shorfa]

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Following an eventful summer filled with festivals and concerts, the art world went through a phase of quiet and calm.

While waiting for momentum to pick up, some artists decided to rest, while others chose to take the time to prepare new works. Several artists joined programmes to discover talented Arab youth as members of judging panels.

Eyes are set on second season of 'Arabs Got Talent'

Superstar Ragheb Alama is one of the artists participating in the judges' panel of "Arab Idol", which will be filmed in Beirut and aired live on MBC next January.

Alama is now in Dubai participating in casting for the programme, after finishing in Egypt and Morocco. Kuwait is the next stop. Yara is also taking part in a judges' panel for the "Najm al-Khaleej" programme, which just started last week and is being filmed at the Forum de Beyrouth.

Eyes are set on second season of the "Arabs Got Talent" programme to see if Najwa Karam, Ali Jaber and Amr Adib will return to the judges' panel. Filming is supposed to begin in December, and the episodes will be broadcast next April.

Longing, sadness and joy in Iraq

Kazem al-Saher visited Beirut to take part in shooting the second episode of "Najm al-Khaleej". Recently, al-Saher collaborated with Majida al-Roumi in a new song titled "Waadttak".

He also paid a visit to Iraq, which he described in an interview on the "Bahth wa Taharri" programme on Melody FM Radio as his "duty" in his capacity as a United Nations Ambassador of Goodwill.

Al-Saher said the visit was to look for areas where there are needy children. He said his visit was "a great honour and an awesome message. I had mixed feelings of longing, sadness and joy during my visit to Iraq."

Shatha Hassoun returned from Qatar to Beirut to celebrate the release of her first album "Wajh Thani". She returned after singing at two big wedding events in Doha. Her stop in Doha gave her more than one opportunity for media exposure, during which she spoke about her album and her selection as a United Nations Ambassador for Peace.

Carole Samaha performs on land and at sea

Carole Samaha is preparing for the "Stars on Board" cruise, which is organised by Youssef Harb, and will be sailing from Miami on October 7th. The cruise will head to the Bahamas for three nights, during which Carole will sing at two music events.

On the evening of September 16th, Samaha sang at the World Travel Awards at the Soho Square in Sharm El Sheikh. From the stage of Egypt Hall, she sang to a mixed audience of Arab and foreign nationals.

This event comes after performing at a concert in Qatar, where Samaha sang with a group of foreign stars at the annual Global Party, which is organised to support humanitarian and environmental activities in the world.

Big stars release new albums

Haifa Wehbe revealed that her new album includes 15 songs, one of which is a duet with the internationally renowned rap singer Snoop Dogg. She also finished shooting the music video for her new song "Bukra Bfarjeek" with an Italian director.

Emirati singer and United Nations Ambassador at Large Hussein al-Jasmi is preparing for the release in the next few days of his new album that contains 12 songs. Some of the songs included have already been played on radio stations and have become popular with listeners, which led him to collect them and release an album.

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    لمى

    2011-11-26

    The participation of some artists in TV programs as Judges is a good thing that has appeared recently on the Arab artistic scene. In fact, this has added joy and beauty to these programs, thanks to the artistic and scientific expertise of these committee members. At the same time, they have shed light on the artistic events of the participants who have been selected from the different Arab countries in order to participate in the artistic, cultural, scientific and literary competitions. In fact, MBC 4 has presented a competition program which includes a group of artistic cadres in the Jury, such as the Lebanese singer Najwa Karam, the Egyptian journalist Amr Adib, and Dr. Ali. These artists have hosted or these different competitions and this has delighted the viewers for many months, especially since the program includes varied, beautiful competitions. Thus, we hope that this experience will be repeated once again in order to achieve entertainment and benefits for both the participants and the viewers.

  • ابو شكري

    2011-11-26

    I commend the program of the Iraqi stars, which presented a group of Iraqi artists such as Ahmed Naama, the composer Mohammad Hadi and many other Iraqi artists, as Jurists. They evaluated the performance of the participants in the music competitions. In fact, they tried to choose talents in order to shed light on them. And these talents will present new artistic works in order to develop the Iraqi songs that must satisfy the taste of the Iraqi fans. In fact, the Juries have succeeded in discovering many artists who have a lot of talent and artistic competences. Thus, they will be stars in the sky of the Iraqi songs, thanks to this beautiful program. Besides, the Arab artistic scene has witnessed many festivals and TV programs that include committees of famous artists. Thus, they have presented these programs with excellence and success. This has increased the Arab fans’ admiration for their artistic and cultural capacities.

  • وعيد عبدالعلي

    2011-11-4

    I’m in favor of Arab artists getting into such shows that witness much excitement due to the great competition between participants. Many of these shows were met with great and unexpected success because of the artists’ participation as judges. One of these shows is Arabs’ Got Talent, in which Najwa Karam, the singing star, participated. It was one of the best shows presented by MBC and other shows that we follow with passion and admiration. Therefore, I am in agreement with Arab artists’ participation in competition shows presented by some satellite channels, because I think these shows need to appear in the form we like. As such, Arab artists’ participation in our satellite channels’ shows has many positive outcomes, because Arab artists have the ability to communicate through such shows, and after the successes, some artists have earned the audience’s admiration of them, because they added something new that contributes to developing the Arab shows, which witnessed much admiration and a following, because of some Arab artists’ participation as judges, both capably and successfully. These TV shows added much to them.

  • صفاء عبدالمنعم

    2011-11-4

    I believe that the Arab screens are currently witnessing much success in the field of TV shows that see some competition. These shows have become very successful because of the acceptance they had with the Arab families that are now very interested in such shows. In my personal opinion, the participation of some artists as judges of the competitors added much beauty to these shows, and the competition in them and was met by more admiration and popularity. This is evident as the viewing rates for these TV shows increased after artists participated in them. They also acquired a following by the media that shed light on such shows.

  • بشير عبدالرحيم

    2011-10-27

    I personally think that the stars are some of the worst judges when it comes to evaluating the contestants’ performances. These contestants make a lot of efforts to present what’s best, but they want to have a professional evaluate their performance, and give them fair results and scores that would make them see the mistakes and give a better performance in the future. I ask the judging panel to be responsible and present what’s best, and focus on the main competitors. We thank these competitors for all the efforts that they deploy in order to reach advanced phases of the competition. The stars should just stick to their field of work, because they represent the work that they do, and have to present what’s best; and many people hate the stars who are part of judging panels because they sometimes support some contestants while ignoring others.

  • ناصر بلال

    2011-10-27

    It is a good thing that the artists are a part of this program. First, they will be able to communicate with their fans, and at the same time, they bring something from their success to the program which they have a say in, as many of their fans will follow up with the program to watch their favorite artists and their favorite singers. Also, the participation of these artists in such programs draws from the experiences that they have acquired while practicing in the artistic field, such as the programs that present singing talents. Therefore, we find that there are two artists in the Arbitration Committee from among the well-known singers, and they have a great deal of experience in singing and this will then benefit the program. They will give their free and honest opinions about the participants who apply for this program. They will work to choose the best in terms of performance and artistic talent, as well as in their ability in the programs. This is a good and positive thing and this is no mistake; on the contrary, they add a special flavor to these interesting programs, which receive approval and consent from everyone through the voting of the audience who chooses the best among the participants.

  • رشدي رفيق

    2011-10-27

    Personally, I think that television stars should not be a part of the judging committees for some shows, because there are people with a lot more experience who should evaluate the contestants. When stars take part in these shows, it is only for their own publicity, and nothing more. They keep bragging; for example, on the show “Arab’s Got Talent,” one of the judges is a singer, the second is a television presenter and the third is a professor at an American university. So, they have nothing to do with evaluating what the contestants have presented. Their evaluation is not a good one, because there are a great number of contestants who were really talented, yet they were excluded. I think that there have to be judging committees and supervisors who should know very well what is happening. They should explain the process and evaluate it in the best way, without underestimating some of the people. The judges of the committee should be very cautious to choose the best contestants.

  • منصر حسون

    2011-10-25

    It is a good thing that the artists are a part of this program. First, they will be able to communicate with their fans, and at the same time, they bring something from their success to the program which they have a say in, as many of their fans will follow up with the program to watch their favorite artists and their favorite singers. Also, the participation of these artists in such programs draws from the experiences that they have acquired while practicing in the artistic field, such as the programs that present singing talents. Therefore, we find that there are two artists in the Arbitration Committee from among the well-known singers, and they have a great deal of experience in singing and this will then benefit the program. They will give their free and honest frank opinions about the participants who apply for this program. They will work to choose the best in terms of performance and artistic talent, as well as in their ability in the programs. This is a good and positive thing and this is no mistake; on the contrary, they add a special flavor to these interesting programs, which receive approval and consent from everyone through the voting of the audience who chooses the best among the participants.

  • محمود جمال

    2011-10-24

    Honestly, it is logical to choose some artists as members of the panels in some TV programs in which the youth participate in singing, acting and dancing competitions, in addition to showing their talents, because those artists are experienced and have artistic skills and can evaluate the efficiency of the male and female applicants. Hence, I think that choosing some artists as members is a good thing, and it contributes to the discovery of new talents. That is because it is very important to have people who are aware of this field and who have made original contributions to the artistic field. They have also achieved many successes. Hence, the artists are the ones who should decide who is good and who is bad, as they have entered this field before, and they will choose the new talents.

  • كميل قاسم

    2011-10-24

    Hello, thanks for the article. I think that we should adopt the opinions of the artists who participate as judges in the programs to choose the best, away from the compliments or sympathy, because in this field, we also have the opinion of the audience. Hence, the judgment of the artists must be serious, so that the youth will exert serious efforts to introduce the sublime art, which is loved by the audience. This applies to singing, acting, directing, filming, painting, or any other field that requires introducing good and successful artists. This art is loved and followed by many people, who love such programs that have succeeded in attracting a large audience. Examples are Star Academy, Gulf Stars, Arabs Got Talent, Super Star and the other programs in which the artists participate as evaluators and judges. They shortlist the competitors and choose those who have real artistic talents and successful activities and those who have the ability to present beautiful singing and acting. The participation of the talented young participants introduces their artistic talents; they have the spirit of competition, and they are determined to perform the shows that they have spent a lot of time training for in the best possible way. By the end of the week, the competitors introduce their works, and then the voting process by the audience begins. They follow the competitors from their countries and vote for them. In this way, the best competitor will be chosen, according to the excellence of his/her performance. After every week, they shortlist the competitors according to the negative aspects of their performance, and then they choose one competitor to be the star, who deserves the title of artist, singer, etc.

  • حسن

    2011-10-24

    I support allowing some artists to be on the panel in evaluating talents of some TV shows. Thanks.