Ultimate Amr Diab blog

Egyptian megastar, Amr Diab, has remained in the limelight for decades, setting trends, beloved by millions, sometimes controversial, always blogworthy.




Saturday, September 23, 2006

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Amr the "Fairy Godmother" and the Case of the Athenee Troupe from Lebanon

... Farouk Hosni wanted a Lebanese performance for the opening [of the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre (CIFET)] "as a show of solidarity" with the Lebanese people and the troupe's Al-Nasheed (The Anthem -- reviewed last week) was recommended and accepted. There remained one problem: the troupe could not afford the plane tickets and the regulations of the festival stipulated that companies should pay their own fare. In ordinary circumstances. Randa Asmar and Ghibrial Yamin, the founders of the troupe and its leading actors, would have sought the help of sympathetic bodies and individuals. But with Lebanon all but totally destroyed and needing all the help it can get from its friends and neighbours, fundraising to go to a festival is not only impossible, but hardly the decent thing to do. Since the troupe were not getting any money for their performance, the least the festival could do was pay their passage. The festival's organisers, however, were loath to bend the rules, fearing it would set a precedent and set their worst bureaucratic face dead against all arguments and commonsense. They completely forgot that exceptional situations call for exceptional measures. The fairy godmother who stepped in at the last minute to transport the troupe to Egypt and save the minister's face was pop singer Amr Diab; the whole thing cost him LE20,000 -- a small drop in the ocean of the Ministry of Culture's budget. One winces at the mention of this unsavoury episode. But the deplorable treatment of the troupe did not stop at this; as if to punish them for the embarrassment they unwittingly caused the festival, its organisers barred them from taking part in the contest, though Randa Asmar's performance could have successfully competed for the best actress award, and allowed them only one performance instead of the usual two allotted to all groups in or outside the contest. Naturally, they were bitter about the way they were treated and I shared their feelings. My bitterness deepened when I learnt that the other Lebanese troupe, from Haigazian University, would not be bringing their Li Wannus (For Wannus) to Cairo. It seems that in their case, no fairy godmother was at hand to come to the rescue. That the festival could easily have paid their fare and didn't still mortifies me. Link

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Events

Yes, yes, there was a GUC concert on the 14th Sept and I'm sure it was fab but more interesting to me personally is the rumoured Malaysia concert. Now, my plan has been to winter thereabouts but not until December ... so hopefully the current negotiations will be slow but successful.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

New album after Ramadan?

According to Albawaba : "Eyptian pop star Amr Diab has gone into seclusion to place the final touches on his upcoming album, which he plans to release during the Muslim holiday Eid Al Fitr. The singer has worked with some of the most talented composers and accomplished distributors to ensure the album's success. According to the UAE based daily, Al Bayan, Amr said that his new album features many surprises and he is optimistic it will meet the satisfaction of his loyal fans. On a different note, Amr will personally finance the travel expenses of the Lebanese mission that will participate in the Cairo Theater Festival on September 10th. This is Amr's way of showing solidarity with the Lebanese people who suffered tremendously at the hands of Israel. Head of the Egyptian Actors Association, Ashraf Zaki, said that he had received word that the Lebanese mission was unable to finance their travel and Amr agreed to help the ten performers attend the festival.

A few months ago, an official at the Egyptian Embassy in Istanbul notified police officials that Amr was not responsible for the illegal actions of a concert agent who swindled fans into purchasing tickets for a bogus concert to be held by Amr. The official was shocked to discover that tickets were being sold at 50 US dollars each and immediately made a call to the managing office of Amr in Egypt to see if the news was true. Amr's office denied any scheduled performance in Turkey, leading the embassy to contact local police, reported the Qatar based daily, Al Raya. The Arts and Concert Company, to which the agent belongs has been found guilty of fraud, scamming thousands of Turkish fans. The company had advertised for three concerts to be held by Amr in Turkey.