Ultimate Amr Diab blog

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




Friday, January 20, 2006

Canadian Concert Details

Ya Amr ... listen up! I've been waiting for you to come to Canada for, like, FOREVER but in March I'll be in Egypt. So perhaps you might oblige with a late March show in your home country. April will be too late. What do you think?? Consider it anyway.

Excuse me for that. Now, for those of you who WILL be in Canada in March, here are the details and you'd better be snapping up those tickets before it's too late!

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Date: Friday, March 24, 2006
Time: 09:00 PM
Place: Toronto - Ricoh Coliseum (100 Princes' Boulevard)
With: Reda Abdulla & 4 Cats
Price: CDN$55 - CDN$85 still available (approx 8100 capacity at this venue)
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Date: Saturday, March 25, 2006
Place: Montreal - Cepsum (at the University of Montreal)
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Toronto and Montreal

San Francisco tickets are NOW ON SALE

Predictably, Toronto and Montreal are the two Canadian dates now confirmed. Looks like Vancouver has been left out of the loop. Sorry, guys! Tickets for both these events should be going on sale today or tomorrow so keep your eyes peeled.

I'll keep you updated, as always.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Vegas tickets update

Tickets for the Vegas show at the Paris Casino are on sale now with tickets ranging in price from a bargain US$76 to a princely US$274. The casino's pretty snazzy and it should be quite the show!

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

San Francisco Tour Date

Date: Friday, March 17, 2006
Place: San Francisco, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
Time: 9:00 pm
Price: $49 to $200
Amr Diab comes to San Francisco with tickets going on sale soon. Very limited supply of the $200 VIP tickets which include a dinner (served at 8:00 pm).

Recap of announced dates:
March 10 : Detroit (Fox Theater)
March 11 : Atlantic City (Taj Mahal Casino)
March 17 : San Francisco (Bill Grahams Civic Center )
March 18 : Las Vegas, (Paris Casino) ** more info to follow on this one

Yes, compatriots, there will be Canadian dates but we're still waiting for dates to be finalized.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Amr comes to North America

Date: Saturday, March 11, 2006
Place: Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Time: 8:30 pm
Tickets: from US$55 to US$145
Amr will be appearing with: Four Cats and, amazingly, at the time of writing you can still snag a front row seat! Must be 10 years old to attend.


Date: Friday, March 10, 2006
Place: Fox Theatre Detroit, 2211 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48201
Time: 7:30 PM
Tickets: from US$55 to US$150
Selling fast; the best (and most expensive) seats have already sold out here but some good ones are still available. Oh, Amr -- Detroit loves you!

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Eid Mubarak

Monday, January 09, 2006

A Revolution in its Day

Here's an interesting editorial on Arabic music videos giving accolades to one Amr Diab.

Celluloid dream: TV and films project a Middle East fantasyland
By Nadia Wassef and David Blanks Special to The Daily Star

CAIRO: Imagine if the only source of information about the Middle East for Westerners were Arabic music videos ... Larry King would invite sociologists and medical specialists to discuss Middle Eastern dating patterns and why the women there are so much better looking than the men ... High school students would write essays about how wealthy Arabs are - and how they live in palaces and drive Porsches and Jaguars. College girls learning oriental dance would wear short, tight skirts and clingy blouses that showed maximum cleavage. Their boyfriends would walk around in unbuttoned white shirts with designer beards, sunglasses and gold necklaces ...

In the early eighties, anyone could make a video - and they all did. The problem was that some of these people were seriously ugly. (For verification check the oldies clips on VH1.) Mick Jagger and Keith Richards weren't exactly poster boys for the British Dental Association. But the boy bands of today, hubba, hubba! ... The Rolling Stones could well afford to be ugly; they wrote great songs. It no longer works that way - not after the accounting department at MTV explained to the producers that it's easier to increase the number of viewers (hence advertising revenue) if they showed lots of images of really gorgeous faces. This is the law on Mazika, Nugoom, Music Arabia and Melody. ... In the days of Abdel Wahab and Abdel Halim Hafez, music was about love and yearning and romance; now it's about love and yearning and selling shampoo ... It seems the Arab dream consists of consumerism and consummation...

More than the recording industry has changed, though; music television has altered the way we look at things, the way we see our world. Watch any serial, sitcom, movie or ad from 15 years ago and you'll want to stuff your head in a plastic bag... Today all music clips are mini movies and all movies are extended music videos. The culture has changed forever. Some of this is for the better; the genre has improved...

Remember the first time you saw the video for Amr Diab's "Habibi Nour El-Ein"? Shot in El Gouna, Egypt, with its attention to color, costumes, choreography, set design: it was a revolution. Some say this revolution comes from elsewhere, that it's a sad imitation of the West. But honestly, who the hell cares? ... Do you think for a moment that seventeenth-century European courtiers sat around worrying if drinking coffee was too Eastern? Of course they did. But so what? Look who won in the long run. And don't you worry ... it's bound to all come round again.

Copyright (c) 2006 The Daily StarTuesday, January 10, 2006
Read the entire article here

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Amr Diab and ‘The Four Cats’ on tour

I'm hoping these concert dates will go the way of CD release dates!! For years, I've been patiently waiting for a Canadian tour. In March, for the first time in five years, I'll be in Egypt. Get real!

Egyptian superstar Amr Diab is preparing for his upcoming concert tour in the United States and Canada, organized by Yousif Harb. The tour will commence in March and the Lebanese band ‘The Four Cats’ will be joining him. According to the London based Elaph, the band will perform with Amr at all of his concerts, and Iraqi singer Rida Al Abdullah will join them in Canada for two performances.

Link Posted: 08-01-2006 , 08:15 GMT

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Amr Diab in Paris

Egyptian pop star Amr Diab has decided which song from his new album is worthy of a music video. The singer decided on the song “WI Maleh” (What’s Wrong), and has chosen Paris for the filming location. According to the Qatar based daily, Al Raya, Amr’s decision is based on his desire to film a slow and romantic song to match the atmosphere of winter. Diab recently released his long awaited album, “Kamil Kalamak” (Finish Talking) and is elated over its success.

Amr agreed with American director Cameron Casey to film the new music videos for the album. The cooperation is the second between the two, the first being the singer’s clip “Laili Nahari” (My Night is Day). Amr had postponed his album because he felt that he needed to take as much time as possible to ensure that it is of the highest quality, the singer explained, revealing that a state of fear always accompanies him with every new release, single, and even concert
. Amr stated that he only presents his work to his audience and his production company ‘Rotana’ when it is ready and he is satisfied with what he has created. He also stated that he is the one who takes responsibility for the album, and its success or failure ultimately affects him. According to the Qatar based daily, Al Raya, Amr is preparing for his return to the cinema after a 15 year absence and will be starring in the new film “Al Muhtarif” (The Specialist) written by Dr. Midhat Al Adel and directed by Ahmad Nader Jalal.

Amr has nominated actress Muna Zaki to star in the film.

© 2006 Al Bawaba Link

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Tamer vs Diab controversy

The following Albawaba article refers to the 2005 Nile Variety Channel awards where Amr Diab walked away with Best Egyptian & Arabic Singer (2005), Best Album (Kammil Kalamak) and Best Song (We Malo).

Tamer Husni refuses to be honored

Egyptian singer Tamer Husni refused to participate in the awards ceremony for Egyptian actors and singers for the year 2005, which took place at the Nile Variety Television Network. Rumors claim that Tamer refused to attend after he saw enormous posters of Egyptian singer Amr Diab plastered all over the network. His relationship with Amr is on shaky grounds. Tamer was to be presented with the award for Best Male singer for 2005. He stated that the he is very proud to be chosen as best singer, and promises to always strive to present his best to his fans. Tamer has agreed to make his first television commercial for a soft drink company for 750 thousand US dollars. Rumors claim that the soft drink company is the same company that featured Lebanese singers Nawal Al Zoughbi, Alissa, and Egyptian singer Amr Diab in their advertisements.

Link

Monday, January 02, 2006

Amr Diab's First Trip of 2006

Following on the heels of two very successful New Year's Eve shows in Cairo, Amr made his first trip of 2006 ... to the hospital! Luckily it would appear that the kidney disorder is nothing serious and he is making plans for his second trip of the year ... this time to London where he will shoot video for We Malo.