Latest media update

Prominent Egyptian singer Amr Diab has cancelled his concert tour in Germany scheduled for May 27 due to the sudden death of his life long friend Ashraf Foad, the drummer in his band ...Ashraf was playing squash with Amr, when Foad suffered a heart attack.
Before the tragedy, Diab was preparing to film a new music video "Wihkaytak Aih" (What Is Your Story) under the direction of Sharif Sabri, business manager of controversial singer Ruby. Filming was scheduled to begin in May. read more

Ayoon Wa Azan (Egyptian by Hobby)

by Jihad el-Khazen Al-Hayat - 29/05/06

Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif is a prominent figure; he eclipsed all the participants at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Middle East in Sharm el-Sheikh. With his tall stature, he towered over all other participants. He must have played baseball when he was a student. The Prime Minister exerted a striking effort in hosting the participants from every country. The new conference center has facilities and a capacity as large as that of international conferences. Sharm el-Sheikh resort has international hotels, some of which are villages standing on their own. The hospitality was generous and services were up for grabs. However, I'm Egyptian 'by hobby', but I will not give preference to my hobby, and will try to be objective. There were minor blemishes, like water-tight security measures that had led to my reaching the conference center in two minutes from my hotel and going back in eight minutes through ring roads, and being subject to security vetting at least twice inside and outside.

I know some will say that tight security is better than the alternative. I also know that it is indisputable that the Egyptian concert in which Amr Diab sang, and which was attended by President Mubarak and his wife, was more important that any other session I had attended...more

Very sad news :(

German concert organizers, Nofretete Management, made the following sad announcement:

Ashraf Fouad, Amr Diab's close friend and lead drums player in the band had passed away on Tuesday's May 23rd 2006 early morning after a strong sudden heart attack.
Due to this very sad happening, Amr will be unable to perform in Essen on May 27th.
Amr is apologizing to all his fans, and asks them to pray for Ashraf to rest in peace.

Our condolences.

Raucous?

This is an interesting article but given that Mr Reed describes Amr's music as raucous (dictionary: adj 1: unpleasantly loud and harsh) I'd be suspicious of his other comments.

Why Egypt Remains a Riddle

The economy of the Arab nation is beginning to attract investment, but its political future is still far from certain Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak isn't known for levity. But on May 21, the stocky former air force general looked on beside his clapping wife, Suzanne, while several hundred guests, including much of the Egyptian political and business elite, bumped and ground to the raucous music of popular singer Amr Diab in a makeshift amphitheater overlooking the Red Sea. Despite Egypt's increasing Islamic tinge, liquor flowed freely. The blowout was the high point of a World Economic Forum meeting in the resort of Sharm el Sheikh.

Link

Amr Diab's Sweet Scent

Is Amr about to launch a new fragrance? Tarkan (you know Tarkan, don't you) launched an Eau de Toilette but my sources say that the eucalyptus tang met with mixed reviews. Naturally our Amr would do better!! I'd say he'd have something spicy, maybe musky. What do you think? Tarkan called his fragrance "Tarkan". A bit predictable, no? Come on, fans, let's give Amr some ideas for innovative names for the fragrance of 2006. Put your thinking caps on.

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