Recently all I have been hearing about is how Carole Smaha has been breaking concert attendance records and taking the Arab world by storm! Now Mai Hariri held an outstanding concert as part of the ‘Hasbia’ festival in Lebanon. This got me thinking are Lebanese singers with the ‘whole package’ starting to take over the world of music?
Photos from Mai Hariri concert during Hasbia festival
I mean before we had people like Haifa who is beautiful undoubtedly but who lacks a voice. Now there are singers like Carole, Elissa and Mai who are getting the attention they deserve because they are gorgeous and have strong and romantic voices. Question is, will this push countries like Egypt out of the picture? As an Egyptian I have to say that more and more of the stars in Egypt are singing with their bodies and bringing our standards down!
By Karim
Comments
Lebanon has always been number 1 in acting and singing. This is nothing new. The only thing that pushed them out of the picture for a while, was the war.
Attendance record??
Sorry yeah Karim, bas something is seriously wrong with your information.
I dearly respect the Lebanese music and the people involved in it...
Our singers, writers, composers, and arrangers are the number one in the middle east, with no competition.
You can barely find any Lebanese arranger who brings out new music, that, sir is a fact no one can deny.
And by the way, Carole Samaha did not break attendance record, beacause with all due respect she is barely cared about in Egypt, which all the singers want to reach in the arab world. The Egyptian music industry is the most important.
We ba3den, lama yeba fe2 AMR DIAB delwatti fe Lebanon, neb2a netkalem...
Of course, we are setting FAIROUZ aside in this discussion, because she is much more important than a discussion like this...
lol mokhtara are u joking?! true lebanon has some great singers, dancers, performers etc, but 1 thing they DONT have is good actors. just look at the lebanese soaps, the quality of acting is poooor.............honestly leave the acting and drama to the syrians and egyptians.
oh and if ur talking about attendance records, they are absolutely nothing compared to the attendance that singers like Kathem Al Saher and Asala get.
I would understand why we would be #1 in singing but acting not so much. and MASRI umm dont forget that all egyptions are CRAZY over lebanese singers have you forgotten about nancy and elissa for example?
and Lara youre just being wierd cuz nobody mentioned iraqi or syrian stars its only egypt and lebanon that are in the post :)
Actually I believe Karim means Female singers and not the whole music industry, so not only Fairuz should be left out but Amr Diab (unless there is something I need to know) as well as any comparison that does not involve the fairer sex.
Personally I love Carole's songs, and I do believe she has an incredible voice as well as being attractive, but Mai Hariri?!
No Mai does not possess the whole package, she has some sort of package but a decent voice is not included.
Setting Fairuz aside, there are only two female singers that do actually have the complete package, Majida Elroumi and Angham. These two have the beauty, decency and superb voices.
Mokhtara,
We can talk about singing but not acting, our actors fail to deliver mainly due to bad scripts and awful directing in soaps. Lebanese actors do seem to show talent in Egyptian and Syrian series.
My main problem is that Lebanon has much more talented singers, while Karim mentioned the not-so-great ones. The only one he mentioned that has a decent voice is Carole Samaha, but the others don't have the WHOLE package...
Elissa only sounds well with thousands of hours spent on mastering and editing before the album is released. And we all know that for a fact..at least if you heard her sing live.
Elissa and Mai Harriri shouldn't be the ones representing Lebanese music, which Karim makes it seem so...
Both Egypt and Lebanon have a great industry with many historic and rising talents...
And yes, AMR DIAB should be kept out of this discussion...
sex sells people!!!
Sorry, but with all due respect, I do not think that the Egyptians are more advanced in the music industry than Lebanon is. Yes, they have had far more success in the film industry, but as far as music goes, I don't think so. It's important to know that in this type of industry, singers must come as a package (in terms of voice but also their styling, apperance, composure, poise, and over all look). I believe that the Lebanese have achieved this far better than anyone in the Middle East from past to present...
Also, people like Haifa Wehbe and May Hariri are entertainers and do not dub themselves as "moterbene" or real singers. If anyone with good voices dominate the Lebanese music scene, it is those who have stayed true to the Lebanese dialect such as Majida El Roumi, Najwa Karam (who in my opinion is far far better than Asalah and Angham), and Asi Hillani (who I also think is far better than Amr Diab).
GO LEBANON!!!!
The largest Arab concerts ever were by Haifa Wehbe in Oman with 500,000 and Beirut around 900,000.
They are all amazing singers and Haifa deserves all of her success also.
I too would thought Karim would have named Nancy instead of either Elissa or Mai.
Two Lebanese singers that are not appreciated to their full extent are Carole Sakr and Julia Boutros but both cover up a bit too much. I cannot think of any other females that deserve respect except Majida and Yara. I would love if Najwa Karam stopped making those silly Video clips of late. I have to say the 4 cats are among the worst we have produced.
I used to like Assi Hilani's old songs but not his latest efforts, I have to disagree with you leb_boy. It seems To Each His Own, or it seems with the posters to each his own country. Egypt has a great history with the music industry that no one can deny or take away.
In Oman there were about 200,000 people only and the Beirut concert was not only for Haifa. It was the first of FREE series of concerts held to celebrate the political deadlock and the Doha agreement. The people thought the crap was over and felt like rejoicing. Ma kano honik bas kermal 3youna la Haifa, Assi was supposed to sing after her too. Stop exaggerating her success!
Silvana i agree with u 100%
its a 100% lie no one wud buy a ticket to watch a singer with no talent at all and with a fake micheal jackson nose and fake blue lenses wich is simplyy HAIFA! y wud pple spend hours to listen to play bak?? ok i agree she is very attractive bas still fake and she not talented at all..here in jordan she barely holds concerts and no body even goes..or only 2 look at her dressess and looks bas voice??? and her music wich is wawa ba77??? wtf>? in jordan elissa, yara and nancy ajram are the most successful singers...thousands of pple attent their concerts becuz they have amaizng voices and amazing songs to listen 2 and not play bak!!!!! and mair hariri has no voice just like haifa......
and lebanon has a good music industry but not acting acting goes to egypt and syria....
stop makingg fightsss lebanon and egypt about the artist industryy!! looolll
SORYY BUT HAIFA IS ONLY FAMOUS BECUZ OF HER LOOKS BUT TALENT IS ZERO !!
nancy ajram is the bestt !!!!!!!!!! tox fehom kolhomm!!!!!!!!! MOST famous, successfulll best songs best voice and beautifulll !!!
pple that attended the carthage wen haifa wuz there wuz becuz nader wus there ..his family and country went 2 see em...they had a interview with certain pple that they came becuz of their eben balad NADERR !!
-BEST LEBANESE SINGER : NANCY AJRAM
- BEST EGYPTION SINGER: angham
DIANA i was talking about 'breaking the record for attendance'......coz thats what the article is about!! the point is that if ur looking at attendance records, there are other singers that have much greater records than the lebanese. anyway, regardless, singers are popular for who they are and what they give not where theyr from.
oh and MYA u summed it all up really well......sex sells!!
With all due respect, Assi El Hallani, whom I think is a great singer, can not be compared to the greatest singer of this and the past generation...
Ya3ni Assi hasn't done half of what Amr achieved during his past 25 years...
Amr was able to make his music reach everyone in the world, from Asia to Europe, and albums like Nour El Ein and Tamally Maak made him a world-wide phenomeonen...
His voice, charisma, looks, and more importantly the NEW music he has brought into our culture over the years easily make him the one of the greatest and most popular singers who ever existed in the middle east...
He is history, that I think no one can reach or discuss...
Again, I respect Assi Hellani, but he never brought out the best from his composers or arrangers to produce new music, as Amr has always done..
u have said one thing true : ** he is history ** LOL
Well, it's quite normal that every person stands by their own country. And to be honest, no one will ever agree because everyone has a different taste in music as well. I think we should all be proud regardless because the more Middle Eastern countries becoming better in the entertainment industry the better! We should all be proud that we have each other because it gives an awesome variety!
But at the end of the day, our dialects and parts of our culture are different which does seperate us. For example, I am sure most Lebanese prefer to watch the Syrian dramas more than the Egyptian dramas because the Syrian dialect is more understandable to us because they speak almost the same.
ok umm it's rly annoying to see lebanese and egyptians fighting and everyone claiming that his country is superior over the other...I am lebanese and I do think that Lebanon's singers are doing a better job than egyptians RIGHT NOW because wn i tune in to melody...everyday i witness 4 new faces most of them egyptians with no talent at all...there are some lebanese crappy singers too but the % of egyptians crappy singers is higher...i dont mean ppl like angham, amr diab....but i mean singers that have no talent and melody gives them air time wn they dont even deserve it!...i dont even remember their names coz i dont listen to arabic music but sometimes wn i am bored i catch up with some clips...horrible! no voice, all plastic, no talent at all...so while the lebanese singers such as nancy, carol, elissa, darin hadchiti, yara, nawal al zoghby...are trying to improve theirselves...i catch up with new teens on melody who cant sing a lick! (heard of that expression?)...its like listening to an arabian version of jillian hall! i rly think that egyptian industry should ban their singers from singing! instead of banning ppl like carol who have talent...yes she has talent and she is a total package...she is my favorite lebanese singer...she combines old skool and new generation and with her charisma, looks, and good acting...her clips are always oustanding...
now egyptians are always impressive wn it comes to acting...and um i repeat i dont watch arabic serieses but on ramadan (and some lebanese ones) but i do notice the difference between lebanese actors and egyptians...but offcourse we have to give lebanese actors credit for improving...syrian actors just keep repeating themeselves so i'd go with egyptian actors...
Lebanon and egypt are on the top of the mountain wn it comes to entertainment and this mountain has a place for both countries so please try not to fight over silly things...
*And thats my 2 cents*
Shadi, Lebanon
Who is fighting here? No one is fighting, it is quite a civil exchange.
no one compares to haifa!!!!!!!!!
especially not ugly carole.