Around two years ago we heard of a series that was to document the life of Egyptian music legend Baligh Hamdi. However, for quite a while we heard little to nothing about it until recently when the director, Magdi Ahmed, disclosed that actor Mohamed Nagati is preparing to play the part of Baligh Hamdi. Obviously this is a very controversial and important part and Mohamed was the third choice of the director after Mamdouh Abdel Aleem who declined the role due to a conflict between him and the director, and Hani Salama who was too busy with other projects.

• Syrian singer Asalah Nasri has finally decided to release her new Khaliji video clip, La Tekhaf, after the Eid festivals. After meeting with great success in the Gulf without even a video clip, Asalah believed it was time to honor it with one. Asalah recently celebrated her brother's wedding also where she sang duets with her sister. Asalah's next (Egyptian) album is expected in mid-2008.

• After a successful (and loud!) night on Hala Sarhan's Qannat Khams Nojoum show with Bahraini presenter Amira, Lebanese Studio El Fan graduate Fares Karam has begun plans to shoot his next single Khetyar Elli Aal Akazeh. Fares will also be busy with numerous concerts during the Eid festivals, he will be performing in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.

• Egyptian Star Academy alumni Zizi Adel is riding on a tide of success with her second video clip, Wahda Tanya, and appeared with Mona Zaki on Qannat Khams Nojoum also. She is currently in the studio picking songs for her follow-up sophomore album. She has chosen five songs so far, but no new writers, composers, or arrangers yet.

Many people criticize Arabic music of staying where it is and of not modernizing as much as Western music for example. However, one man who is helping progress our music is Laith Bazari, a Palestinian producer who makes CD’s where he fuses Arab singers latest hits to create a ‘non stop’ Club Arabia mix CD! Laith has worked with some of the biggest names such as Sony and Warner’s but he makes these Club Arabia albums regularly and they make it big in places like Cairo.

June has come upon us, summer has officially settled in, and the music albums are just rolling in! Along with veteran crooners Fella Ababsa, Rabea El Asmar and Najwa Karam’s latest releases have come an endless influx of albums. Budding artists Janine D., Saad Hamad, Camilia, Ramy Moussa, and Maram have released their albums. Even dancer Najlaa has released an album. More importantly, however, are two albums that are due at our music stores within the next two weeks.

There have been several rumors regarding a ‘Star Academy Egypt’ and it seems we were nearly right in our speculations! It has been assured that Amr Diab will be hosting a new show that aims to discover new talent in the fields of writing lyrics, composing and singing and that this TV show will go by the name of ‘Al Awal’! The finalization of the decision was prompted by a meeting between Amr Diab and the Minister of Information in Egypt where the Minister proposed to Amr the idea of actually hosting ‘Al Awal’!

Arabic music channels have taken their place in the audience's sacred list ... no house will go through a day without zapping to one or more music channel to listen & more importantly watch the video clips of Nancy Ajram, Haifa Wehbe & others.
The competition has become fierce among these channels, Rotana is the biggest in the domain, after which comes Melody, Mazzika & Nujoom. Soon, another will pop up ... MTV Arabiya! Will they be able to compete?

Traditionally, the summer has been “Album Season” for the Arabic music industry. However, after the unfortunate summer in Lebanon, the season did not go quite as planned. And so Spring 2007 has taken on the task of “Album Season”. So far we have seen the greats: Kadim El Sahir, Rashed El Majed, and Joe Ashkar. We have the rising stars: Shams, Issaf, Tamer Hosny, Hikmate, Rajaa, Amr Mustafa, Mustafa Amar, Ahmad Hussain , Bashar El Shatti, Hayat, Jawad El Ali, Zee Zee, and Ruby. Then we have the not so great: Maria, and Dana. If you thought that was a long list, keep in mind I’ve mentioned the majority, not all of the albums released since January. Also, keep in mind that there is a much longer list coming up in the exceedingly near future (2007):

Haifa Wehbe has caused a major conflict recently between the two music satellite channels Mazzika Tv and Rotana for previewing her famous song 'Ragab' exclusively to Mazzika although Haifa and her song are fully contracted with Rotana and I mean by fully her albums, productions and video clips.

However,the people responsible in Mazzika channel claimed that Haifa dedicated 'Ragab' to them after recording the same song in a different way assuring that her contract with Rotana expired and that its her right to market her work in her own way. Along came the war between the two satellite channels when Haifa surprisingly told Rotana that Mazzika was mistaken and blamed them to justify herself!

The story never changes; the characters are simply switched with new ones. This is the story of Rotana and its never-ending conflicts with its Egyptian artists. The latest conflict would be with the famous Egyptian singer, Angham. Angham’s latest quarrel with Rotana is over her choice of director. Angham is trying, again, to get Nadine Labaki to do her first video for her upcoming album. However, Salim El Hindi’s strict budget, again, is preventing Angham from doing so. Last time, she settled for Hadi El Bajouri. This time, the conflict remains unresolved. This follows her complaints about how Rotana didn’t sufficiently advertise her album. Naturally, an artist with Angham’s rich history would be extremely offended at the treatment she is receiving from her production company.

Back in the good old days, when Arabic music was actually completely 100% Arabic, this was not a concern. When Um Kolthoum, Fairouz, Wadi’ El Safi, and Sabah got on stage you had no doubt that you were about to listen to an Arab production. However, during the nineties more than ever, stars like Amr Diab, Elissa, Nawal El Zoghbi and even Saber El Robai and Fadel Shaker’s “composers” stole endless melodies and pieces from their Turkish and Greek counterparts. This problem has become of much less importance as copyright protection in the Middle East strengthens, but the problem is by no means gone and now, Arabs blatantly steal from each other!

The name Rotana needs no introduction, but in case you’ve been living under a rock: Rotana is the Arab world’s largest music distributor and producer, with 130 active artistic contracts, and a portfolio boasting giants like Sultan El Tarab George Wassouf, Caesar El Tarab Kadim El Saher, Shams El Ghinnieh Najwa Karam, Asalah Nasri, Elissa, Hussain El Jassmi, Amr Diab, Angham and the late Zekra. Naturally, power lunches like the following are all in a day’s work for such a company:

After creating the most beautiful music melodies in the whole world for Fayrouz and others, Elias El Rahbani decided to artistically adopt “Dana” who is famous with her song “Ana Dandan” which is talking about how much she is beautiful and gorgeous without any plastic surgeries!

Everyone including me, and I believe you will share this with me as well, is greatly surprised that Elias who comes from a very famous artistic family can even listen to that kind of singing. It started when he made a song for Haifa Wehbe called “Badi Eish” and ended up with this.

The count down has started for the launching of the second season of X-Factor. The tour will include 7 countries as the following:

• Beirut in Venesia Hotel: From 22 – 23 January
• Casablanca in Morocco: From 26 – 27 January
• Tunisia: From 30 – 31 January
• Cairo: From 3 – 4 February

As if the song hasn't caused enough controversy already.
Boos il Wawa, Haifa Wahbe's song which was released some time ago still hasn't sunk into the ears of the Arab public in Syria. According to a survey conducted by "Farah Radio", 80% of Syrians don't like the song to be on the airwaves and another 10% don't want to hear it at all.

A source within "Farah" said that a decision maybe taken to remove the song altogether based on public request.