Richard El Haj, The Savvy Egyptian Producer

One Australian, Egyptian Lebanese music producer is Richard El Hag "Hajj" is busy promoting new voices in the Egyptian market and doing so with his company Pyramedia production. His track record included introducing Loai and composer singer Mohammad Rahim to the business.

Richard seems like a nice guy, but he is one savvy business man too, who knows a money making talent when he sees it. So he sat down for interview to talk about how much he loves Egyptian pop. His father is sort of Lebanese, his mother is Egyptian and works in Australia to promote Egyptian tourism.

Asidie from that, he is now focused on making Egypt the go to place for production of Arab entertainment. Egypt has been losing ground to other Arab capitals ever since the year 2000 hit us. Richard took the time to introduce three new talents from Egypt one from the city of Alexandria who also sings in the opera.

This is a cool way to introduce new talents and try to give them promotion during those tough times. A tip next time, maybe he should get interviewers who actually speak the Arabic language.


المنتج ريتشارد الحاج فى برنامج اه ياليل الجزء الاول

All Things Nesma From Star Academy 8 Winner

Nesma Mahgoub, the title winner of Star Academy Season 8 arrived home for quite the great homecoming at the Cairo Airport. There were droves of fans, journalists and onlookers waiting for her at the airport.

Nesma arrived Egypt at 6 PM and there was a bash for this lady with the most amazing voice, a young women can wish for. For the nexty feww weeks you will sure find a lot of interviews and media appearances with Nesma.

And once all this is over with, she will find a talent manger and a production company who would be willing to sponsor her and turn her fame into a commercial success. We know that she has the voice for it, so will all that register with the listeners and those who actually buy CDs?

Nesma Mahgoub At Cairo Airport


ستار اكاديمي 8 تابلوه نسمة في اغنية غربية تحفة البرايم الاخير


Nesma Mahgoub's Mother And Fiancee

Hilmi Baker Comments On Egyptain Music

Hilmi Baker the Egyptian composer who has been very close to Eastern melodies all his career that has enriched the Arabic songs has given an interview to Alarabya and commented on various issues in Egyptian and Arabic entertainment. He does know a thing or two to give those observations:

1. Egyptian music is like a dead body, lack of solid summer albums attest to that
   
2. I fear Arabic music from the Gulf overtaking Egyptian songs becasue the Gulf singers rely on poetry and poetic lyrics.
3. A lot of those half baked singers who made it big prior to the regime are phasing out under the new revolution.
4. Many of those independents bands that emerged in post Mubarak Egypt are quite good, I fear they are relying too heavily on western melodies and American band styles. I worry they might lose their Eastern soul.
5. Pariah singers in Egypt will restore to singing religious themed songs in an effort to seek redemption for their past support for Mubarak.
6. I call on deleting all those black lists for celebrities, let the good ones be judged by their work without bias.
   
7. I hope to see those commercialized songs go away
   

Best of Star Acedemy 7 Sings Live

He is from Jordan and has a manly voice as well as romance. She is from next door Iraq, excelled in romantic songs and Gulf Dialect, there was rumored romance between them. But as of now they all want to be stars. Frankly, they are quite some of the finest singers on the season and any other season.

Are they going to establish stardom? or will this be their honeymoon period--usually one year following the season they participated in. I really like those two singers and I think they are among some of the finest young voices in the entertainment world. It's a shame it takes so much to put out an album, I think they will entertain.


شاهد محمد رمضان يغنّي في ويكيزات

شاهد رحمة أحمد تغنّي في ويكيزيات

Iraq and Arabia Adore Rahma Riyadh

You know a smart and a promising young star when you see one. That's the feeling I got when I first came to hear Rahma Riyadh from Iraq. She took part of Star Academy season 7 and made it big. Iraqi singers have it harder than the rest, but with that comes a lot of opportunities.

Rahma has been establishing your fame in Iraq, Lebanon and the Gulf! Iraq is her home, the Gulf welcome good singers who can cover songs in their local dialect and Lebanon welcomes anyone that can make someone rich.

I think she is getting a lot of coverage and most of it she keeps close to her fans on Facebook and other social media outlets. This time she takes on questions form the fans and answer them. She also speaks about Iraq her home, her future projects and most of all shopping.

Rahma Riyadh Ahmed Answers Fans Questions

Mohmaed Khairy Son of Egypt

Mohmaed Khairy is a young Egyptian singer with a story to tell and a voice to help him make his case (Listen to his music here) He is not the pop or drama voice, but he is a likable guy who can sing and sell albums. His future is bright, he seems like down to earth guy.

While he has been singing for some time now, his break came in the midst of the Egyptian revolution where he had a sing that stood out and helped launch his career. He is a one man show unlike many of the bands that made it big post Mubarak, he is one of the few voices to have their own songs alone....sure there are teams of lyricists and musicians who lend a hand say like Toma, the most famous arranger of music Cairo has known for ages.

FilFan.com Interview with Mohmaed Khairy

Lara Scandar answers fans questions

So here Arabic is accented, and she sounds like someone who just learned Arabic and pronounce it as it's a foreign language. She has a nice smile and cute personality. That's why she took some time to answer some of your questions about her projects and career and some personal questions about her major.

It takes a lot of learn Arabic, it's not easy, Lara is a heritage speaker so it should have been easier for her. But to her credit she sings in English, not Arabic. She even gives love advise and dating tips to those who ask. Her album is not going to be released anytime soon, but she does not have many concerts lined up for this summer. Maybe her Chains music video will change that.
Lara Scandar answers fans questions

Hany Shaker Candid Interview About Illness

Hany Shaker has a knack for sad songs, he knows a dramatic song the instant he hears it and then he takes that songs lives it and then records it. In 2009 his mother passed away in the month of March, and in the same year the condition of his daughter Dina gotten worse. Dina just passed away last week after years of struggle with cancer. May her soul rests in peace and her family find some clam.

The family struggled with Dina's illness who has developed a very rare form of cancer and sent her to hospital beds around the world. Hany is reported to be devastated by the passing of his little girl and the funereal arrangements are already on the way.


هانى شاكر يبكي على ابنته

Jannat Vs. Lucy; Who Wore it Best?

Slain Egyptian fashion designer Mohammad Dagher continues to enrich Arab fashion with his impressive fashionable designs. MEMA Music Award took place on June 16th and gave so many awards to Arab and Egyptian entertainers. This is like one version of the American Music Award. Those singers might not be selling records right now, but no one can stop them from having a great time and parading their latest fashion.

Egyptian actress Lucy wore the dress for the award, but also Moroccan singer Jannat wore the same dress two weeks earlier for a wedding function for daughter of an Egyptian celebrity who led a march in support to Mubarak. Dagher had many fans among celebrities in his country and his work by many accounts is nothing short of stylish and chic.

While I love the design of the dress, I will let you decide who wore it best.

This is the Coverage for Middle East Music Awards (MEMA) 2010تغطية حفل توزيع جوائز الموسيقي في الشرق الأوسط (ميما) 2010
29 May 2010

MEMA Coverage 2010 تغطية جوائز الميما

Lara Scandar Vocals Leave Much To Be Desired

Lara Scandar, every young Arab man idea of hip American pop stars, she look like one, acts like one and breaths like one. Her music video are not much different than the ones made by say Lady Gaga, Kathy Perry and Britteny Spears. She is an American as well as Lebanese Egyptian too.

But the pure vocals without music reveal a lot about a singer, and when I heard few seconds of Lara's voice without music and with and computer, I felt that I was left wanting something more. To her credit most pop singers cannot sing without the help of sound affects and music.

Such stars are not the product of their voice, but rather the produce of their character and persona that helps sell them. To state the obvious, Lara makes cook English songs and stunning music videos, she is capable and talented, but her vocals can use some improvement.


شاهد لارا إسكندر تغنّي Chains في ويكيزيات

Karim Kamel, Egypt's Boy Toy

When he felt the hear of Star Acemdeny season 8 Egyptian Karim Kamel, the participant took of and quit the show. Rumors were all over the intranet about his sexual orientation, his tattoo and his Western ways. The young man who lived in the United States seems like a nice guy.

Someone has circulated some images for him doing questionable things, but to his credit that might have been a Halloween party. The pressure was high, so he decided to go back to his country and leave the show. His fans seem to feel passiontley about him and started Facebook pages to boycott a certain Stat Academy participant linked to those rumors.

Not sure what the future hold for Karim, there is always modeling and adverting to fall back to, but for now it seems that he is sticking to singing. See this very short clip of him covering an older Egyptian song.


شاهد كريم كامل يغنّي في ويكيزيات

Meryam Faris On The Go Interview

Dude, this guy interviewing Meryam Faris seems to be way too excited. She has no problem talking about her career, her music and her concerts. She is this summer busiest summer girl.

She has an all gulf album dialect, concerts all over the Arab world, and another Arab pop album. No Ramdan Fawazeer (quiz shoe) for Meryam this Ramadan it seems she has overworked her leg in the show of last year. Instead she will be focusing on another region, Morocco will be seeing a lot of this Lebanese starlet.

All I got to say, is this You Go Girl!

لقاء حصري مع النجمة ميريام فارس عبر خبر عاجل

Both Shaza and Hassoun Please Iraq

Hassoun is Arabic for a hummingbird, the birds with a unique lovable sound, Shaza is the sweet nectar. Those two words make up the name of the young Iraqi singer Shaza Hassoun who is nothing short of her name--she lives up to the name and to her home country Iraq.

She is a huge star and only getting a bigger name with each passing day and each time someone tunes in to one of her songs--in her five year career she has performed many wonderful hits in Iraqi, Moroccan, Lebanese, Egyptian and Gulf dialects so she needs no introduction wherever she goes that also includes many international cities where her country men live.

Watch this interview with her talking in dept about her career and her upcoming projects.


Shaza Hassoun Radio Interview

Abdel Rahman Yousef "Qaradawi's Son" Is An Idiot

Abdel Rahman Yousef The song of Imam Yousef Qaradawi is a well known Egyptian poet who has the Qatari citizenship as well. He has many poems that attacked the regime of Mubarak and his men, he is a clever poet who is not short on courage. He also has religious training and a well known figure in the poetry circles in Egypt.

The poet was a guest of a popular Egyptian show and when they made the intro, they made a reference that he is a citizen of Qatar which the poet took as an attempt to take away from his being Egyptian. The show got a bit testy the poet raised his point of concern live.

I must say he was urgent and talking the the host as if they host and his team are a group of morons. Abdelrahan was insane and I did not appreciate his tone on live TV. He should have been a bit more humble, he was not. I am not a fan of Amr Adeeb, the notable Egyptian TV personality, but this time he stuck for the producers of the show and did not allow the guest to insult them. When the poet tried to threaten that he would leave, Amr told him hit the road.


مرو اديب : فضيحة انسحاب عبد الرحمن يوسف على الهواء

Reportage On Arabic Alternative Music

Get to know about Eka3, find out from the founders of this movement in the Arab world for alternative music. These are the indie dudes and gals of Arabia. Future music caught up with the musicians behind this underground movement going mainstream. This is a report of interviews on a stunning number of musicians put together and asked to create something fresh.

If you are serious about Arabic music that is not pop and not old school, then you need to see this video montage of the most creative and most exciting bands and talents contributing to this free spirited well meaning movement.


eka3 on Mazaj - Future News, Featuring leka@eka3 and Takhabot

you

Linda Fahmy Wears Hijab Now

So this Egyptian entertain decides to wear the Hijab and go on TV to talk about it. I think choosing the Hijab, the Islamic head cover that most women wear. This now retired entertainer goes on a media blitz to talk about her new found religion and spirituality.

I have yet to know who she is, now she is talking about other Arab celebrities who are among her friends. Linda Fahmy is this celebrity and there she goes talking about wanting to be a better person.

I am sure some people won't be happy with her going to talk about Islam and quoting various stories, but I must say, if you allow naked dancers on TV to tell you how to live your life, why not Linda now tell you her spiel? I do not like "holier than though attitude", but this is a bit entertaining.

إيمان الطوخى وزواجها الرئيس المخلوع ومشكلة تامر حسنى و حجاب ليندا فهمى و وفاء عامر وبرائتها من قضية الأداب

Ramy Gamal Song Acoustics

Want to know how great a singer is? Hide the music and everything, give them a mic and ask them to sing something. This is how you find out how real they are. Away from computer,s voice enhancers and manipulation. Not all stars are willing to do that becasue they know they might get exposed or disappoint.

Ramy Gamal is new to the game and he knows he has a nice voice. He is the composer that takes his melodies to various stars and try to sell them his composition. So he took few minutes and performed half a dozen songs of his debut album. I must say the lyrics are golden. There is so much wisdom in those words he is singing about love, breakup and being wronged.

Ramy Gamal Song Acoustics

Pop Star Ramy Gamal Candid Interview

Ramy Gamal, the Egyptian composer turned best selling singer gave a details interview with Filfan about his work and his projects. This interview spills the beans on his work with other composers in Egypt who do not like to deal with him as a singer becasue he is a competitor.

He is a young savvy singer with a gift, but I think he still has to figure his voice and his brand. His album did not sound very original, but that does not take away anything form having some fine musical concepts that's hip and inventive. The artist said he is happy with his album, but he gives himself 3 out of 10.

Ramy also speaks about other people in the business and the way he works. This is a candid conversation where Ramy Gamal talks about other artists he collaborate with of the likes of Hamaki and Foad. My favorite quote form this interview, "I experiment on myself" by using different melodies.

Interview Ramy Gamal With FilFan.com

Assi Al Hallani Visits Baghdad

Not too many Arab singers are willing to go and perform in Iraq, few manage to make the stop despite the risk and the politics. Assi Hallani, the Lebanese knight of Arabic music held a press conference right before his concert.

Assi has always spoken his mind, he is a true Arab and he believes in Arab nationalism it shows in his music. He often talks about Arabs as one nation, but he also makes songs of Arab leaders whom some of them are not popular. But he is a singer not a politician, so enjoy the music and feel free to listen to his opinions or not.

المؤتمر الصحفي بـ بغداد

Mohamed Ramadan Quick Interview

He is Jordanian and he is proud of it, he is working on a love song for his country Jordan and hoping to film his hit song released few months ago. A dramatic song about when thing are not meant to be with that special one.

The past participant of the Star Academy who left it with a great impression visited the academy again and gave a quick interview about his projects. He talked about an upcoming debka song he is working on...a concert in Jordan and another in Saudi Arabia. The so of Jordan is hoping the title will go to his country this year, no Jordanian has won the title of Star Academy yet.

Mohammad strikes me as a nice guy with many likable personal attributes. I think he has what it takes to become a mega star as his voice speaks volumes of his ability to perform easy and hard songs with incredible ease.

moe ramadan. inter - khabar3ajel.com