Hani Hussain was the good-looking young man in 2006's Star Academy. Soon he will release two songs — written with the Egyptian accent — composed by Walid Sa'ad and produced by Star System.
This week Hani will be shooting the video of one of the songs, Ma Teghibch Alaya (Don't Be Away From Me).
The young singer will be busy for several months, playing in his first movie produced by The Arabian Company, owned by Egyptian actress Esaad Younes. The Star Academy finalist already signed a contract with the company to star in five movies. That's the reason why he's been taking acting courses for a year.
After leaving Star Academy Hani released a duet, My Father's Eyes, with international star Chris de Burgh.
Mayssam in Paris
Mayssam Nahas is a romantic woman. So what can be more romantic than going to Paris to celebrate love? But she's not celebrating her own love story: Mayssam flew to Paris to sing at a wedding ceremony.
Before flying to the French capital, Mayssam chose five songs, in Egyptian and Lebanese accents, for her new album. The songs bear the signatures of several known poets and composers, including Jean Saliba, Mohammad Rifai, Yasser Jalal and Yehia Hassan.
The sexy Lebanese singer won't wander around in Paris. She doesn't have time to because she has to be back to Beirut in order to work on her new single. It will be released before the album at the end of the year.
Celebrated composer Azar Habib dies
Famous Lebanese composer Azar Habib died of a heart attack just a few days before his 62nd birthday on November 28.
Half an hour before he passed away, a journalist writing an article on off-duty composers interviewed him on the phone. The piece discussed the problem of the good artists who have disappeared from the public scene. Among the few words that Azar Habib said in the interview were: "Art is becoming disgusting".
Habib started his artistic career, as a composer and a singer in the mid seventies. He is known in Lebanon for hundreds of melodies that he sang on his own or that he wrote for other artists including Sabah, Jacqueline, Marwan Mahfouz, Amal Hijazi and Al Amir Al Saghir.
Among the songs that he composed are Shu Kaoulak (What Do You Think), Saydaleh (Pharmacist), Ktir Mehelayi (You're Becoming More Beautiful), Ya Rayeh A Dayetna (You Who Are Going To Our Village), Enta Rfiki (You Are My Friend), A Tabak Almaz (On a Diamond Tray), and A Khadik Habit Lulu (A Pearl On Your Cheek).
A few years ago, Azar Habib took up painting, executing landscapes and portraits. He also spent a lot of his time hunting in his beloved Lebanese mountains.
Philippe's new reality cinema
Taht Al Kasf (Under The Bombs) is the title of the new Philippe Araktounji movie, who two years ago released the Lebanese musical Bosta (Bus). But Taht Al Kasf is very different from the light Bosta.
Philippe's new movie tells the story of Zeina, who lives in the United Arab Emirates and who comes back to Lebanon during the July 2006 war, searching for her son who is spending his vacation at his aunt's house in Lebanon.
In her search for her loved ones Zeina is helped by a taxi driver Tony, who has two children living in Israel that he hasn't seen since 2000. Zeina is played by Nada Bou Farhat and Tony by George Khabbaz.
Philippe Araktounji doesn't want his film, a French-Lebanese co-production, to be viewed as a political movie. He intends to show the human side of the story. He wants the audience to empathise with his two heroes.
The filmmaker started shooting his film during the July 2006 war and picked it up just after the cease-fire in August.
There are few professional actors in the movie: the other characters such as soldiers, journalists and refugees are real. There are also no special effects; the images, the settings and the surroundings are also real.
The movie will be released in Lebanese cinemas next week.
Marwan's thanks
Lebanese singer and composer Marwan Khoury was the host of the 16th Festival of Arabic Music. Marwan, who travelled from Beirut to Cairo with 65 musicians, performed for the first time in the Egyptian Opera House. He thanked the Egyptian audience by singing two songs by Mohammad Abdelwahab: Kan Agmal Youm (It Was The Most Beautiful Day) and Fin Tarikak (Where Can You Be Found?).
Marwan also sang a number of his own hits; among them Kul Al Kassayed (All the Poems) and Qasr Al Chok (The Palace of Longing).
Carole Samaha sang a duet, Ya Rab (Please God), with him.
Dina Hayek back from Tunisia
Lebanese singer Dina Hayek has just come back from Tunisia, where she performed during two nights on the Tunis 21 TV channel. Dina was the first Arab artist to sing on one of this channel's variety shows.
Also during her stay in Tunis, she visited the Smile association, which helps the physically disabled.
