Amr Diab has a secret

Amr Diab keeps presidential choice a secret

Egyptian superstar Amr Diab has sent out a message to all his fans through his official page on the internet social network Facebook saying that he will not reveal which Egyptian presidential candidate he will vote for. Amr wrote on his social networks pages on Facebook and Twitter, “I did not announced the presidential candidate I will vote for and all that has been circulating on Facebook and Twitter on my behalf with regards to this matter is not true.” According to the internet website MBC.net, Amr stated that he did not want to announce he will vote for in order not to influence others by his decision.

Amr’s social networks pages have given great emphasis on the Egyptian Presidential Elections and the singer had sent out requests to all Egyptians to take an active part in the election process so to have their voices heard. The singer stressed that everyone must vote in this historical election and chose the right candidate to lead the country. 

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Amr Diab Votes

Amr Diab Votes In The Egyptian Presidential Elections

As a new strategy to win his fans back, Egyptian singer stood in line in the Egyptian presidential elections and waited for his turn. The star gathered all his admirers and went to Al Haram school, where he confessed that he will vote to "Hamdin Sabahi" candidate.

This strategy was considered as a new step by Amr to get closer to his audience, since they were angry at him when he showed his support to Hosni Moubarak's regime. It's noteworthy that the star stood in line with other citizens, and waited to cast his voice in the elections.

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AUC 2012 concert note

AUC 2012 clips now searchable on YouTube. Looks like a good time.
Reem, were you there??

Fi Haga Feek Moscow and AUC

The Egyptian star, Amr Diab, has returned to his fans with a new hit entitled "Fi Haga Feek", the first single after 40 days of mourning his mother's death. The song is written by Tamer Houssein, composed by Amr Diab and distributed by Adel Hakki, and received positive feedback when it was released. A low quality version of "Fi Haga Feek" was uploaded on YouTube, as a result of Rotana's contract with a mobile company, which allows them to use the song as a "Call Tone".

Amr Diab is currently on a very busy schedule, and he will perform in many concerts, the first one will take place in Moscow on the 5th of May and the second one in AUC on the 11th.
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AUC Concert 2012

Egyptian star Amr Diab has finally decided to get back to work where his first announcement came in a tweet where he said that he has started preparing for his new album.

We were able to find out that Amr will be collaborating again with Ayman Bahjat Qamar, Adel Haqqi and Amro Mostafa, but the bigger news is his trip to Dubai where he will meet several poets and composers to choose a couple of Khaleeji songs to add to the album, in addition to a concert there in June.

That being said, the singer’s annual stop at the AUC in Cairo for the past 15 years will be no different this year, where he will start rehearsals for the concert early May (7th,8th and 9th with his band), until he meets his fans on the 11th.

This will be Amr’s first concert after the isolation he put himself into and the mourning state he was in for 3 consecutive weeks following his mother’s death.
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Tribute

Egyptian star Amr Diab is currently working on finishing the necessary paperwork to buy a piece of land on which he plans to build a social and medical complex in his town in Sanhout in the East.

The complex will include a large hospital equipped with the latest and most effective medical apparatus imported from abroad to treat, for free, tumors and chronic, which many of the poor people in the town suffer from.

The complex with be names after his late mother Roqiyya Mohammad Mahmoud Fouad, where Amr put a few of his assistants in charge of getting the necessary licenses from the respective ministries of health and social affairs. In addition to the medical facility, the complex will also have a mosque, an orphanage and an house for the elderly.

Amr Diab's brother, Imad Abdel Baset Diab, is in charge of supervising and following up on all aspects of the completion of this generous charity project.

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Amr, we extend our sincere condolences to you and your family

Amr Diab’s mother passed away Sunday after a long tiring battle with disease. And although Amr provided her with treatment in one of the best hospitals in London, Mrs. Roqiyya died in her family’s house North of Cairo after suffering from kidney failure. Amr Diab’s relationship with his mother was pretty close and he once recorded a song just for her for Mother’s Day, entitled “Enti F Dammi”/ Amr and his family will be receiving condolences this Thursday at the Hamidiyya Shatheliya mosque in Al Mhandesin area.

Article Link
View Enti Fi Dammi

Who Loves Dubai?

Amr Diab Moves his Kids to Dubai

Out of fear of the current situation of unrest in Egypt and the lack of security in the country, Egyptian singer Amr Diab decided to move to Dubai.

And although he denied the news, sources close to the singer have confirmed that he has enrolled his kids in a very reputable school in Dubai.

So, is Amr trying to keep his new country of residence a secret to avoid being attacked by the Egyptian community who, most probably, will take his decision as an insult and consider it dishonorable?!

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ITB World Music Prize 2012 awarded to Natacha Atlas and Amr Diab

The first ITB World Music Prize 2012 is dedicated to the official partner country of Egypt and honors two musicians who “in their own particular way, have succeeded in delighting an international audience with a combination of Egyptian/Arabic sounds with western rhythms.”

The singer and composer Amr Diab, born in Port Said, is a superstar in the Arab world, and especially in Egypt, but regrettably less well-known in German-speaking countries. He is regarded as the father of the Mediterranean sound – an electrifying combination of western and Egyptian music elements. Amr Diab achieved his greatest success in 1996 with the song “Nour El Ain,” whose refrain “Ya Habibi” became a mega-hit not only throughout the Middle East but also in India, Spain, and South America. It is still the most successful recording ever made by an Arab singer and is the opening track on his “Greatest Hits” release (EMI Arabia), for which Amr Diab has received this award. For travelers to Egypt, it is an emotive reminder of this modern and musical land on the Nile.

With her sensually extrovert; versatile musicality; and her wonderful, multifaceted vocal talents, the singer Natacha Atlas conjurs up the magic of the Orient and of North Africa, and has accordingly also been awarded the World Music Prize of the ITB Berlin. Born in Brussels and a resident in the USA, but with Egyptian roots, this vocalist incorporates the classics, hypnotic dance, and electrobeats, through accomplished vocalization and jazz elements on her latest CD entitled “Mounqaliba. In A State Of Reversal” (World Village).
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Dubai concert wows!

Du World Music Festival features wow show from Amr Diab

Three decades of music could be heard reverberating across Dubai this past weekend. From classic 1980s tunes, disconcerting 1990s pop and the latest house beats, music fans had a lot to pick from: the du World Music Festival, the Duran Duran concert and Sandance all took place across the city over two days.

Coming on stage with his 15-piece band, Diab told the audience he planned a loose set and “will keep it upbeat – we will play all the good ones, don’t worry”.

Aside from his irresistible hooks, the pleasure of Diab’s hit-laden set was that fans got to appreciate his expansive musical outlook, which he has possessed since first emerging on the scene in 1985.

Not content with the constraints of Arabic pop, Diab married his husky voice with Mediterranean rhythm and Latin flavours.

El Layla Di was a straight-up bossa nova tune, while Habibi – which Diab dedicated to the Gipsy Kings, who performed at the festival on Thursday – made use of the three flamenco guitarists Diab had on stage. With Amarein, Diab’s versatile voice took centre stage as he lobbed from steady to high-pitched wailing, enlivening the crowd, which maintained its good cheer to the end.

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Excursions

Egyptian star singer Amr Diab got himself an Emirati driver’s license after finishing the necessary paper work and taking the test last week while being in Dubai with his friends.

Amr wanted to have the Emirati license because Dubai is his favorite place for vacations with the family, and he’s there every now and then, especially since he has so many friends in that city. Link to picture

The Ahmad Ben Ali stadium in Doha will bring together the stars Amr Diab and Tamer Hosni, who will watch the international game between the Egyptian league and the Brazilian one, from the main booth of the game where its fee will go back to the victims of famine in Somalia.

Amr Diab left Cairo this Monday morning and headed to Doha to attend the game, where he always makes sure not to miss any games between Egypt and other big leagues or continental championships, especially that he is friends with the likes of Imad Meteeb and Mohammad Zeidan...

Amr Diab and Tamer Hosni's invitations to the game are A-list invitations coming straight from the organizing company of the match. Link

Amr Diab Gets Paid 150,000 Dollars for his AUC Adha Concert

Amr Diab is doing some really intensive rehearsals and preparations for his first concert in Egypt after his tour in America and Canada, and also after releasing his album “Banadeek Ta’ala”.

The concert will be held at the American University in Cairo, the second day of Adha. Amr wanted the concert to be restricted to the students only and thus insisted that the number of tickets which are put up for sale does not exceed 3,000 tickets.

He also made a competition for his fans in order to be able to win free tickets. And how much is he charging for this concert?! Well, it’s 150,000 dollars, and believe it or not, this is a very low fee that Amr has receibed in years, considering the financial crisis Egypt is facing.
The company which is sponsoring the concert agreed to Amr’s fee provided that the concert footage will be sold to a couple of channels. Link

Not The Happiest Birthday

Amr Diab’s birthday wasn’t as happy as he was planning it to be.
The singer spent the night rather sad because of Al Zamalek club’s defeat, and he is a huge fan of the team!

Amr Diab had prepared a special victory song for the team in case they won, but the day he spent with his fans on his official page ended sadly with the unexpected loss of the team.

The song is 2 minutes long and was supposed to be released through his official Facebook page if Al Zamalek won the game.

Amr is expected to be the star of the centennial of the Zamalek although the date has not yet been specified.

Diab had been personally communicating with his fans for the past 2 days, celebrating the success of his album “Banadeek Ta’ala”, and receiving birthday wishes and special videos made for him by the fans for the special occasion. Link

New Release this month

Eyes peeled for the new release on the 27th of September! Hey, that's coming up soon and sounds like we'll be getting 12 brand new songs. That should keep us happy while we wait for the accompanying videos which might take a further few months. Of note, at least 4 songs will feature lyrics by the poet, Tamer Hussein, not to be confused with we-know-who!

Amr and the pc agenda

Amr Diab is currently facing a very difficult decision as his album release date is closing in.

Amr is not sure whether he should cut out his close friend composer Amro Mostafa’s works from his upcoming album in order not to take the risk of its failure. Amro Mostafa was against the January 25th Egyptian revolution and he was one of the greatest supporters of former president Hosni Mobarak, considering the revolution to be a foreign game! Amro wrote 2 songs and composed 4 others on Amr Diab’s new album and Diab is seriously considering taking them off the album.
Link to read more

Recession hits Diab

Because of economical recession, the wages of stars such as Amr Diab, Sherine Abdel Wahab and Nicole Saba, have decreased 5 times from what they used to be. At a wedding which was held in Cairo, it was revealed to Wikeez the wages if the stars performing at the party. Amr Diab got paid 60,000 dollars, whereas 6 months ago his wage was no less than 200,000 dollars.



Will this be reflected in ticket prices of the upcoming North American tour (which means USA plus one Toronto date)? More to follow on this ...

$41million and rising

Don't know if this is exactly news but Amr is now (or continues to be) the Arab world's richest singer. He's estimated to be worth $41 million but we of course know that he is priceless! Link

Demand Amr Diab in Vancouver

View all Vancouver events on Eventful

September release - choose your language

Egyptian star Amr Diab announced that his new album "Hiya Hayati" is to be released in September. Amr Diab will be singing in 5 languages: German, Italian, French, English and Arabic.

Amr is currently preparing to shoot a video clip in July, but hasn't yet chosen a song. Link

Again with the hair

Couldn't resist uploading another shot of the hair. Comments, anyone?

Mawazine 2011 on Youtube

Check out the hot new videos just posted on youtube. Don't miss Alomak Leh (new song). I'm not sure about the haircut but can't fault the voice!!

Amr's charity single "Bokra" and Mawazine today

RABAT, Morocco, May 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Legendary producer Quincy Jones has partnered with United Arab Emirates-based social entrepreneur Badr Jafar to jointly produce an Arabic charity single entitled 'Tomorrow/Bokra' to raise money and help finance educational arts and culture scholarships and projects for children in the Middle East and North Africa. The project is being implemented in association with the Mawazine Festival. Link

Morocco's 10th annual Mawazine World Rhythms Festival is under way in Rabat. The eight-day music celebration brings together stars from around the world, including Kayne West, Yusuf Islam, Amr Diab and Shakira, who will close out the event with a concert on Saturday (May 28th). Link

Shakira concert

Amr Diab's concert with Shakira seems to have gone off well but it's hard to find a proper review since the media continues to focus on The Plateau who fled the youth revolution. Check out this opinion piece And if anyone wants to comment on what this youth revolution has accomplished, please I would love to hear! Who rules Egypt now? If the answer is the military, then who owns the military? Just asking.

Next controversy: Mawazine at the end of May.
Stay tuned.

Hold the rotten eggs

In Morocco, they're still calling for the cancellation of this year's Mawazine Festival citing more pressing priorities for the vast sums paid out to festival stars.

Singled out are Amr Diab and Shakira, both slated for shows on May 28th, the last day of the festival. Protesters say the pair will be greeted with rotten eggs and rotten tomatoes if they make an appearance. Link

calls mount for cancelling Mawazine

Accident and album update

Seems as if the rumoured automobile accident really did happen on the Ring Road. Our Amr Diab was uninjured, a 20 year old girl ended up in hospital but is also fine (and a little richer). Meanwhile, Amr continues with the upcoming album. Anticipated on this new release is a song first introduced at Marina 2008 but not included on "Wayah".

Mawazine Festival on or off?

Apparently the "social media" youth groups of Egypt have called on Morocco to exclude Amr Diab from participating in the 2011 Mawazine Festival being held in Rabat from 20-28 May. They cite Amr's "lack of support" for the Egyptian youth in revolt. Well, indeed, the official festival website does not list Amr.

Starting to sound sort of like what happened to Umm Kalthoum, no? Come on kids, read some history and get a grip! Divide and conquer works every time.

Today's rumour

Another day, another rumour. Today the media was running with a story stating that Amr Diab had been involved in some sort of automobile accident. Fortunately, this story appears to be unfounded and someone's idea of an April Fool's joke. A bit late, to say nothing of humourless. Link (Arabic)

Amr leaves Egypt

Just a rumour for now but the word is out that Amr Diab could be leaving (have already left?) Egypt for the United Arab Emirates. Doesn't ring true to me but 2011 is a year when anything could happen! Link

Not a rumour is his April 29 concert in Abu Dhabi where tickets (on sale now) run from AED 250-595. Better than a royal wedding and we wonder why Amr is not topping the bill but being promoted as the supporting act.

Abu Dhabi Concert

Returning to UAE shores following her incredible 2008 New Year’s Eve performance, Shakira will be bringing her distinctive pop/folk sound and incredible Middle Eastern and Latin-inspired dance moves to the Island. Joining her for the evening will be Amr Diab, double award winner of the World Music Awards for his albums "Nour El Ain" and "Aktar Wahed".

Shakira and Amr Diab are brought to Abu Dhabi by Du World of Music in association with Nokia. Shakira with Amr Diab live at the Yas Arena is part of the hugely successful Yas Island Show Weekends and follows hot on the heels of the recent capacity shows by Eric Clapton, Tiesto, Thirty Seconds To Mars and Stevie Wonder.

* Location: Yas Arena, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi
* Date: Friday, 29 April 2011 - Saturday, 30 April 2011
* Time: 6:00:00 PM to 12:00:00 AM

Tickets go on sale soon, in fact you could try this link tomorrow!

Making the List

Arabian Business has come out with their 2011 Power 500 list of the year's most influential Arabs. Our friend "Mr Rotana" aka Prince Walid tops that list and our main man, Amr Diab, comes in at #21. Amr is ranked #2 in both the Entertainment sub-category (behind Syrian gallery owner, Khaled Samawi) and in the Fame sub-category (behind Nancy Ajram). Here's the blurb:

They call him the ‘Father of Mediterranean music' and Diab, perhaps Egypt’s most famous singer, has dominated the Arab music scene since the late 1980s.

Recent weeks have seen his popularity slide — absence from Egypt during the uprising has led to denunciations from some quarters that his silence was a tacit expression of support for the former regime — but certainly he has not been included on a list compiled by activists of Egyptian stars who showed support for Hosni Mubarak.

Diab is believed to be the best selling Arab recording artist of all time. He was awarded the World Music Award for Best Selling Middle Eastern Artist four times and has sold well over 50 million albums since the release of Ya Tareeq in 1983. ‘Habibi’ is his most famous hit, taken from his 1996 album — no sooner had it been released than it went global. Even today, it is a regular on regional radio and in nightclubs.

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