SuperStar was an Arabic television show based on the popular British show Pop Idol created by Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment & developed by Fremantle Media. The show unites the Arab community by democratically choosing the next singing sensation. The show is broadcast worldwide on Future TV, a Lebanese television station. It is also the first Idol franchise to feature contestants from multiple countries.
Rotana Music Group is a Saudi Arabian record label and the music division of the Rotana Media Group. It was established by the Nagro Brothers, Mohammed, Khalid, Waleed, Ahmed and Nezar Nagro in 1987 and was later sold to Saudi billionaire Prince Al Waleed bin Talal. Rotana Music Group is known to be the largest record label and music repertoire holder in the Arab world and is headquartered in Riyadh, with other branches located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Kuwait, Cairo, Egypt and Beirut, Lebanon. Artists who have released musical works with Rotana include Mohammed Abdu, Abdul Majeed Abdullah, Ahlam, Amr Diab, Elissa, Tamer Hosny, Najwa Karam, Saber Rebai, Angham, Wael Kfoury and more.
Abdel Halim Ali Shabana, commonly known as Abdel Halim Hafez, was an Egyptian singer, actor, conductor, businessman, music teacher and film producer.
Arabic hip-hop is a segment of hip hop music performed in the Arabic-speaking world. Due to variety of dialects and local genres which exist in the localities, Arabic hip-hop music may appear very diverse depending on the country of the song. Like most artists of the genre, the hip-hop artists from the Arabic-speaking world are highly influenced by American hip-hop.
Carole Samaha is a Egyptian-Lebanese singer, actress, and performer. She has released six studio albums. Samaha has a Master's degree in acting and directing, which she earned in 1999 from the Saint Joseph University of Beirut.
The X Factor Arabia, originally aired on March 26, 2006, with the title XSeer Al Najah is the Arab version of The X Factor. The Arabic-language version of the program also created by Simon Cowell has a similar format to the British version, in that there are judges who each have a team of contestants to mentor and compete with each other for the X Factor title. The 14-episode first series was broadcast in 22 Arabic-speaking countries. In its debut, it was known as being one of the most watched programs on television and was produced and supported by Rotana, one of the largest production companies in the Arab World. The winner of XSeer Al Najah earned a chance to sign with Rotana. However, with the continuing success of the rival pan-Arab series Star Academy on Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), XSeer All Najah lost most of its pan-Arab appeal and was discontinued after season 2. In 2023, season 5 was released. 2024 begins season 6
Dakahlia Governorate is an Egyptian governorate lying northeast of Cairo, Egypt. Its area is approximately 3,500 km2. Although the capital of the governorate is Mansoura, it got its name from the ancient town of Daqahlah which is located in the modern Damietta Governorate.
X-Factor is the Ukrainian version of The X Factor, a show originating from the United Kingdom. It is a television music talent show for aspiring pop singers drawn from public auditions. Auditions were held in major cities of Ukraine: Dnipro, Lviv, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Poltava, Korosten, Zaporizhzhia, Simferopol, Mykolaiv, Chernivtsi, Uzhhorod, Lutsk, and Rivne.
Mohamed Ahmed Ali, also known by the mononym Mohamed, is a Danish singer. Ali was born in Nørresundby, Aalborg. In 2009, he took part in Season 2 of The X Factor, coming third after winner Linda Andrews and runners up Alien Beat Club. After the series, he signed a contract with Sony Music. On the occasion, Karina Foss Fenn of Sony Music Entertainment Denmark was quoted as saying: "It is rare that we in the music industry encounter a natural talent like Mohamed Ali. Both in his vocals and his physique, he oozes musicality – and his voice has both power and a sweetness that makes his rhythm quite unique." The music will no doubt to reflect Mohamed's personality". This contract resulted in a debut album Keep It Simple of 12 original songs and his single "Rocket" became one of the best downloaded songs.
Arab Idol is an Arabic television show, based on the popular British show Pop Idol created by Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment and developed by Fremantle Media and recorded in Beirut, Lebanon. The first season premiered on 9 December 2011. The show was broadcast worldwide on MBC 1 and simultaneously aired on LBC. The second season debuted on 8 March 2013, the third season on 5 September 2014, and the fourth season on 4 November 2016 on MBC.
The X Factor, also known as The X Factor USA, is an American reality television music competition show created by Simon Cowell and produced by FremantleMedia North America and SYCOtv, a partnership between Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment, which aired on Fox. Based on the original British show, and an addition to The X Factor franchise, the series found new singing talent, drawn from public auditions, and they competed against each other for votes. The winners were determined by the show's viewers via telephone, the Internet, and SMS text voting, and were awarded a recording contract with Cowell's record label Syco Music, worth $5 million in seasons one and two, and $1 million in season three. America voted for the following winners: Melanie Amaro, Tate Stevens, and Alex & Sierra, respectively.
The first series of the New Zealand television reality music competition The X Factor premiered on TV3 on 21 April 2013 and ended on 22 July 2013. The show was open to singers aged 14 and over. The contestants were split into the show's four traditional categories: Boys, Girls, Over 25s and Groups.
Tora Prison is an Egyptian prison complex for criminal and political detainees, located in Tora, Egypt. The complex is situated in front of the Tora El Balad metro station. The main buildings in the Tora Prison complex are Tora Agricultural Prison, Tora Liman, Tora Istiqbal (reception), Tora El Mahkoum and Tora Supermax prison, also known as Scorpion Prison.
The Katara Prize for Arabic Novel is an Arabic literary prize based in Qatar. It was established in 2014 by the Katara Cultural Village. The total prize pool is $650,000 and the main prize $200,000, making it one of the richest literary prizes in the world. One of its sponsors is UNESCO. The winning novels will be translated into five languages - including French and English.
The third season of Arab Idol premiered on 5 September 2014. Auditions were held in Beirut, Bahrain, Kuwait, Algeria, Cairo, Alexandria, Dubai, Morocco, Palestine, Iraq and on the European continent, notably in Paris and Berlin. Emirates Airlines was a major sponsor of season 3. The winner of the season was Hazem Shareef from Syria.
The 2019 Egyptian protests were mass protests in Cairo, Alexandria, Damietta and other cities on 20, 21 and 27 September 2019 in which the protestors called for President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to be removed from power. Security forces responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and, as of 23 October 2019, 4300 arbitrary arrests had been made, based on data from the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights, the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, among which 111 were minors according to Amnesty International and the Belady Foundation. Prominent arrestees included human rights lawyer Mahienour el-Massry, journalist and former leader of the Constitution Party Khaled Dawoud and two professors of political science at Cairo University, Hazem Hosny and Hassan Nafaa. The wave of arrests was the biggest in Egypt since Sisi formally became president in 2014.
Marwan Ahmed Motawea, popularly known as Marwan Pablo, is an Egyptian rapper from Alexandria. Influenced by the genre of Hip Hop, Pablo is one of the pioneers that popularizes trap music in Egypt. He is known for Free, Ghaba, El Gemeza, Sindbad, Al Gholaf X Ozoris, and more.
Tamer Hussein is an Egyptian lyricist and composer, who has won several awards and honors as the best poet in Egypt.He has composed Egyptian-genre songs for numerous singers in the MENA region, including Amr Diab, Tamer Hosny, Elissa, Samira Said, Sherine Abdel Wahab, Husseini, Amal Maher, Mohamed Hamaki, Jannat, Nancy Ajram, Carole Samaha, Asala, Bahaa Sultan, Wael Jassar, Hani Shaker, and others. He also composed the score for the film "Al Molhed" in 2014.
