two posts in one day? i know!
Hamid El Shaeri is an Egyptian/Libyan singer/songwriter/producer.
He posted a video on Facebook of his 10 year old daughter singing 'The Climb' by none other than Miley Cyrus. (Notice how she imitates Miley's imitation of Celine Dion with all the hand gestures?)
The kid is good - little nasal - but good.
However, much like Miley Cyrus's videos, the video has auto-tune written all over it.
In case you're not familiar with auto-tune it's a pitch correction technology that makes people like Miley Cyrus, and in the future Nabila El Shaeri, able to get record deals. That and the fact that daddy is a music industry guru...
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Leave Egypt and conquer!
well, that is if you are Dr. Magdy Yacoub.
Read yet another one of his ground breaking procedures here
Read yet another one of his ground breaking procedures here
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Dissed and Dismissed!
and by that I mean the "Broadway comes to Egypt" show.
The title is quite misleading, I initially thought that some genius has finally convinced some Broadway troupe to come perform here for the weekend. So I decided, it's ok to shed out some considerable amount of moolah, since let's face it, my efforts to make it personally to Broadway have been unsuccessful for a few years in a row now.
My first hint was when my friend told me the tickets were for 25 pounds, and that's when I smelled foul play. At first i thought she forgot a zero, and I was happy coz 250 pounds for a Broadway show sounds pretty cheap ( Stomp cost 1000, so did lord of the dance, and Bocelli)
Then it was confirmed to me that it was in fact only 25 pounds.
I wasn't too disappointed with the show, since i had pretty low expectations. And for 25 pounds, i was not going to complain.
But now that i'm reading the Daily News Egypt's review of it, I can't help but be very amused.
In general i'd put my music abilities no better than being able to keep a tune; turns out in the Cairo Opera House keeping a tune - barely keeping it at some points - can get you quite far.
I was planning to stay quiet about this. I'm a part of a local amateur singing group that does Musicals, the operative word here is amateur. So it was a clear case of glass house vs stone scenario, but then again the Opera House claims to be professional so bring on the stones.
Here are some excepts from the review which I found so amusingly true:
"Despite being blessed with a truly remarkable voice, Hany El-Shafei (in the role of Tony) was clearly out of element in here. Donning a white shirt and jeans, El-Shafie looked like an 18th century count plunged by accident into 1950 New York while his intonations were distractingly off in several parts."
Imagine you get the three tenors and ask them to vocally coach the singers to sing 'Anything You Can Do'. Do you think it would really turn out like this? or more like this? Can you really call the second one Broadway?
For those who attended it, why don't you treat yourself to a version of Maria that doesn't sound like it was a song written for Pavarotti (excuse, the glitch with the last Mareeaaah)
"The night’s single most remarkable performance was of the banter-filled “America.” Nesma Mahgoub sang her half of the song with natural mastery, lending her voice the desired lilt and bounce to complement the jabs in the lyrics. All skirts and flounces, heels-clicking and pose-striking, the dancers took to the stage as if the repartee inherent in the song were second nature.
Later, amid “Grease” numbers, a convincing performance of “Sandra Dee” was given by — no surprise, Mahgoub again! — though dressed in dull black, it carried only half the charm of the bouncy skirt and frolicking dance of the earlier “West Side Story” number. "
Funnily (well more like tragically) enough, the two most remarkable performance (yes, they were my favorites too) are by "Nesma Mahgoub" who is the amateur AUC student, not the professional Opera-House-employed singers. Barvo, Opera House!
"With Ibrahim Hany’s looking and dressing up for the boxing ring than as a dreamy Danny, and Maysa Orensa as Sandy smiling through “summer dreams, ripped at the seams” the ever-popular “Summer Nights” was laid to rest, and turned in its grave."
At this song, I was undoubtedly happy: My sister, who is quite stingy when it comes to giving compliments told me that I can do a better job that that. I secretly rejoiced their suckiness, and patted myself on the back for finding someone even more mediocre than I am! That person sings for the Opera House! Oh, the dreams I had forgone!
This is how the journalist chose to end his review:
"Broadway sadly stayed where it was, and you wonder what part of it came to Egypt. “West Side Story” did not carry aptly the heartbreak of divided lives and loves, depriving the songs of their story. And while “Grease” was more successful in conveying the atmosphere of juvenile high-school drama, the achievement was more likely effortless."
The reason I found that tragically amusing i because the Opera House has consistently showed us it's true colors, I mean have you listened to our Orchestra or seen our Ballet group? Why would a musical be any different?
The title is quite misleading, I initially thought that some genius has finally convinced some Broadway troupe to come perform here for the weekend. So I decided, it's ok to shed out some considerable amount of moolah, since let's face it, my efforts to make it personally to Broadway have been unsuccessful for a few years in a row now.
My first hint was when my friend told me the tickets were for 25 pounds, and that's when I smelled foul play. At first i thought she forgot a zero, and I was happy coz 250 pounds for a Broadway show sounds pretty cheap ( Stomp cost 1000, so did lord of the dance, and Bocelli)
Then it was confirmed to me that it was in fact only 25 pounds.
I wasn't too disappointed with the show, since i had pretty low expectations. And for 25 pounds, i was not going to complain.
But now that i'm reading the Daily News Egypt's review of it, I can't help but be very amused.
In general i'd put my music abilities no better than being able to keep a tune; turns out in the Cairo Opera House keeping a tune - barely keeping it at some points - can get you quite far.
I was planning to stay quiet about this. I'm a part of a local amateur singing group that does Musicals, the operative word here is amateur. So it was a clear case of glass house vs stone scenario, but then again the Opera House claims to be professional so bring on the stones.
Here are some excepts from the review which I found so amusingly true:
"Despite being blessed with a truly remarkable voice, Hany El-Shafei (in the role of Tony) was clearly out of element in here. Donning a white shirt and jeans, El-Shafie looked like an 18th century count plunged by accident into 1950 New York while his intonations were distractingly off in several parts."
Imagine you get the three tenors and ask them to vocally coach the singers to sing 'Anything You Can Do'. Do you think it would really turn out like this? or more like this? Can you really call the second one Broadway?
For those who attended it, why don't you treat yourself to a version of Maria that doesn't sound like it was a song written for Pavarotti (excuse, the glitch with the last Mareeaaah)
"The night’s single most remarkable performance was of the banter-filled “America.” Nesma Mahgoub sang her half of the song with natural mastery, lending her voice the desired lilt and bounce to complement the jabs in the lyrics. All skirts and flounces, heels-clicking and pose-striking, the dancers took to the stage as if the repartee inherent in the song were second nature.
Later, amid “Grease” numbers, a convincing performance of “Sandra Dee” was given by — no surprise, Mahgoub again! — though dressed in dull black, it carried only half the charm of the bouncy skirt and frolicking dance of the earlier “West Side Story” number. "
Funnily (well more like tragically) enough, the two most remarkable performance (yes, they were my favorites too) are by "Nesma Mahgoub" who is the amateur AUC student, not the professional Opera-House-employed singers. Barvo, Opera House!
"With Ibrahim Hany’s looking and dressing up for the boxing ring than as a dreamy Danny, and Maysa Orensa as Sandy smiling through “summer dreams, ripped at the seams” the ever-popular “Summer Nights” was laid to rest, and turned in its grave."
At this song, I was undoubtedly happy: My sister, who is quite stingy when it comes to giving compliments told me that I can do a better job that that. I secretly rejoiced their suckiness, and patted myself on the back for finding someone even more mediocre than I am! That person sings for the Opera House! Oh, the dreams I had forgone!
This is how the journalist chose to end his review:
"Broadway sadly stayed where it was, and you wonder what part of it came to Egypt. “West Side Story” did not carry aptly the heartbreak of divided lives and loves, depriving the songs of their story. And while “Grease” was more successful in conveying the atmosphere of juvenile high-school drama, the achievement was more likely effortless."
The reason I found that tragically amusing i because the Opera House has consistently showed us it's true colors, I mean have you listened to our Orchestra or seen our Ballet group? Why would a musical be any different?
Thursday, July 02, 2009
My Memories of the King
- My earliest memory of Michael Jackson was his Black and White song - that was the first time i heard about him. I think i was about 9 or 10. I always associated the song with United Colors of Benetton; did they put it in their ad? Or was that just my imagination? I remember thinking what an absurd song to sing for someone who 'changed his color' coz he didn't like the one he was born with (it was what the gossip mags were saying at the time - I was into celeb gossip early on). Whenever I’m shopping at Benetton I find myself humming Black and White..
- I remember googleing his different looks trying to find out how it changed - i guess i yahoo-ed it, coz Google wasn't there at the time. I might have even used Lycos or webcrawler.
- I remember taping his single "Scream" off the radio on a mix tape from the show 'At your request' on the European radio broadcast channel. The show came on from 10 to 12 every Friday - my sister and I woke up especially for it on the weekends. The presenter, Hala Hasheesh, spoke over the end of the song; and on my mix tape the next song after (or maybe the one before, i can't remember) Scream was Bryan Adam's 'To really love a woman'. We didn't leave enough space between the two songs, so they were almost merged as one song. Whenever i hear the Bryan Adam's song i think of MJ's Scream and vice versa. I also still remember the words that the presenter spoke during the song...
- I remember watching 'Free Willie' in the movie theater, and later renting it from the video store next to my house (for 3 pounds) and from the video store at the sporting club and singing along to "Childhood". Whenever i listen to the song i think of the scene where Willie jumps to the other side of the ocean with the little boy standing underneath him. I remember being a little apprehensive the second time I watched thinking the whale might end up squashing the kid. The first time I watched I was emotionally invested in the scene, i.e. crying my eyes out
- I remember the school band singing 'we are the world' - with Susi (my class mate) on the Drums and doing the back up vocals
- I remember buying the HIStory cassette tape by the label 'Voice of America’; I was captured by the song "Little Suzy". One of my frenemies at the time was called Suzy (not the one in the band that one is still a friend) and found it very disturbing that he was singing about the murder of a little girl called Suzy. I was about 13 at the time.
- HIStory, along with some Whitney Houston album and Elvis Greatest hits were my favorite Voice of America cassette tapes at the time. 'Help' was my favorite movie at the time - i would go watch it at the British Council right up the street from my house.
- I remember loving all his collaborations with the Beatles - especially 'The girl is mine' with Paul McCartney. I distinctly remember the line 'Paul, I think i told you, I’m a lover not a fighter'. I think i've quoted that in a conversation once.
- I remember the chain emails where peole claimed he said "if i had known muslims would listen to my music, i would not be singing". I thought these emails were ridiculous.
- I remember following all his gossip online (still do now)
- I am a big fan of a movie called 'Center Stage' which is all about Ballet. Their final act is with MJ's 'the way you make me feel' - it was really good! I remember thinking if I were a Ballerina I'd want to do that dance with this song.
- Earlier this year I downloaded his King of Pop album and put it on my mp3 player. I read about his concerts and was sure they would be an amazing success and he'd be back in no time. Around that time American Idol had a MJ theme in one of their episodes. I had never heard P.Y.T till then, and the girl who covered Dirty Diana did it very well. Goes without saying that Adam rocked Black and White...
- I checked out the tickets for his concert and took a pen and paper and saw if I could make it up there, but decided: It's ok, he's still young, there'll always be next year. I was even more sure of that after they increased his concerts to 50.
- I followed two friends (Sherif and Shireen) on Facebook because I thought they would definitely go and I admit I was a little jealous. I remember reading their walls and statuses where they complained about how they couldn't get tickets coz it sold out only hours after the tickets went on sale. I might have evil eyed them, but I doubt that was true since i was very confident i'd see him live in the next couple of years...
- Last week I tried to enter the Nile FM raffle for a trip to the UK to see him live, I remember thinking 'if i win, i may have to ditch my friend who was coming to visit me in July'; I tried to make up what i'd say to her in that case. It seems so long ago now.
Life is short
- I remember googleing his different looks trying to find out how it changed - i guess i yahoo-ed it, coz Google wasn't there at the time. I might have even used Lycos or webcrawler.
- I remember taping his single "Scream" off the radio on a mix tape from the show 'At your request' on the European radio broadcast channel. The show came on from 10 to 12 every Friday - my sister and I woke up especially for it on the weekends. The presenter, Hala Hasheesh, spoke over the end of the song; and on my mix tape the next song after (or maybe the one before, i can't remember) Scream was Bryan Adam's 'To really love a woman'. We didn't leave enough space between the two songs, so they were almost merged as one song. Whenever i hear the Bryan Adam's song i think of MJ's Scream and vice versa. I also still remember the words that the presenter spoke during the song...
- I remember watching 'Free Willie' in the movie theater, and later renting it from the video store next to my house (for 3 pounds) and from the video store at the sporting club and singing along to "Childhood". Whenever i listen to the song i think of the scene where Willie jumps to the other side of the ocean with the little boy standing underneath him. I remember being a little apprehensive the second time I watched thinking the whale might end up squashing the kid. The first time I watched I was emotionally invested in the scene, i.e. crying my eyes out
- I remember the school band singing 'we are the world' - with Susi (my class mate) on the Drums and doing the back up vocals
- I remember buying the HIStory cassette tape by the label 'Voice of America’; I was captured by the song "Little Suzy". One of my frenemies at the time was called Suzy (not the one in the band that one is still a friend) and found it very disturbing that he was singing about the murder of a little girl called Suzy. I was about 13 at the time.
- HIStory, along with some Whitney Houston album and Elvis Greatest hits were my favorite Voice of America cassette tapes at the time. 'Help' was my favorite movie at the time - i would go watch it at the British Council right up the street from my house.
- I remember loving all his collaborations with the Beatles - especially 'The girl is mine' with Paul McCartney. I distinctly remember the line 'Paul, I think i told you, I’m a lover not a fighter'. I think i've quoted that in a conversation once.
- I remember the chain emails where peole claimed he said "if i had known muslims would listen to my music, i would not be singing". I thought these emails were ridiculous.
- I remember following all his gossip online (still do now)
- I am a big fan of a movie called 'Center Stage' which is all about Ballet. Their final act is with MJ's 'the way you make me feel' - it was really good! I remember thinking if I were a Ballerina I'd want to do that dance with this song.
- Earlier this year I downloaded his King of Pop album and put it on my mp3 player. I read about his concerts and was sure they would be an amazing success and he'd be back in no time. Around that time American Idol had a MJ theme in one of their episodes. I had never heard P.Y.T till then, and the girl who covered Dirty Diana did it very well. Goes without saying that Adam rocked Black and White...
- I checked out the tickets for his concert and took a pen and paper and saw if I could make it up there, but decided: It's ok, he's still young, there'll always be next year. I was even more sure of that after they increased his concerts to 50.
- I followed two friends (Sherif and Shireen) on Facebook because I thought they would definitely go and I admit I was a little jealous. I remember reading their walls and statuses where they complained about how they couldn't get tickets coz it sold out only hours after the tickets went on sale. I might have evil eyed them, but I doubt that was true since i was very confident i'd see him live in the next couple of years...
- Last week I tried to enter the Nile FM raffle for a trip to the UK to see him live, I remember thinking 'if i win, i may have to ditch my friend who was coming to visit me in July'; I tried to make up what i'd say to her in that case. It seems so long ago now.
Life is short
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