Sunday, November 9, 2014

Arab Idol'ing LIVE

I was lucky enough during my short visit to Beirut earlier this month ( Nov 2014 ) to attend the live prime show of Arab Idol. It was my first experience to attend such an event, so I really didn't know what to expect. 
I put on my high heels, wore make up & luckily packed my new coat. 
We had to be there at 6pm Beirut time & due to Beirut's unpredicted traffic jams, we decided to leave at 4pm to avoid it. Lucky us, we reached in less than 30 minutes. Unfortunately, we waited till 7 pm to enter! Yes!!! Wrong choice of shoes indeed as we stood outdoors for almost 3 loooooong hours. The coat came in handy though as it was chilled. 

In we walked, thru tough security. 
Zone B, seat 81 ( Perfect! I thought) . I trip at the entrance, almost slipping off the stairs as I look for our seats. Funny that the chairs were basic plastic ones! The hassle I went thru to look for my assigned seat was useless as the chairs weren't numbered! 
Anyways! 
We sat by Wael Kfouri's side :)
The set is much smaller that what it looks like on TV. 
Wael is way shorter than Hassan Shafei
Nancy is too skinny!
Ahlam freaked me when she turned all of a sudden but she is so much fun to watch.
Elissa is 'Mahdoumeh' on stage and very elegant. 
Before the final session, A manager came to the jury and asked them to get close and told them something. It seemed very serious & It felt like they knew what the result was before they'd announce it.
Nice audience briefing by the producers asking everyone to clap, cheer up for all contestants as all of them are Arab. They asked everyone to refrain from saying bad words to the jury otherwise they will be asked to leave the set)
انتو ضيوف ال ام بي سي

It was a great experience indeed. Tiring & restricted, though memorable.

Here are a few shots 


Wael keeps on going back stage at each break 😉 واحد من الجمهور قال له ( روح شوف مرايتك مزبوط

الاجتماع المغلق عند اخر بريك- هممم

Monday, November 3, 2014

بيروت ما بتموت

Inspired by the beauty of this city. By the strength of its people despite their weakness. By their souls that will never know how to stop enjoying life by the second.  As I Walk along the sea shore of pretty Beirut one breezy morning, these words came to my mind and had to be written... (PS: I'm not a writer) 

في قمة حُزنهم، يُغنون

في أتعس أيامهم،يرقُصون

و على ذكرياتهم الأليمة،يضحكون

 قديمهم جديد 
و جديدهم أرتيزانا

عربيتهم فرنسية

هم كذلك لبنانيون
**********