UAE singer Ahlam has signed an agreement with the organizers of the Hello February Festival in Kuwait to hold a concert. Ahlam will be receiving a total of 40 thousand US dollars for her performance at the festival.
The organizers for this year's annual Hello February in Kuwait have finally completed all agreements with singers from all around the Arab world to hold concerts, despite all fears of cancellation due to the situation in the region. Lebanese singers Alissa, Raghib Alameh, and Guitara band will be present at the festival. From Egypt, Shireen and Amro Diab, as well as a number of Gulf singers will all take part in the big event.
According to the Kuwaiti based daily, Al Watan, the singer has recently been crowned the Queen of Tarab (Arabic music genre) during her previous performance at the fourth annual Doha Festival. Her duet "Ya Hali" (My people), a song previously sung in the sixties by the late Egyptian singer Abdul Halim Hafiz, with Egyptian singer Hani Shaker was the highlight of the Doha Festival.
On a different note, a group of Ahlam's fans created a new website for the singer. The site contains the latest news, updates, events, and photographs of the singer.
Ahlam is also gearing for another duet with Saudi singer Rashed Al Majid. Ahlam added that she is against singers who attempt to adopt different styles or accents of singing. She believes that every singer should stick to his native tongue and accent and avoid imitating others in style and manner. She said that no one can perfect an accent other than his own so there is really no use trying.
On a different note, close contacts to the singer revealed that she is deliberately avoiding the release of her new album in the fear of war breaking out. The singer feels that if the US calls war on Iraq the music industry will also be affected negatively making any new release of albums at a time like that would be a total loss.
Ahlam intends on releasing her album when an agreement is reached between the US and Iraq and the possibility of a war no longer exists. After completing her new album the singer decided that it was not up to standards and rerecorded it over once more. The new album titled "Ahsan" (Better) features twelve songs written by prominent Gulf poets and composers. –Albawaba.com
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
