The shift of Egyptian singer Amr Diab from the Alam El Phan Music Production Company to Rotana Music Production Company was not as smooth as planned, but rather caused a war to break out pulling Amr in the middle. Muhsin Jaber, owner of Alam El Phan has stressed that Amr’s move is not as simple as the singer thinks and still has many legal issues pending that must be resolved before the new company takes over his work.
According to the Arab Magazine Huryati, for the past nine years, Muhsin has been Amr’s right arms, in terms of defending him, helping him make the right decisions in his career path, and most important making him the star he is today. But after Amr’s unexpected move to Rotana, after extensive negotiations that lasted for months, Muhsin has transformed into Amr’s worst enemy and is placing the best interest of his company in front of everything else, disregarding the fact that Amr was the reason behind the company’s success and brought it the most profit.
Muhsin had at first taken the news of Amr’s move calmly as if no harm was done, but later on stressed that the contract between his company and Amr is very clear and according to it the singer can not abort the contract until he fulfils all its conditions which say that the singer must submit two more albums before the end of his terms with the company which is on December 31, 2003. If Amr does not abide by the contract, Muhsin has every right legally to freeze any new work by Amr in turn forbidding the new company from producing anything by the singer.
Contradicting what many thought that Muhsin will be drawn into negotiating a settlement price with Amr and peacefully dropping the issue, Muhsin has revealed that he will not agree to any deal and will in fact freeze all of Amr’s work until he is provided with two more albums by the singer. The matter has also Rotana on the line after paying the singer 5 million US dollars to sign a contract, and since literally the singer needs at least two years to produce two albums a matter that can not keep Rotana quiet.
Muhsin stressed that he is not the one who put Amr in this situation, but the singer did it to himself and needs to pay the consequences for his actions. On the other hand, Amr feels that what he has done is 100 percent legal and he does not owe Muhsin anything after the contract ends.
The issue remains unsolved between the two men and will eventually be resolved in court. The once good friend of Amr has now turned against him in ways like revealing facts about the singer that show the weaker side of him. Muhsin has announced that the singer as a person is not capable of achieving the success he has reached, but it was the company that worked on creating him a star around the world.
On a different note, the administrative committee for the Eastern Magic Music Festival in France has chosen Diab to be part of the big event taking place at the famous Lido Stage in France. The singer added that his participation means a great deal to him in the sense that he is one of a very few Arab singer who have received such an opportunity as to sing on the Lido stage and be part of such a significant festival.
Amr has made it a point not to schedule any other performances during the time of the festival to ensure that nothing gets in the way of his participation. Amr stressed that he will take advantage of his stay in Paris to search for a new look to present himself in the upcoming period. The event is scheduled to begin on August 28, 2003 and will run until September 6.
The Music Production Company Rotana held a press conference in which it officially announced Diab's admittance to their team. A large number of media representatives were invited to the big event that took place at a grand hotel in Beirut-Lebanon. Amr had broken his contract with his previous production company Alam El Phan, which he had been a part of since the beginning of his career.
Amr's latest album "Alim Albi Al Gharam" features twelve songs, which were written by a number of prominent poets. The new album features Amr in a new look and music styles. He combined Tango, Jazz, Techno, and eastern genres all in one. “Alim Albi Al Gharam” is shot in London. –Albawaba.com
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
