Egyptian TV producers are scrambling to find a top-notch star to fill in for Nelly and Sharihan as the host for the traditional Ramadan quiz shows this year.
Although hosting Ramadan quiz shows has often been considered a great opportunity and career boost, and actually stood behind the fame of actresses Sharihan and Nelly, young actresses have nevertheless been nixing the role.
Nelly confirmed that she had no plans to return to the quiz programs because there was "nothing new" about them. Atempts to convince Shirihan to present them this year have also failed, according to the UAE daily Al Bayan.
After Shirihan, Lucy presented the quizzes, but did not achieve the anticipated success despite her success when presenting them for an Arab channel.
Nadine then presented them for two years and achieved reasonable success in the first year, but she slipped and was exposed to bitter criticism in the second year. This experience led her to turn down hosting them for a third year.
Yasmin Abdel Aziz and Nelly Karim shared the starring roles in the program and the results were disappointing. Because there was no actress that would fill in for Nelly or Shirihan, producers had no other alternative but to do without quiz shows last Ramadan.
It was only recently that Shirihan agreed to take the starring role in the quiz show Sit Al Sittat (Lady of the Ladies) in which three new directors were supposed to debut, including Hussein Kamal, Khairi Besharah and Mohammed Khan.
Many rumors spread regarding Sharihan’s pay, which some alleged reached three million pounds at a rate of 100,000 pounds per episode. In addition, the channel also reportedly agreed on all conditions stipulated by Sharihan, including including those related to production, direction and the set.
In fact, Sharihan flew to London to purchase the quiz show wardrobe, and as soon as she returned home, she went to the studio and shot 10 episodes. However, shooting was halted later due to production and administrative problems.
Young actresses also deep-sixed the idea of participating in the quiz program this year. These included Hanan Tork, who was nominated to play the first starring role after Sharihan sent her initial regrets for not accepting the role.
Hanan also sent her regrets, saying, “I became very scared of this experience when I asked myself what was left for me to do after Nelly and Sharihan.”
Among the actresses who were nominated for the program was Yasmin Abdel Aziz, who sent her regrets, saying, “Despite my deep love for shows, I have felt no satisfaction with the quiz program Al Eyal Tganninet (Boys Have Become Mad) which I presented before in 15 episodes. I have learned from my first debut on this program not to be hasty about presenting any work.”
The most recent regrets came from the young star Amirah, who said: “I turned down presenting the quiz program at the beginning of my career because it constitutes a risk of failure for new stars. This failure can affect an actress for a long time, particularly in view of the fact these programs have become a difficult option for any actress after all that was presented by both Nelly and Sharihan. The evidence shows that no actress has been able to achieve any success after them, so I prefer to keep away from this kind of show." - Albawaba.com
