The first album for Jordanian singer Diana Karazone, known as Arab Superstar, has so far witnessed tremendous success around the Arab world and specifically in Lebanon after the huge advertising campaign that was held by her production company. In Jordan the singer’s album was faced with pirating causing the number of sales to be not as high as expected.
According to the London based Al Sharq Al Awsat, Tareq and Ziad Company had bought the rights to distribute the album in Jordan and had made a large purchase order in the hope that sales would be sky high, but the shock came to the owner of the company when the minute the album hit stores pirated copies were made in numerous numbers and were sold for less than half the price of the original. This catastrophe caused the company to face losses and led the owner to file a complaint to the National Library, which is responsible for protecting intellectual rights, in order to prosecute those responsible.
Diana signed the release of her first album “Diana Karazone Arab Superstar” under the production of Warner Music and Music Master International on September 30, 2003 in Beirut at Virgin Mega Stores. A special celebration was arranged for the big event, which witnessed a very large audience all anxiously waiting for Diana to sing.
The singer called on everyone to buy original copies of her new album, saying that a portion of the proceeds from the sales will be donated to different charitable organizations. The new album features nine songs, written and composed by some of the most prominent names in the music industry, and is a mix of Lebanese, Egyptian, and Gulf styles. Diana was scheduled to sing 3 songs for the audience by ended up singing 5 due to the desire of those who attended.
Diana also held a press conference after her performance in which she answered all the questions with the utmost honesty. The singer stressed that the fact that she is over weight does not make her less of a singer and her fans have already accepted that feature about her when they elected her as the Arab Superstar. Diana added that her new album is mostly on the slow sides with soft music, saying she wanted her first album to reach people's hearts.
Diana has won the title of Superstar, the popular show aired on the Lebanese satellite television channel Future, receiving 52% of 4,800,000 viewers' votes, defeating her Syrian opponent Rwaida Attia. Upon winning the title, Diana received two very important phone calls, one from Jordan’s King and Queen, and the second from Lebanon’s Prime Minister Rafiq Al Hariri, both wanting to congratulate her on winning and wishing her the best of luck.
The final episode of Superstar from which the winner was chosen, enormous television screens were scattered throughout Jordan, as Jordanians waited in agony for the end of the show praying that Diana would win. The largest crowd, which was over 20 thousand, gathered in one of Amman’s elite neighborhood Abdoun to watch the live broadcast of the show. As the winner was announced, Jordanians began firing fireworks, singing in the streets and holding car parades to express their joy. –Albawaba.com
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
