The exclusive rights to the soundtrack of Saturday's Pharaohs Golden Parade have been acquired by Lebanon-born music streaming platform Anghami.
The songs and musical compositions were certainly some of the parade’s main highlights, garnering a great deal of praise from spectators, both in Egypt and abroad.
An original composition by Hesham Nazih was performed by Egypt’s United Philharmonic Orchestra, which included 120 veteran musicians and 100 singers, conducted by Nader Abassi.
Following the parade, social media erupted with commentary about some of the night's most compelling performers, including percussionist Radwa El Beheiry.
While there were many singers involved, three leading ladies – Riham Abdelhakim, Amira Selim and Nesma Mahgoub – have been singled out for their powerful vocal stylings, but also for their fashion, which took on an Ancient Egyptian theme for the occasion.
One of Egypt's most celebrated singers, Mohamed Mounir, also dropped a new single called Ana Masr (I Am Egypt), which he was commissioned to perform specially for the parade.
Mounir's popularity is ubiquitous in Egypt as he enjoys widespread acclaim across the country's varied socioeconomic classes.
The Egyptian government leaned heavily on star power to give the parade more gravitas, with many of Mena’s hottest celebrities making appearances throughout the night.
“What many people don’t know is that the main song of the night was sung in Ancient Egyptian,” says Arto Belekdanian, an Egyptologist at the Tourism Ministry’s science division. "We put a great deal of work into making sure the lyrics and our translations of them were all correct."
Spectator Farah Magdy, an interior designer, said this attention to detail on the lyrics made everything much more "authentic". "I mean, the singers were singing in Ancient Egyptian, I had never seen that before and I was impressed."
It wasn't only the lyrics that were authentic, as the song was also reportedly composed on instruments that would have been around in ancient Egypt. This includes the sistrum, rattles, tambourines, bells and cymbals, as well as stringed instruments such as lyres, harps and the lute.
The parade, which saw 22 royal mummies paraded through Cairo, was one of the most talked-about events across the world earlier this week and its success has inspired the Egyptian government to host similar ceremonies in the future to promote the country’s tourism sector, which took a major hit because of Covid-19 travel bans.
This includes a parade for boy-king Tutankhamun, as it moves from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to the Grand Egyptian Museum.
Honeymoonish
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England squad
Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Dominic Bess, James Bracey, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Ben Foakes, Lewis Gregory, Keaton Jennings, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Jamie Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Amar Virdi, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
The years Ramadan fell in May
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Rest
(Because Music)
Captain Marvel
Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn
4/5 stars
Results
Male 51kg Round 1
Dias Karmanov (KAZ) beat Mabrook Rasea (YEM) by points 2-1.
Male 54kg Round 1
Yelaman Sayassatov (KAZ) beat Chen Huang (TPE) TKO Round 1; Huynh Hoang Phi (VIE) beat Fahad Anakkayi (IND) RSC Round 2; Qais Al Jamal (JOR) beat Man Long Ng (MAC) by points 3-0; Ayad Albadr (IRQ) beat Yashar Yazdani (IRI) by points 2-1.
Male 57kg Round 1
Natthawat Suzikong (THA) beat Abdallah Ondash (LBN) by points 3-0; Almaz Sarsembekov (KAZ) beat Ahmed Al Jubainawi (IRQ) by points 2-1; Hamed Almatari (YEM) beat Nasser Al Rugheeb (KUW) by points 3-0; Zakaria El Jamari (UAE) beat Yu Xi Chen (TPE) by points 3-0.
Men 86kg Round 1
Ahmad Bahman (UAE) beat Mohammad Al Khatib (PAL) by points 2-1
Men 63.5kg Round 1
Noureddin Samir (UAE) beat Polash Chakma (BAN) RSC Round 1.
Female 45kg quarter finals
Narges Mohammadpour (IRI) beat Yuen Wai Chan (HKG) by points.
Female 48kg quarter finals
Szi Ki Wong (HKG) beat Dimple Vaishnav (IND) RSC round 2; Thanawan Thongduang (THA) beat Nastaran Soori (IRI) by points; Shabnam Hussain Zada (AFG) beat Tzu Ching Lin (TPE) by points.
Female 57kg quarter finals
Nguyen Thi Nguyet (VIE) beat Anisha Shetty (IND) by points 2-1; Areeya Sahot (THA) beat Dana Al Mayyal (KUW) RSC Round 1; Sara Idriss (LBN) beat Ching Yee Tsang (HKG) by points 3-0.
RIDE%20ON
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The Matrix Resurrections
Director: Lana Wachowski
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick
Rating:****
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory