Nawal Al Zoghbi on her new ‘part-Emirati’ song and upcoming online reality television series

The Lebanese pop star has become a Ramadan television star late in her career.

Nawal Al Zoghbi’s new single Tewellaa has been the subject of discussion about its origin. Zoghbi performing at 2017 Mawazine. Courtesy Youness Hamiddine

It is the social-media debate that’s been simmering for weeks.

Ever since its release in April, Nawal Al Zoghbi's new single Tewellaa has been the subject of discussion about its origin.

The syncopated rhythms points to the Gulf, the strings are positively Oriental and the lush singing accent can be placed firmly in the Levant – despite all that, there is no distinguishing feature pointing to a specific country.

The accompanying video is also maddeningly eclectic; with more than 2 million views on YouTube, the-44-year-old Al Zoghbi dons a red traditional Gulf dress while dancing the tango with a Mediterranean-looking gentleman.

Speaking from the recently concluded Mawazine festival in Morocco, the Lebanese pop star lays the speculation to rest.

“The song is part-Emirati, actually” she says.

Perhaps in response to my puzzled look, she adds: “It is sung in an Iraqi dialect and its music is Emirati. I liked the song for its feeling and simplicity and for the merge it creates between these two countries.”

Al Zoghbi says the accompanying video is also a nod to the UAE.

“I have always liked to shoot an Emirati song wearing the Emirati burqa,” she says. “I wanted to present something new. The idea behind the song is not complicated, it is more about glamour, looks, beauty shops, plus some tango.”

While the song and video’s local character is somewhat debatable, it heralds a flurry of recent activity by Al Zoghbi that includes singing the theme songs for two television dramas aired during Ramadan.

Both tracks reflect some of the different styles that allowed Al Zoghbi to maintain her enduring top-tier position in the industry.

For the Egyptian drama Li Aa'la Se'er, the production is intimate, as Al Zoghbi's husky vocals convey the show's signature melancholy over a mostly skeletal piano.

With the lighthearted Lebanese romantic drama Caramel, we hear Al Zoghbi the pop star on a jaunty track that has now taken on a second life on Arab pop radio.

Both songs ushered Al Zoghbi’s entry into the Ramadan television market – a normally coveted industry slot because of the binge-watching habits of viewers during the holy month.

For someone normally at the forefront of the latest music trends (she was arguably the first Lebanese pop star to sing in Moroccan dialect and the Algerian folk style with 2012's Habib Dyali and 2000's Bledi respectively), she admits she was late in understanding the importance of the Ramadan market.

“It is all a new experience for me,” she says.“I used to decline such offers as I thought they did not add much to an artist’s career. But now things have changed. I feel that competition is good during Ramadan, especially in such big works.”

Al Zoghbi goes on to strip away the veneer of comradeship of the Arab pop industry.

The whole thing is one big competition, she states.

Her recent awakening to such a view allowed her to recognise some of the major miscalculations she has made along her three-decade career – the biggest of which was turning down career-defining opportunities such as a judge of an unnamed television talent quest about five years ago.

“A mistake from my part,” Al Zoghbi states. “Not many people know this, but I was among the first artists who were offered to be part of the judging panel of an Arab talent show, but I declined. I just did not feel right to give my opinion about the talents. But now I regret not signing on.”

It seems rather strange that such decisions still wrinkle her, considering her success. But Al Zoghbi is hardening up when it comes to career goals. She talks of “my plan” and decisions with the cool precision of a business executive.

Her next big project is an online reality series following her life. Al Zoghbi cautions that it won't resemble anything like the ersatz warts-and-all-style of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

The weekly episodes will mostly focus on her professional life and rarely delve into the personal. Don’t expect to see a lot of footage of her twin boys, she says. But it is not that she didn’t try, Al Zoghbi states that her children simply wouldn’t have it.

“I am one of those people who would love the fans to join me in my social life, but in some cases there are few red-lines and that concerns my family, particularly my children,” she says.

“When you got children you have to be aware of their feelings. Now I have twin boys and they simply don’t like their photos being taken, even if it’s a personal one with me. They don’t like cameras or being fussed over. That’s their personalities and I will respect that.”