Fans can expect new music from Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram. EPA
Fans can expect new music from Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram. EPA
Fans can expect new music from Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram. EPA
Fans can expect new music from Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram. EPA

Why Nancy Ajram loves the UAE: 'Dubai is our city ... many places there are special and dear to my heart'


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There is a reason why Nancy Ajram is at the top of her game. Not even motherhood can keep the Lebanese popstar away from her rigorous touring and recording schedule.

The 35-year-old may have given birth to her third child in February, but the Ajram machine has kept rolling with a sell out Eid Al Adha show at the Dubai World Trade Centre earlier this month, in addition to headlining slots in some of the Arab world’s biggest music festivals. Ajram is now turning her attention away from the road and back to the studio. A new album, her ninth, is in the works with a bunch of songs already recorded.

She tells us that her hard work is all down to the love she has for her fans, which she describes as her “lasting asset”.

Tell us about your new album, the release date and what it includes?

I am currently working on an album and it will include eight to nine songs. I have actually started recording them but did not specify a release date – but I am currently examining all [necessary] steps. I will sing different songs in Lebanese, Khaleeji and Egyptian dialects. In many songs, Ahmad Madi is the songwriter and Ziad Burji the composer. I made sure that songs combine romanticism and my own special style in every song. I will also release a solo song soon.

With so many songs released, which ones mean the most to you?

All the songs are beautiful and dear to my heart no matter the dialect and I always make sure there’s a variety in the songs’ dialects.

How do you pick your song topics? Are they dictated by emotions or what is happening in society around you?

I think the artist should sing for both. We are humans like everybody else with feelings and emotions. Therefore, the artist must sing what he feels and what touches them. They must also send a message to express what society wants to say.

You recently gave birth to your third child, your daughter Lya. How do you balance everything between family, friends and stardom?

I personally won't take any steps I am not sure I can take. I make sure it does not affect my family at all. My family is my priority and I find myself capable of balancing between my responsibilities as a mother and an artist.

You are known to have a cheerful and childish spirit – how do you maintain it?

I am pampered from within and I am cheerful by nature, as a matter of fact. I believe that I will remain a child from within but I cannot tell for how long the childish looks will last.

You have a formidable social media following. How important is it for you to keep up with life online?

It is very important that the artist stays connected with fans through social media and digital development. I believe these are means to keep the artist close to their audience. Their love is primarily the reason for the artist's success, better yet, they are the artist's lasting asset. No matter the number of songs or hits we make, the success and influence of an artist remains fundamentally down to the love and appreciation of fans.

You are a regular performer in the UAE. What are your impressions of the country’s evolution over the years?

I have visited the UAE many times, and [I come] very often. I usually participate in festivals and organised parties. Dubai is our city which is famed for its speed and development, that is why I am keen on organising most press meetings and musical concerts in Dubai, and there are many places in Dubai that are special and dear to my heart.

Al Roeya is the Arabic language sister newspaper of The National

Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica

Best Agent: Jorge Mendes

Best Club : Liverpool   

 Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)  

 Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker

 Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo

 Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP

 Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart

Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)

Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)

Best Women's Player:  Lucy Bronze

Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi

 Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)

 Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)

 Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs

How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

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Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

THE BIO

Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren

Favourite travel destination: Switzerland

Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers

Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Airev
Started: September 2023
Founder: Muhammad Khalid
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Generative AI
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
 
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Pakistan Super League

Previous winners

2016 Islamabad United

2017 Peshawar Zalmi

2018 Islamabad United

2019 Quetta Gladiators

 

Most runs Kamran Akmal – 1,286

Most wickets Wahab Riaz –65