Lebanese dance company Mayyas have won America's Got Talent season 17, taking home the $1 million prize and the chance to headline a Las Vegas show.
During the emotional two-hour finale show on Wednesday, in which the results from public voting were revealed, the 11 finalists performed for a final time on the America's Got Talent stage. Mayyas, took the stage alongside fellow finalist dancer Kristy Sellars for a mesmerising performance to a backdrop of gold lighting. Judge Simon Cowell gave the performance a standing ovation.
Watch the moment Mayyas wins 'America's Got Talent' here:
On Tuesday night, the troupe performed a moody routine in white, feathered outfits, featuring sparkling globes. The performance won a standing ovation from the crowd, leading Cowell to say the act was "astonishing".
Last week, they made a triumphant return to the America's Got Talent stage for the semi-finals. Their hypnotic performance was praised by judges, including Cowell.
"Every single one of us in this room, I promise you, are going to remember this moment," Cowell said of the September 7 performance.
"This is not just going to change your lives, and this is going to sound very dramatic, this is a performance that changes the world. It was as good as it gets ... respect."
Watch Mayyas's full 'America's Got Talent' semi-final performance here
In June, the group made their America's Got Talent debut and impressed judges Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara so much they received a golden buzzer and fast track to the live shows.
However, the successful audition was not the female troupe's first talent show appearance.
The crew was founded in Beirut by Nadim Cherfan, who is also the act's choreographer. Cherfan started dancing aged 14 and attended workshops in the UK, the US and India. He launched his own dance classes in studios around the Lebanese capital in 2012, before forming the Mayyas.
In 2019, the group appeared on the sixth series Arabs Got Talent and went on to win the series. In the same year, they participated in Britain's Got Talent: The Champions, an international spin-off of the talent show on UK TV.
Their 2019 Arabs Got Talent win came with a new car and a 200,000 Saudi riyal ($53,333) cash prize.
Despite not making it past the semi-final on Britain's Got Talent: The Champions, Cowell — a judge on both shows — described the act as "genius" and his fellow judge, English comedian David Walliams said: "It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. This is one of those acts where it only works if every one of you is doing their piece perfectly and every one of you did.”
On Britain's Got Talent: The Champions, the Mayyas were one of 45 acts who competed in a pool that featured global talent hailing from the UK, India, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Singapore and more.
Speaking to The National after their Britain's Got Talent: The Champions experience, Cherfan said he was satisfied with the experience. "We wanted to go there and show what we can do because that was important to us," he said.
"The best part of it all was that we were invited to perform alongside winners from around the world. To be included in that is special."
MBC's Mazen Hayek said that their stint on the show and international success was an inspiration for the whole region.
"They are symbol of resilience," Hayek said. "Reaching Britain's Got Talent: The Champions is another token of that resilience and an example of that there is nothing impossible when there is talent and determination. They are the perfect embodiment of Arab youth for whom the sky is the limit."
During their America's Got Talent audition, the group explained their name, saying it "is a word in Arabic that means the proud walk of a lioness".
Vergara also asked the group about life in Lebanon right now, to which they replied: "Lebanon is a very beautiful country, but we live a daily struggle."
Another dancer said: "Unfortunately, being a dancer as a female Arab is not fully supported yet."
When asked about their dream, they said that being there "on the biggest stage in the world" is their "only chance to prove to the world what Arab women can do, the art we can create, the fights we fight".
Back in 2019, Cherfan had his sights set high, telling Arab News: "I would love to one day choreograph for Beyonce.
"She’s a huge inspiration and amazing dancer, and she’s the number one entertainer in the world."
Watch Mayyas' full 'America's Got Talent' audition here:
— A version of this article was first published on June 23, 2022
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
The biogs
Name: Zinah Madi
Occupation: Co-founder of Dots and links
Nationality: Syrian
Family: Married, Mother of Tala, 18, Sharif, 14, Kareem, 2
Favourite Quote: “There is only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything.”
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Occupation: Co-founder of Dots and Links
Nationality: Jordanian
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Favourite Quote: A Chinese proverb that says: “Be not afraid of moving slowly, be afraid only of standing still.”
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Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Who are the Soroptimists?
The first Soroptimists club was founded in Oakland, California in 1921. The name comes from the Latin word soror which means sister, combined with optima, meaning the best.
The organisation said its name is best interpreted as ‘the best for women’.
Since then the group has grown exponentially around the world and is officially affiliated with the United Nations. The organisation also counts Queen Mathilde of Belgium among its ranks.
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Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
NO OTHER LAND
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Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
PROFILE BOX
Company name: Overwrite.ai
Founder: Ayman Alashkar
Started: Established in 2020
Based: Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai
Sector: PropTech
Initial investment: Self-funded by founder
Funding stage: Seed funding, in talks with angel investors
HAEMOGLOBIN DISORDERS EXPLAINED
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
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The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The biog
Name: Mohammed Imtiaz
From: Gujranwala, Pakistan
Arrived in the UAE: 1976
Favourite clothes to make: Suit
Cost of a hand-made suit: From Dh550
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Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
The specs: 2018 Kia Picanto
Price: From Dh39,500
Engine: 1.2L inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Four-speed auto
Power: 86hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 122Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.0L / 100km
