Humeid Abdouli never appeared on screen without a grateful grin on his face, no matter how high the tensions were running on Arab Idol.
His smile was well-placed: the 23-year-old from Fujairah was the only Emirati to get through the auditions in Dubai in March and win a place in the final stages, which will be televised live starting on Friday.
He had remained positive throughout the rigorous and highly competitive selection process.
“I am really optimistic about myself and, God willing, they will tell me that I get to go to the live show,” said Abdouli, as he awaited his face-to-face showdown with the four intimidating judges. His upbeat attitude paid off. “I like the smile on his face – so confident,” said the judge Hassan El Shafei, an Egyptian music producer, as Abdouli assured the judges he was fine with whatever their decision may be.
"Well," said the Emirati judge Ahlam, "we insist on having you with us. You stood proud and you sang and you were wonderful, so welcome to Arab Idol."
Abdouli will be joined in the final stages by the 26-year-old oud player Majed Al Madani, from Saudi Arabia, who also emerged successful from the auditions in Dubai.
Like Abdouli, he impressed all four judges, and Ahlam told him he is exactly what they were looking for. “Every year, we search for unique voices from the Gulf,” she said, adding that Al Madani fell into that category.
Two other contestants who auditioned in Dubai were not so lucky. The Iraqi singer Karar Sultan, 26, had to be told twice that it was time to go home by the Lebanese judge Wael Kfoury as he wouldn’t believe it. “A stage needs presence, acceptance, and you have these things but your performance for us as a judging panel wasn’t successful,” said Kfoury. Sultan walked out shocked.
The Japanese singer Nao Koyasu left in tears. The 29-year-old from Tokyo, together with four other female participants, sang Sa'alouni El Nas for Fairouz. Unlike the four girls she sang with, Koyasu's performance did not pass the judges' high standards.
El Shafei thanked Koyasu “for appreciating our culture, for doing such a great effort to be here and to learn our music and to learn a lot of details maybe some other Arabic native speakers cannot do as good as you do”. The final verdict, however, was a resounding “no”.
“I should have studied more,” said Koyasu, fighting back tears.
Friday night’s episode divided the 80 participants into 14 teams, to perform classic Arabic songs and folk tunes in front of Ahlam, El Shafei and the Lebanese pop stars Nancy Ajram and Kfoury.
Of the 80, chosen from thousands of hopefuls who auditioned to take part in the third season of the show in 12 cities around the world, 52 were invited to move on to the next round.
On Saturday’s episode, each of them sang short solos in front of the judges before hearing their final verdict. By the end, the 52 had been whittled down to 26.
Abdouli was "ecstatic" to reach the finals. His message to viewers was loud and clear: "Please vote for me, don't forget me, stay with me and vote for me. God willing, Arab Idol will be from the Gulf and God willing I am the next Arab Idol."
Arab Idol will be broadcast live on MBC1 on Fridays and Saturdays at 10pm
artslife@thenational.ae
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
PROVISIONAL FIXTURE LIST
Premier League
Wednesday, June 17 (Kick-offs uae times) Aston Villa v Sheffield United 9pm; Manchester City v Arsenal 11pm
Friday, June 19 Norwich v Southampton 9pm; Tottenham v Manchester United 11pm
Saturday, June 20 Watford v Leicester 3.30pm; Brighton v Arsenal 6pm; West Ham v Wolves 8.30pm; Bournemouth v Crystal Palace 10.45pm
Sunday, June 21 Newcastle v Sheffield United 2pm; Aston Villa v Chelsea 7.30pm; Everton v Liverpool 10pm
Monday, June 22 Manchester City v Burnley 11pm (Sky)
Tuesday, June 23 Southampton v Arsenal 9pm; Tottenham v West Ham 11.15pm
Wednesday, June 24 Manchester United v Sheffield United 9pm; Newcastle v Aston Villa 9pm; Norwich v Everton 9pm; Liverpool v Crystal Palace 11.15pm
Thursday, June 25 Burnley v Watford 9pm; Leicester v Brighton 9pm; Chelsea v Manchester City 11.15pm; Wolves v Bournemouth 11.15pm
Sunday June 28 Aston Villa vs Wolves 3pm; Watford vs Southampton 7.30pm
Monday June 29 Crystal Palace vs Burnley 11pm
Tuesday June 30 Brighton vs Manchester United 9pm; Sheffield United vs Tottenham 11.15pm
Wednesday July 1 Bournemouth vs Newcastle 9pm; Everton vs Leicester 9pm; West Ham vs Chelsea 11.15pm
Thursday July 2 Arsenal vs Norwich 9pm; Manchester City vs Liverpool 11.15pm
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
