Egyptian music artists took centre stage at the closing ceremony of the Qatar World Cup on Sunday.
Performing as part of the pre-match festivities were Egyptian soprano Farrah El Dibany and hip-hop star Wegz.
The former sang the French national anthem with the Les Bleus players lined up on the pitch of Lusail Stadium, with French President Emmanuel Macron watching from the stands.
After making an impression on Macron during a concert at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris last year, where she sang songs by Fairouz and Dalida, El Dibany was tapped to sing the French national anthem at Macron’s re-election victory event, after she was awarded the prestigious Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) by the French government.
Her World Cup appearance marks another step in a burgeoning career.
Born in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria, El Dibany was the first Arab opera singer to study at the prestigious Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin.
In addition to building a steady touring career, including a well-received solo concert at Dubai Opera in 2020, El Dibany was also awarded France’s Chevalier (Knight) honour, a medal that recognises significant contributions to the field of arts.
Wegz's appearance at the World Cup final was a bittersweet coronation.
While the occasion was the biggest show of his career and capped off his remarkable rise in becoming one of the region's biggest music acts, his performance was reportedly not broadcast live on channel beIN Sports.
Instead, it was live-streamed on Wegz's Instagram account. That said, he put on a spirited set and performed the official World Cup song Ezz El Arab (Arab Glory), the video for which was filmed in Qatar.
Earlier this month, Wegz was the latest Arab artist to appear on the Spotify digital billboard in New York's Times Square.
Other Arab artists performing during the World Cup final ceremony included Qatari singer Aisha, who joined Nigerian Afro-pop star David for Hayya Hayya (Better Together) and Emirati singer Balqees, who sang Light The Sky alongside Iraq's Rahma Riad, and Morocco's Nora Fatehi and Manal.
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MATCH INFO
Alaves 1 (Perez 65' pen)
Real Madrid 2 (Ramos 52', Carvajal 69')
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How tumultuous protests grew
- A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
- Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
- An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Stormy seas
Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.
We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice.
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
