Glitches hit Arab music show

Monday, May 17, 2004

Amid technical chaos and electrical faults, the Arab Music Awards presented spectators with a frustrating three-hour delay in a ceremony billed as a glittering occasion.

But despite the glitches taking the sheen off the musical extravaganza, and a long list of absent stars, organisers still put all their effort into rewarding the winning artistes.

The best of Arabic music talent was being honoured at the event that saw performances by regional and international stars.

However, some top singers who were supposed to perform or accept awards failed to show up, such as Amr Diab, Elissa, Kazem Al Saher, Rashid Al Majid, Nawal El Zoghby and Haifa Wehbe. Some people from the industry claimed that artistes had pulled out at the last moment.

The event, the first awards event for the Arabic music industry, was held on Saturday at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre.

Organisers had expected more than 3,500 music-lovers and artistes to attend, but a large number of the rear seats remained empty. Having waited for more than two hours, hundreds of spectators and some of the artistes had to leave the show before it had even started.

The rest waited from 9pm to 12.20am before the popular Lebanese MBC presenter Razan Moghrabi took to the stage and announced the start. By this time, the audience had dwindled to about 1,500 and even further by the time the show finished at 4am.

The objective of the awards was to celebrate creative excellence in the Arab music industry, which in the last few years has caught the imagination of the global industry. The awards also sought to bring into focus intellectual property rights of Arab musicans.

To clarify the muddle that occurred during the ceremony, the Arabian Music Academy (AMA) and Dubai Media City (DMC) issued a joint statement, saying that the event had seen "a few unfortunate technical problems".

They elaborated saying that the failure of a link between the front and back stages had caused problems, while a breakdown in the link between the stage and the satellite broadcast unit had made it impossible to broadcast the event live on TV.

Music fans will be able to watch a full version of the awards on Lebanon's Future TV later this week.

AMA has tendered an apology to the music celebrities who graced the event. It expressed its gratitude to everybody who participated in the awards, including the sponsors.

DMC, which also supported AMA's initiative, expressed its "sincere apologies" and wished the AMA every success in their future events.

A Lebanese programme producer, who asked to remain anonymous, told Gulf News during the event: "The big mixer that was in the outdoor broadcasting van was supposed to transmit the show live via satellite, but it burnt out. It costs millions of dollars. They had to bring a smaller one in to replace it. Also the organisers faced difficulties in the audio system inside the hall."

Shuckri Bundakji, AMA's chairman, said: "We faced unfortunate technical difficulties. The main organisers know exactly what happened. People from the local and international music industry saw it as a success.

"The actual staging, performing and script of the show were excellent. But the only blunder was in the audio system." He pointed to several difficulties that the organisers had faced a few days before the event.

At the end of the ceremony, many performers and winners refused to comment about the chaos.

And the award winners are:* Best Song by male performer from Western Arab countries: Saber Al Robaei

* Best Song by Egyptian male performer: Amr Diab

* Best Song by male performer from the Levant countries: Kazem Al Saher

* Best Song by Gulf male performer: Rashid Al Majid

* Best Song by female performer from Western Arab countries: Latifa

* Best Song by Egyptian female performer: Shereen Ahmad

* Best Song by female performer from the Levant countries: Nawal Al Zoghby

* Best Song by Gulf female performer: Nawal

* Best Album by performer from Western Arab countries: Latifa

* Best Album by Egyptian performer: Amr Diab

* Best Album by performer from the Levant countries: Kazem Al Saher