Psy Agency, which organizes the concerts, announced the cancellation of two concerts by American rapper Kanye West in Russia, which were scheduled to be held this month.
West was scheduled to hold two concerts in St. Petersburg, but a week after announcing them in mid-August, the party that was supposed to host the event announced that it had not signed any contract with the organizers, who are from another Moscow-based company.
Since then, the fate of the two shows has remained unresolved, with no clear confirmation from the organizers about whether to go ahead or cancel them.
The Psy agency wrote on Telegram yesterday, Wednesday, saying: “My friends, we sincerely regret to inform you that (Kanye’s) concerts in St. Petersburg will not take place... We will issue an official statement regarding the status of the project and our upcoming plans in the near future,” according to what was reported by the “Reuters” news agency.
This year, West faced cancellation of concerts and restrictions on his performances in a number of European countries due to previous anti-Semitic statements that included praising Adolf Hitler and using images and symbols associated with Nazism.
Last January, West apologized for those comments, which he attributed to an undiagnosed brain injury and untreated bipolar disorder.
Plans to hold two Lost concerts in Russia sparked criticism from some pro-military and pro-war Russian bloggers, who questioned the appropriateness of hosting an American artist at a time when Washington continues to provide military and financial support to Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized holding any concert for him in the country, describing the matter as unacceptable, basing this on what she described as West's "glorification" of Hitler.
Several crises and challenges surround the 34th session of the Arab Music Festival, whose activities are scheduled to be held from October 20 to 30, most notably the “apologies and criticisms,” the withdrawal of artists Mohamed Tharwat and Ali Al-Haggar, the announcement by the head of the Egyptian Opera House, which organizes the festival, that he will not continue in his position, and the difficulty of researchers participating in the “scientific conference,” which is held in conjunction with the concerts, due to “a weak budget.”
Dr. Reda El-Wakil, President of the Cairo Opera House, had confirmed in the press conference held on Wednesday that “weak budget” was the reason for not contracting with some artists.
The agent announced the details of the concerts, in the presence of a number of officials, including Maestro Mohamed Al-Mogy, director of the festival, pointing out that the festival includes 22 “singing nights,” with the participation of 70 Egyptian and Arab artists, in addition to discussing 35 research papers in the “scientific conference.”
According to the opera’s president, the artist Mohamed Tharwat was scheduled to perform at the opening ceremony, but he apologized for not participating suddenly, and wrote on his Facebook account: “I will not accept and will not participate in insulting Egyptian art or Egyptian artists.”
The 11 nights of the festival, dedicated to the spirit of the late artist Hani Shaker, will witness the participation of a number of singing stars, including Marwa Naji, Ahmed Gamal, Reham Abdel Hakim, Mohamed Mohsen, Khaled Selim, and musician Omar Khairat, while the closing ceremony will be performed by the artist Medhat Saleh. The concerts will also witness the participation of Egyptian opera artists and musical groups.
The Arab participants in this year's session are represented by the Lebanese artist Assi El-Hellani, who donated his salary to the Opera House, according to a statement by its president, the Lebanese artist Walaa El-Gendy, and from Jordan, Tariq Al-Faqih and Nidaa Sharara.
During the past hours, Dr. Reda Al-Wakil faced criticism from some specialists in the music field, commenting on his talk about the scenes of singing participations and the weak budget, including Maestro Hani Farhat, Walid Fayed, and Medhat Khamis, who stressed that “the festival needs to be reviewed.”
The artist Ali Al-Hajjar will be absent from the festival, for the first time since its launch. While the head of the opera confirmed that Al-Hajjar is always present at the artistic house’s activities, and that his absence is due to allowing other names to participate, Al-Hajjar confirmed that the reason is due to the adoption of a weak and humiliating budget for the members of his orchestra, according to what he published on his Facebook account.
Matters did not stop at Tharwat’s apology, Al-Hajjar’s clarification, and specialists’ criticism. Reda El-Wakil announced his apology for continuing the position of head of the Egyptian Opera House, which he assumed a few months ago, and wrote on his Facebook account: “I will not accept that anyone control my choices, and I will not be the cause of problems or hostility,” stressing that he remains an artist and a friend, following the controversy raised by his talk about the weak budget locally, compared to the participation of opera artists internationally.
Away from the controversy of apologies, criticisms and clarifications, the artist Medhat Saleh celebrated his performance at two concerts at the festival, one of which was the closing ceremony, and published the promotional poster for the two concerts on his Facebook account.
In turn, Maestro Dr. Muhammad Al-Moji, Director of the Festival and Conference, said that the next session of “Arabic Music” is dominated by the classical character and interest in operatic sounds.
Commenting on the controversy over the absence of some artists from participating in the festival, Muhammad Al-Muji confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the festival’s management contacted several names, but they apologized for reasons that varied from different dates, a weak budget, and setting conditions.”
Al-Mogy expressed his admonishment towards some Egyptian artists in particular, explaining that “the weak budget and rationalization of expenses are matters beyond our control, and they are the only obstacle facing the festival’s management,” pointing out that “Arabic Music” is an ancient Egyptian festival, many of whom have previously sung on its stages, and that its support is necessary.
Al-Moji stated that he demanded an increase in the budget, but he had no say in arranging these matters and coordinating them with the concerned authorities.
In a new tradition, the festival named its nights of music after some of Egypt’s music pioneers, including Sayed Darwish, Baligh Hamdi, Mohamed Al-Moji, and Mohamed Abdel-Wahab. All Cairo concerts will be held on the Grand Theater of the Opera House, and the Nafoura Theater will not witness any concerts, unlike what was the case in previous editions.
During the conference, Dr. Muhammad Shabana, Chairman of the Scientific Committee, confirmed that the conference’s theme for this year is titled “Arabic Music between Academic Criticism and Media Outreach,” and will be discussed through 4 axes. Shabana pointed out that the number of papers received by the committee reached 54, of which 35 papers were selected from Arab and foreign countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Sweden, and America, in addition to the participation of 4 researchers representing the Arab Music Academy. The conference will also witness a cultural symposium on the career of artist Hani Shaker.
At the opening ceremony, the Arab Music Festival honors 9 figures who contributed to enriching artistic life in Egypt and the Arab world. The honor includes the names of Hani Shaker, the poet Reda Amin, and the musician Mukhtar Al-Sayed, along with the artists Tariq Fouad and Walid Haider, the violinist Dr. Samir Rashad, the artist Mohamed Fouda, the musical composer Mohamed Hilal, and the music critic Dr. Enas Jalal El-Din.
In recent days, artificial intelligence-generated clips from the series “Bab Al-Hara” have spread, topping the content on social media. Among them are some that show the heroes of the work playing the guitar and organ or dancing the waltz, and others that re-present scenes from it in a renewed style, through haircuts and modern costumes. These clips quickly spread, achieving millions of views, and their repercussions reached far beyond the Arab world.
The Lebanese Elie Abu Khalil was the first to release this type of clip, as he presented a scene from the series in several languages. Others quickly followed suit, drawing ideas for their clips from its content, and without knowing it, it created a phenomenon that began to grow day after day to invade the means of communication.
Abu Khalil chose a dialogue scene that takes place between the two heroes of the work in its first part, Abu Issam (Abbas Al-Nouri) and Umm Issam (Sabah Al-Jazairi), and dubbed it in different languages, focusing on a dialogue punctuated by the word “Fashret” that Umm Issam says to her husband, which, according to the context of the work, causes their divorce. The clip achieved great interaction, exceeding 10 million views within days.
With its content, Abu Khalil attracted Arab and international media attention. Since last June, he began a challenging journey with artificial intelligence under the title “I am the one that artificial intelligence is trying to replace,” through which he works to confirm that this invention cannot abolish human thought.
He published short virtual clips that he executed in his style for the purpose of entertainment, achieving millions of views. In most of these clips, Eli appears as the hero of the film, in what seems like a permanent signature of his works. He takes us on tours that sometimes center around Beirut in its glory days, and other times around topics that topped the social media, and re-presents them in a new form and a funny, entertaining framework.
Elie's success reached its peak with the video clip of the series “Bab Al-Hara.” The word “Fashret” emerged from its well-known Levantine context, reaching an audience of different nationalities, and bringing the series back to the forefront after the clip turned into a phenomenon shared by people in several countries. Elie added his touches to the scene, appearing in it while directing a slap at Abu Issam, because, in his opinion, he had wronged his wife.
He commented to Asharq Al-Awsat: “This clip has been circulating in its original form on social media for two years until today, despite it being produced 20 years ago. I had the idea of recomposing it with a comedic flavor, with the voice and image of the two Syrian heroes, so I re-presented the clip in different languages, and it reached China and India, especially France. The French version received the highest viewership, exceeding 6 million views. He adds: “Just imagining Sabah Al-Jazairi and Abbas Al-Nouri speaking in Chinese and Spanish was enough to subconsciously put a smile on the lips of their viewers.”
As for his goal in presenting these short clips, he summarizes it by saying: “I wanted to emphasize that artificial intelligence is merely a tool in the hands of humans, through which he can generate many ideas. Without humans managing this tool, artificial intelligence will get lost and fail in its mission.”
Abu Khalil believes that this invention worries many professionals today, especially those working in the field of graphic design. He continues: “But I affirm that human thought cannot be abolished. This is something I noticed in the nature of my work as an executive director in a marketing company. “If a human does not provide the AI with the task and plan to implement, it will undoubtedly fail.”
One of the clips that Eli Abu Khalil posted on his electronic page, which is no more than a few months old, is a tour in which he takes himself in old Beirut, taking us back to the time of the fifties and sixties, when the Lebanese capital was free of traffic, mobile phones, and waste on the roads. To the sound of Fairouz’s voice in the song “How Are You?”, the viewer accompanies Elie on his tour, exploring Beirut in its glory days, with its alleys, shops, cafes, and famous white and red buses.
He continues: “I composed this clip from real pictures of Beirut in that era, so I remind people of it and fulfill their dream of seeing their capital in the way their families and grandparents used to tell them about it.”
Elie Abu Khalil is always looking for the trending topic on social media. Therefore, he collected clips about the divorce story of the influencers “Dr. Food” and his wife, “Shorouk.” In another clip, he recalled the song “Betghib Betrouh,” which was famous for by actors Naim Halawi and Fadi Raidy in the 1990s, and presented them in a different scene around a Lebanese dinner table. He also chose, from the library of famous commercials of the same era, the television advertisement “Redeemer of the Fallen.”
Regarding his next steps, he explains: “A new composition for a clip from the series (Mariana), which gained widespread fame in 2002. I will also develop other popular topics whenever I have the opportunity.”
Elie Abu Khalil points out that what he accomplishes may be something anyone else can do, but what is more important is that he understands how to use artificial intelligence correctly. He concludes: “In addition to the comedic nature that accompanies my posts, my main goal remains to assure people not to be afraid of artificial intelligence. Their anxiety about him and their fear that he will replace them in performing their tasks and professions is misplaced. It is merely a machine that a person teaches to perform certain tasks, nothing more.”
