♥ The pan-Arab version of “The X Factor” will be aired during the first half of 2013 on Egypt's CBC, Rotana Khalijia and MTV Lebanon, the talent-scouting show. The jury committee of the X Factor will include Lebanese singers Elissa, Wael Kafouri, Carole Samaha and Emirati singer Hussein Al-Jasmi. The news was announced during a press conference held in Cairo and was attended by a bevy of media figures including Al-Watan newspaper Editor-in-Chief Magdi Al-Gallad, CBC anchor Khairi Ramadan and emerging actress Yossra Al-Louzi. The X Factor aims to place the fans in the judges' seat via direct selection of the superstar through voting across eight cities in the Middle East: Beirut, Dubai, Kuwait, Amman, Tunis, Casablanca, Mansoura and Cairo.
♣ The head of the Iranian Affairs Mission in Cairo Mujtaba Amani gave a reception at his residence in Heliopolis to celebrate the anniversary of the Iranian revolution. The celebration marked Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Egypt to attend the Islamic Summit. Present were diplomats, writers and politicians including former MP and founder of Al-Ahram Iranian Studies magazine Mohamed Said Idris, former presidential candidate Amr Moussa, head of the Wasat Party Abul-Ela Madi, head of the Egyptian Labour Party Magdi Hussein, actress Wafaa Amer, writer Safinaz Kazim and judge Mustafa Abu Hassan.
♠ The second edition of Parachute, a book by journalist and writer Ibrahim Al-Garhi, was launched last week at El Sawy Culturewheel. The ceremony featured a discussion of the book with Al-Garhi in the presence of activist Wael Khalil, presenter Abdel-Rahman Youssef, head of the Arab Writers Union Mohamed Salmawy and journalist Fatma Naaout. Al-Garhi founded an Internet radio channel, Tet Radio, and published Haret Al-Dabaa (Al-Dabaa Alley), a novel.
♣ Also at El Sawy Culturewheel, on the 10th anniversary of the institution, the Sahara band gave a rai concert. The band is made up of Ahmed Al-Wahsh, Ahmed Ezz, Mohamed Medhat, Ahmed Hisham, Osama Salah, Marwan Shaaban and Ahmed Ali.
¨ Last week, an internationally leading cosmetics company honoured the eight young female scientists who won the company's pan-Arab “For Women in Science” Fellowship, organised in collaboration with UNESCO in a ceremony held at the City Stars InterContinental Hotel in Cairo, reports Mai Samih. The winners are Alia Shatanawi (Jordan), Heba Salama (Egypt), Hiba Al-Helou (Syria), Lina Khanj (Lebanon), Noura Bougasha-Elleuch (Tunisia), Rasha Othman (Sudan), Reham Al-Maliki (Iraq) and Somaya Abbas (Bahrain). The event took place under the auspices of Professor Nadia Zakhari, minister of scientific research. Present were Beshir Lamine, director of the UNESCO's Cairo Office, Geoff Skingsley, executive vice president of the company's Africa-Middle East Zone, Sandeep Rai, general manager of the company's branch in Egypt, and Nabil Saleh, who headed the jury of the “For Women in Science Pan-Arab” programme. “It is the first time that this event has been held in Cairo,” Rai said. “What we do is we recognise exceptional women scientists with exceptional work... Science is dominated by males so what we are hoping is to get more women to take up science.” So far the programme has awarded 1,300 women from over 100 countries.
♣ On World Cancer Day the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have announced that 1.5 million people can survive cancer by following decisive measures. The announcement was made in the framework of the World Health Organisation (WHO) initiative “25 in 25”, which aims to reduce 25 per cent of premature deaths as a result of non-contagious diseases by 2025. Christopher Wild, director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer said, “the possibility of saving the 1.5 million deaths to cancer is the best motivation to us to intensify our efforts in the implementation of the objectives of the WHO ‘25 in 25'. If we succeed in that, we have a collective responsibility to support those with low and middle income struggling with cancer with limited capabilities.” For his part Mohamed Shaalan, professor of surgical oncology, head of the early detection unit at the National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, and chairman of the Breast Cancer Foundation of Egypt said, “the incidence of non-contagious diseases such as breast cancer increased significantly in the past few years. Community organisations and civil society organisations have to join forces for the implementation of the mechanisms leading to remarkable results in the number of deaths.” ♣ As part of a new experiment in music production, Film Clinic will produce the new album by the Egyptian local band Massar Egbari. Mohamed Hefzi, producer and founder of Film Clinic, announced that the new collaboration will include the production of a video clip for one of the songs in the new album, which will be released in 2013. Film Clinic collaborated with Massar Egbari on the film Microphone in 2010, which was about independent music production and underground music bands. Based on a contract between the two companies, Pyramedia will be responsible for the distribution of the album. Commenting on the venture, Hefzi said, “I chose Massar Egbari because I wanted to continue a journey that began in 2010 during the shooting of Microphone. Film Clinic is not a music label and what we are doing with Massar Egbari is an exception, yet this falls within our mission of empowering and collaborating with dynamic emerging artists.” Massar Egbari was formed in 2005; their name (a traffic term meaning, literally, “compulsory passage”) reflects how society forces people to take a predetermined route in life. The band presents songs about social issues using a mix of rock and jazz combined with Oriental music. In 2007, the band performed at a number of festivals in Malta, Italy, Turkey, Macedonia and Tanzania. In April 2011, UNESCO awarded Massar Egbari the title of “Young Artist for Intercultural Dialogue between the Arab and Western Worlds” in a ceremony held at the organisation's headquarters in Paris. Members of the band include Hani Al-Dakkak, guitar and lead singer, Ayman Massoud, keyboards, Mahmoud Siam, guitar and bass piano, Ahmed Hafez, bass and Tamer Atallah, drums. They are due to perform in Nottingham at the Ishraquah Festival on 16 February from 4-5pm, and, together with Deadbeat Orchestra, at Café Oto in London the next day. ♥ A fashion show by celebrated fashion designer Hani Al-Beheiri took place at the First Mall in Giza. It featured the latest from 2013 with 50 elegant soirée and wedding gowns. Society ladies Brigitte Louvivre, Samia Abul-Fotouh, Nani Saleh, Reham Essam, Ghada Amin and Ghadir Al-Agbani were present.
