CAIRO - A very special performance was held on Sunday, March 27 at Cairo Opera House's Small Hall. It was a tribute to our friend Ziad Bakir – the martyr, who was shot in the neck by a criminal sniper on Friday, January 28, while trying to save the Egyptian Museum from looters. I wish I could meet that sniper. Let's talk about the concert, which was performed by Egypt's finest tenor “the one and only” Sobhi Bidair accompanied by the backing singers Friends with of course superb piano/keyboard player “the two and twice” Nayer Nagui and veteran singer Sadeq Gellini. Naturally, it was a full house. Sobhi and Sadeq went on stage and Sobhi said that he is dedicating this concert to his friend and younger brother martyr Ziad Bakir. Sadeq added that he's hoping the sacrifice of Ziad and other martyrs will not be in vain. We were then asked to stand for a minute in mourning. After we all did, the two artists went off stage and moments later prominent Friends' member, soprano Noha Kaiss, appeared leading a group of children and teenagers. They were followed by the remaining Friends – Jacqueline Rafik, Mai Waked, Amal Ishak, Yameen Abu Al-Yazeed, Maha Nabil, Nada Hassan and Rania. Unfortunately, I didn't get to know Rania's full name, so I hope she accepts my apology. I also hope that the young artists will forgive me for the same reason – I only know their first names and they are Dalila, Ali, Nour, Farah, Nur, Sarah, Ganna, Rashida, Billi, Laila and Malak. The army of backing singers was joined on stage by Nayer then Sadeq and Sobhi. Everyone was applauded earnestly, simply because the audience knew that these artists will present nothing but the best. Noha led the young artists as they provided backing vocals while Sobhi sang the first number, which made everyone rise to their feet again – it was “Bellady, Bellady” (My Country, My Country), which is our beloved National Anthem. That was a very nice gesture. The young artists remained on stage to sing backing vocals on Michael Jackson's “Heal the World”. Some parts of that song were too high for me to sing them in their original key. Nayer should be familiar with the vocal range of each member of the audience! As the young singers were about to go to the wings, they were stopped by the applause of an appreciative crowd. The following number was “Heroe”, Il Divo's Spanish cover of Mariah Carey's number one song “Hero”. Sobhi, Sadeq and Nayer took turn in singing it and although I prefer the English version I have to say that their rendition was quite good. This song was followed by Joe Cocker's version of Elton John's epic “Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word”. Sadeq did a good job singing it. Elton of course is an exceptional pianist and Nayer excelled in playing this track and every other one as well. Sobhi, who added amazing high notes to Elton's song, is the one who thrilled us with his golden voice while singing Bread's “If”. Knowing that it's very hard to sing this track in particular, a man sitting in the second row couldn't stop himself from screaming “BARVO” at the end of it. I have to say that Friends added brilliant backing vocals to that number. It was then time for an instrumental – the timeless “Fascination”, which was performed by guest violinist Mounir Nasreddin, accompanied by Nayer's playing. Quiet impressive. Another Mounir – singer Mounir Nasseef – joined the artists to amaze everyone with Louis Armstrong's “What A Wonderful World”. This man sounds like Louis more than Louis does! When he finished the reaction was a storm of applause. Mounir was too distracted to take a bow. By the way, off stage too this man is wonderful. What was next? Jacqueline stepped forward and joined Sobhi in singing Andrea Bocelli and Katherine Jenkins' duet “I Believe”. I haven't listened to Jacqueline's singing for a long time and although I always loved it, it sounded more mature somehow. “Hero”? Didn't they sing that earlier? No, because it's a totally different one. You should know the difference between Batman, Cat Woman and Cowboy. What? Don't you play Farmville? They have cows there! We better stick to the concert. I meant to say that Sadeq sang in a very soft voice “Hero” by Enrique Iglesias number. The next track was The Carpenters' “Sing” and of course Sobhi was joined by the young choir, which stayed on stage to take part in the classic “We Are the World” by USA for Africa. As well as Sobhi, Sadeq and Nayer's singing, this number featured solo parts by Jacqueline, Noha and May. That number ended the first set. The young artists took a bow and were earnestly applauded. They looked very happy and probably they will never forget this moment. Probably some of them will even pursue a musical career. They were very good and added a nice touch to the concert. Bravo. The second set started with the amazingly popular “California Dreaming” by The Mamas and the Papas. Why did I say “amazingly popular”? Because, the instant people recognised the tune, they started applauding. It was an excellent rendition sung by Sobhi of course. The following song was received in the same way – Dean Martin's “Sway”, which wonderfully sung by Sadeq. If I had a pianist like Nayer in my band I believe I'll just enjoy his playing and will not spoil it with my voice. I'm sure many people will offer him a lot of money to join the band and stop me from singing. Thank you all! Mounir Nasreddin went on stage again to play the standard “Autumn Leaves”, which was sung by Sobhi and Jacqueline who sang the English and French parts, respectively. In the middle of Mounir's solo, Sadeq entertained himself by talking loudly! Then he burst into his version of Jean-François Michaël's “Je Pense A Toi” (I Think of You). After listening to his impressive performance of that one I decided to forgive him for being so noisy on stage. If ONE person could sing the Stylistics' “You Make Me Brand New”, which was originally sung by TWO singers who have different vocal ranges, that person must be Sobhi. Again he excelled. I'm speechless. Mounir Nasseef returned to sing Louis Armstrong's “Hello Dolly” and Jimmie Rodgers' “Mule Skinner Blues”. He was simply exceptional, especially on the second song, which is very funny and quite hard to sing. Everyone was so impressed. Sadeq's performed Tom Jones' cover of Ben E. King's copy of the Italian song, which was later transformed into the English hit “I Who Have Nothing”. Does this sound complicated? Good, because I've always hated that track! Then Sobhi sang Billy Ocean's “Suddenly”. One of the concert's highlights was Lara Fabian's “Broken Vow”, sung by Sadeq and Noha. I was very proud of her not only because she sounded exceptional, but also because she was very confident and even Sadeq's attempts to make her laugh in the middle of the song didn't work. Bravo. Irene Cara's “Fame” is a personal favorite and I was very happy they included it. Again Sadeq did a good job singing it. Sobhi is famous for having total control over his voice and he gave us all a demonstration on Michael Bolton's version of Bill Withers “Lean on Me”. It got everybody moving. Sobhi will forever be my all time favorite singer. As it is always the case in Sobhi and Friends concerts, they finished with Dionne Warwick and Friends' “That's What Friends Are For”. Speaking of friends, I would like to thank Noha Kaiss, who stayed up all night to give me the additional info I needed. Send all sweets and candy to: [email protected]
