Egyptian superstar Amr Diab trail blazes to the top of the charts

Attending an Amr Diab concert demands its own reality TV segment, complete with crazed fans, hysterics and even a few fainters well before the Egyptian superstar has even managed to step on the stage.

Indeed, this is the power wielded by the 51-year-old musician with the Midas touch, whose melodies, charisma and star appeal has inspired a million dreams across the Arab world, hoping to touch the dizzying heights that Diab has claimed as his own kingdom these past few decades.

Sitting for an interview before his album release, for a reporter, managing even five minutes with the man is equivalent to finding the fabled King Solomon’s mines.

Emirates 24|7 gets the scoop on his new album, plans for the Amr Diab Academy and whether he plans to move to our shores any time soon.  

Considering you have performed several times in the UAE, how difficult is to offer something different in every single concert for you fan base here?

 It’s not difficult as I always try to change the songs that I sing in every concert.

I have released over 25 albums, so having different variety of songs each concert is not difficult along with performing the top hits of all the albums, which fans love and ask for every concert,

That said, rumours have been rife you are investing in a property in Burj Khalifa. Can you confirm? Also, is a second home in Dubai something you are looking into?

That's not true. But I love the UAE and its people very much.

There is a common belief that Amr Diab is the man with the Midas Touch – every thing he touches turns to gold. How do you maintain this belief and does the pressure not get to you sometimes?

I have that pressure every time I work on my new album. The day I release my album, I start searching for new lyrics and new music to satisfy the needs of my entire fan base all over the world.

Tell us more about your new album and collaborations we hope to see in future? 

My new album, 'Ah Men Ainajh' (oh her eyes) should be released next month, which I am currently finalising. The album features 11 tracks, and fans will hopefully enjoy my efforts.

As the pioneer of the genre of what is known as ‘Mediterranean Music’, you have been one of the few artistes to have successfully taken Arabic music global. Is there a huge market of your music with non Arab speakers?

Yes, many of my fans are non-Arab speakers; they don’t even understand the lyrics of my songs.

I just performed in a private event in Moscow a couple of months ago, and none of the audience was speaking or  understanding Arabic or even English, but they were just amazed with the music, and same goes with many of my tours in Europe, USA and Australia.

Many struggling Arab artistes complain that breaking into the industry is impossible if you don’t have the right connections, while calling the reality shows hunting for new talent a joke. What is your take?

I don’t agree with that. I started from scratch, and worked very hard to reach where I am today, and I did not have any connections and there was not any talent show at the time.

If you have the talent and worked hard to achieve your dream, there is nothing that would stop you.

Can you tell us more about the Amr Diab Academy and what are your future plans with it?

Since 2000, I have discovered many talented people in the music industry, and have worked with them in my albums; some of them now are very popular composers, singers and lyricists.

They used to come and wait for me at the studio, just to let me listen to their lyrics or music, so I decided to make it easier for people to reach me and help them achieve their dreams, and that’s how I developed Amr Diab Academy, which is a talent search programme that aired on YouTube, to try to get as much talents from the whole world, and make it easier for them to enrol, by one click only, and take advantage of my huge fan base online to help them be heard.

Season one has finished a couple of months ago, discovering two talents, who will be performing with me in my next concert in Egypt and now we are preparing for season two after my album release that will target more talents like lyricists and composers.

Of late, many global artistes are directly reaching out to their fan base by releasing music online directly. Is this a marketing avenue that could work with your music and the Arabian market?

Yes, I believe that digital market is the new future, as it’s easier and faster to reach all your fans in the world.

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