In the coming days the Jerash Festival will be concluding its final performances, which seems that the festival has improved at its final moments. In the beginning of the festival many concerts were marked with failure and singers blamed it on the management of the festival that they did not do enough advertisement. The scene at famous Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram was very successful, where the South Theater was filled with her loyal fans hours before the concert started.
According to the London daily Elaph, Nancy was glowing standing on the historic stage. She opened her concert by giving thanks to all the journalists who were covering the concert. She also thanked her uncle Lebanese ambassador Sharbal Oun who was present at her concert till the end. Nancy was also awarded by the festival, which she’s been part of for the third time.
Nancy’s concert success was not a surprise, because tickets were being sold weeks before it started. This made Nancy very calm, unlike her colleges who’s concerts were a failure.
Nancy held a press conference a few hours before her concert at the Radisson Sass in Amman, Jordan. As she was talking about her participation in the Jerash Festival and everything was going as planned, an Israeli Journalist from ‘ Yadiot Ahranot’ newspaper disrupted and asked Ajram a question. She asked Ajram about her Israeli fans and her relation toward them. Nancy seemed surprised to have an Israeli journalist present which tied her tongue. The Jordanian journalist intervened and asked for the Israeli journalist to be kicked out of the press conference.
The journalist was a blonde female and when she had requested to ask Nancy a question, she was offered to ask her question in English assuming that she did not speak Arabic. She had refused and stated that she spoke Arabic. She started talking with a broken Arabic accent, and said her name and the name of the newspaper that she is working for.
She started to praise Nancy Ajram and added that the Israeli Jews adored the lovely singer, yet she wanted to know what Ajram thought of the Arab/ Israelis who came to see her sing. Before the Israeli journalist could finish her question the Jordanian journalist became furious and requested the festival committee to kick her out.
The Israeli journalist obeyed orders and left the conference without making any fuss. The question was out of place at a time where the wound of the Lebanese people is still fresh from the attacks of the Israeli army on Lebanon last year. Due to her young age Nancy managed to stay calm and tried not to comment on anything that would backfire in her face.
Nancy’s manager Jiji Lamara said that if the Jordanian journalists haven’t intervened by having the Israeli journalist kicked out, the Lebanese singer Nancy would have left the press conference. On the other hand the festival committee made it clear that they did not know that an Israeli journalist was at the press conference.
Outside the hotel, crowds of people gathered to get a glimpse of Nancy, but in order to avoid chaos, the singer was led to leave the building from a rear entrance.
© 2007 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
