Egyptian pop-singer Amr Diab was scheduled to hold a big concert in Hasenda tourist village on Egypt's north coast, but nothing went as planned and the big event was cancelled at the last minute. The reasons were not revealed and Diab's assistants preferred to keep the news of the cancellation in the dark because they did not want to affect the great success of Amr's last concert in Marina.
Different sources revealed that the story started when Egyptian businessman Omar Rateb, owner of Andrea Restaurant in Hasenda village, asked Amr to come and sing for residents of the village in his restaurant. One thousand people were supposed to attend but as soon as Amr came to the village he started to negotiate his wage and asked for 170 thousand EGP to hold a two-hour concert.
Rateb refused to pay such a big sum for only two hours the thing that made Amr and his band leave the village and the concert was cancelled. Residents of the village were disappointed yet happy to find out how much their star charges for night.
Diab has recently released his latest album entitled “Laili Nahari” (Day and Night), which is his first after signing with Rotana production Company. A vast media campaign was done prior to the release to ensure its success. The album contains ten songs and his hit song “Laili Nahari” was filmed as video clip.
Amr has denied the existence of any disputes with Rotana’s owner Saudi Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal. Amr has stressed that he is on great terms with Prince Waleed and all the officials in Rotana, and the rumors are just attempts ruin the success the singer has so far accomplished.
It was rumored that Amr is having problems Prince Waleed for insisting to take all the decisions regarding his album without consulting any of the officials in Rotana in addition to Amr’s demands kept increasing by the minute. Rotana had at first agreed to pay Amr the largest wage ever given to any singer by any production company reaching 5 million US dollars. But little did they know that Amr's demands would not stop there.
Amr had a list of conditions for Rotana, putting the company in a tight spot not knowing how to meet his demands without erupting problems with other singers who are already with them. The singer requested that he will only undergo the recording process of his new album in London and under strict security to ensure that no pirating of the album will occur before its scheduled release, a matter which is certain to cost the company loads of money. –Albawaba.com
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
