Egyptian belly-dancer Dina has announced that she will be performing in five different places on New Year's Eve, wanting to welcome the New Year in her own special way. It was revealed that this year the most wanted artists are belly dancers, despite the extremely high wages they are demanding.
Most of Egyptian singers had refused to lower their wages for holding New Year's Eve performances leading them to head to Lebanon, where their demands are easily met by sponsors.
According to London based Elaph, sponsors of concerts in Egypt revealed that some of the prices singers were demanding were over board and unrealistic. It was revealed that Egyptian singer Amr Diab asked for 75 US Dollars to hold a concert and when no one in Egypt could afford him he went to Beirut. Diab will be holding his concert in Sheraton Coral Beach with Egyptian singer Shireen Wajdi, who had also demanded a very high wage for her performance.
Prominent singer Hisham Abbas and Mustafa Amar did the same and went to Beirut after organizers in Cairo failed to reach an agreement with them and their insistence to be paid 90 thousand Egyptian pounds each.
Syrian singer Asala also announced she will have her New Years concert in Cairo at the Nile Hilton. Meanwhile Mohammad Muneer refused all offers to sings outside Egypt and will be holding his concert at the Egyptian Opera House.
Mohammed Fouad agreed to reduce his wage to 22 thousand EGP for his concert on New Year’s Eve at the "Alf Leileh Wa Leileh" hotel in Cairo. The most cooperative singer was Hakim who is holding numerous concerts all around Cairo. Midhat Saleh and Khaled Ajaj also agreed to reduce their wages and will welcome the new year in Egypt.
Organizers said that this overpricing forced them to turn to second class singers. Issam Karika is charging 20 thousand EGP for his three concerts in Concorde Alsalam, Samir Amice, and the Intercontinental hotel. -Albawaba.com
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
