After winning the BBC Radio 3 World Music Award for best singer in the Middle East and North Africa category, Iraqi singer Kathem El Saher will travel to England to receive his prize at a special event held especially for the occasion. The singer revealed that during the event he will sing a remix of his popular song “Baghdad and "Me and Laila".
Once the singer completes his performance in England, he will head to the United States of America, where he is scheduled to hold a tour around different states. El Saher is in the process of preparing for the recording of his new musical album, which will include many surprises. One of the surprises of the album is a change in Kathem’s style of singing as he attributes a Lebanese accent for some of the songs. Kathem is currently working with a group of some of the most prominent poets.
El Saher has publicly announced that he never belonged to the regime of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein stressing that he had not been in Baghdad for over seven years, after being forbidden to enter due to orders given by Udai Hussein, son of Saddam. Kathem was banned by Udai due to the fact that he constantly refused to sing in private occasions for the ruling family.
Kathem revealed that the songs he had sung for Saddam were done only after he had received death threats from Udai and was blackmailed. He added that Udai had also banned all of his songs from broadcasting on Iraqi radio and television stations, making him an outcast. –Albawaba.com
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
