The Marrakech Golden Music Awards festival, which took place in Beirut-Lebanon earlier this week, chose Iraqi singer Kathem El Saher as the Number One Male Arab Singer. The singer did not make it to the big event to receive his award because he was mourning the loss of Tunisian singer Thikra, who passed away late last week after being assassinated by her husband, in addition to the death of poet Talal Al Rasheed.
According to the London based Elaph, Kathem had worked with Talal on several occasions and his death was a major shock that left him in a state of depression. El Saher has turned down an offer to star in the new Palestinian film “Nidal” (Struggle), stressing that he does not intend on entering the acting world at the present time. Despite his refusal, Kathem announced that he is willing to provide the music for the soundtrack of the film without charge.
According to the UAE based daily, Al Bayan, the director of the film, Jihad Al Sharqawi, had nominated Kathem for the role of a singer who through his music that depicts the struggle of the Palestinians was able to gain so much love and popularity from people. Through the course of events, the singer disappears after the death of his love by the hands of Israelis and then returns at the end to sing a song for the martyrs.
On a different note, It is known that Iraqi singer Kathem El Saher is very careful on how much information he releases about his personal life to the media trying to limit any news written to be about his career only. The singer has built an imaginary wall between his private life and the media saying that anything that does not deal with his career is of no one’s business.
During the US-led war on Iraq, numerous rumors circulated regarding the secret marriage of Kathem to a Spanish woman. In response to the rumors, Kathem has decided to put a final end to all and publicly announced in an interview that there is in fact a woman in his life whom he plans on marrying. Kathem added that he will announce his engagement in the very near future not wanting to reveal any information about his fiancé to be just saying that she is Spanish of Lebanese origin.
Kathem revealed that he has bought an apartment in one Paris’s luxurious neighborhoods where he plans to spend as much time as possible with his wife-to-be.
In December, rumors circulated around the secret marriage of El Saher saying he had been forced to keep his marriage under a lid due to the political crisis in the region and the possibility of a war on Iraq at the time. One of the main reasons behind was due to the fact that his new wife, whom he has lived a somewhat romantic love story with, is half-Spanish (from the father’s side) and half-Arab (from the mother’s side). Tabloids also wrote that Kathem felt that the time was not appropriate to announce his marriage publicly because of public tension and negative opinion towards the West. –Albawaba.com
