On September 15, 2004 in Las Vegas Nevada, Tunisian singer Latifa was awarded at the World Music Awards ceremony for her latest album "Habibi Ma Itrouhshi Ibeed" (My Love Don’t Go Far), which accomplished the highest record sales all around Africa. The moment the singer's name was announced she got up stage and gave a short speech in English stressing how it is a great honor to receive such a prestigious international award.
According to the London based Elaph, Latifa's speech was not only to thank everyone, but the singer took advantage of the fact that she is America and stressed that true happiness would only be achieved when Palestine and Iraq are liberated and people in the Middle East find peace and security.
The singer gave special thanks to her production company Alam El Phan, and its owner in particular Muhsin Jabr. Latifa dedicated the award to her homeland Tunisia and all her fans who were behind her every step of the way. The singer won the award for Best work by an Arab artist for the entire Middle East area.
The grand awards ceremony was held at the Thomas and Mack Center, and the American television network ABC broadcasted the event live in the US, Canada, and Mexico, whereas the music satellite channel Mazzika had bought the rights to broadcast the ceremony to the Arab world.
Latifa is the first Tunisian singer to win the international award, proving that she has come a long way in her career. Last year the award was given to Moroccan singer Samira Sa’eed and the year before that to Egyptian singer Amr Diab.
Latifa revealed that she does not consider herself a singer belonging to one nationality, but rather an Arab singer who does not recognize boundaries between Arab countries. She is one of the rare singers who believe that they have a cause in life and that the artist should be a major tool to form the general Arab conscious. Latifa has her own points of view about political issues in the region. -Albawaba.com
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com [1])
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