Showbiz Arabia’s 2012 trend of the year will no doubt be celebrity judges. The latest superstar to jump on the reality TV bandwagon is Nancy Ajram, who has been confirmed as a judge on Arab Idol.
While rumours had been circulating for a while regarding Idol and whether they’d change any of the existing judges, it was only this week that the Lebanese singer signed a contract to appear on season two.
Shortly after, she tweeted: “All of you who were interested to know: a new member of #ArabIdol family — Nancy Ajram!!!”
Ajram, who has just released a new album for children, won’t be stepping in for any of the existing members of the panel; instead, she is joining Ragheb Alame, Ahlam and Hassan Al Shafei as a fourth judge. It is unclear, however, whether she will be appearing throughout the whole season or as a guest star in select episodes.
A number of well-known celebrities have realised the power of television. Other than Arab Idol, four of the Arab world’s biggest singers — Sherine, Assi Al Helani, Saber Al Rebaie and Kathem Al Saher signed on as mentors for The Voice Middle East.
New role for Fahmy
In other Arab Idol news, meanwhile, Egyptian singer and actor Ahmad Fahmy will replace Abdullah Al Taleehi as the presenter of the show in season two.
Yaseen marries his sweetheart
Asser Yaseen is no longer Egypt’s hottest celebrity bachelor. It has been confirmed that the 35-year-old actor got married in a private ceremony earlier this week.
Yaseen married his sweetheart Kenzy, who is not from the entertainment world, in a ceremony that was attended by close family and friends in Cairo’s Katameya Heights. Shortly afterwards, the two headed to an undisclosed location for a three-week honeymoon.
The news has not come as a surprise to many of Yaseen’s colleagues. He had been seen out with Kenzy for a few months prior to the wedding.
One source told us: “Asser is usually extremely private about girls, so for him to go out and be seen public with someone means that he is serious about her. It is not surprising that he got married. Everyone has been expecting this happy news.”
