Lebanese superstar and The Voice Arabia judge Assi Helani was the latest celeb to be “accused” by hosts Rudolph Hilal and Raja Nasser on LBC TV’s “The Accused.”
Before Assi was hit with a mountain of accusations, he made an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
“I didn’t come here accused of anything or to accuse anyone.” He added that he’s a very open person and says what’s in his heart without hesitation.
The hosts kicked off the “interrogation” by accusing the singer of harassing The Voice Arabia’s host Amy Sayyah. Assi didn’t take kindly to the accusation, and angrily responded: “Harassment is such a demeaning term and I refuse to be associated with it. I’m a well brought-up Lebanese man and Amy needed moral support from us judges, as it was her first time presenting the show. I made some flattering remarks about her and that’s just normal.”
As for the rumor claiming Assi wasn’t happy with Iraqi singer Saad Sattar claiming The Voice Arabia winning title, he said “this is all nonsense; there had to be one winner and I was very happy for Sattar’s victory and the show’s success.”
Helani denied ridiculing his fellow judges, and clarified that joking around with them was a sign of love. The singer stressed that there was mutual respect between him, Kazem El Saher, Sherine Abdel Wahab and Saber Rebai throughout the entire show.
It was then time for everyone’s fave topic: Money! But Assi refused to disclose how much he, or his fellow singers, earn for their live concerts, and made it clear that he does it for the love of performing and being close to his fans.
One more thing: Assi said that he’s performed for free on numerous occasions, which makes it fair enough for us not to know how much he charges to sing!
Rudolph and Raja then asked Assi about his eldest daughter Marina and her singing career. Two weeks ago the singer announced that Marina will be duetting with international superstar Ricky Martin.
Despite that, Assi said that he prefers it if Marina completed her education before thinking of entering the music world right now. He stressed that she would make a more sound career decision when she’s maturer, and that she’s allowed to follow whichever career path she chooses.
Assi refused to accuse his friends in showbiz of anything bad, so he complimented them instead!
Melhem Barakat has the “one of the best voices” according to Assi, and is proud to have him as a fellow Lebanese!
He’s also a huge fan of Fares Karam and on another note would like Ragheb Alama to adopt a more positive attitude towards Lebanese politics.
That’s that for this week’s “The Accused.” What will next week’s celeb be accused of?
