Noura Junbulat, one of the main organizers of Lebanon's Beit El Din Summer Festival, denied all circulating rumors regarding the elimination of Fairouz from this year's festival events. Noura said that she is purposely keeping all the details regarding Fairouz's participation alongside her son Ziad Rahbani a secret and will not announce the date of her performance at a later time.
According to the UAE based daily, Al Bayan, rumors started circulating that Fairouz is refraining from holding any public performances due to a sever illness, which were all proven wrong. Close contacts to Fairouz have assured that the singer does not suffer from any form of illness and on the contrary she is enjoying a very healthy life, adding that the singer will not even take the time to answer any of the rumors for they all mere lies.
French singer Charles Aznavour has revealed that he is currently working on three different projects he hopes to complete in the near future. The first is working on a new album, making a new musical comedy play; the third is working on a duet with Fairouz.
Charles said in an interview that he is looking forward to singing with Fairouz who is considered an idol worldwide. Charles expressed his support for the suffering in the Arab world and hopes that the perpetrators will be prosecuted and pay for the destruction they are causing.
Director Jack Janson from Holland has also made an agreement Fairouz for a documentary film about her life. The film is to revolve around the life of Fairouz from the beginning of her singing career up to her rise to stardom.
The film will also focus on the singer's patriarchic stance and her love for Lebanon that kept her in her country during the time of war refusing to flee. Jack’s fascination with the life of Fairouz and her fame, made him feel the necessity of educating the West with the life of a woman who has proven to be a singing icon rarely found.
On a different note, Fairouz held a live concert alongside her son Ziad Rahbani in February in Dubai. The concert was a mixture of various styles, old and new, Eastern and Western, serious and fun, with a dash of sociopolitical commentary thrown in will be combined in the big event.
An orchestra of 60, with musicians from different European countries and two Arabs (from Syria and Lebanon), led by maestro Karn Dier Gharyan accompanied the great singer, in addition to 10 Lebanese chorus members. The program will be different from the concert programs she has recently performed in different cities of the world.
Born and educated in Beirut, Fairouz began her musical career as a chorus member at the Lebanese Radio Station. In the late 1950s her talent as a singer became fully acknowledged due to her unprecedented enthusiasm and vocal superiority. Fairouz's early songs featured the singer's distinct vocal timbre and lyrics expressing romantic love and nostalgia for village life.
By the early 1960s Fairouz was already one of the main attractions at the annual Baalbeck Festival and a celebrity not only in Lebanon but also throughout the Arab world. During most of her singing career, Fairouz was part of a three-member team that included the two Rahbani brothers. Generally, Mansour Rahbani wrote her lyrics, and the tunes were composed and arranged by his brother Assi, Fairouz's former husband. Fairouz's songs owe a great deal to the musical and poetic genius of these two Lebanese artists. –Albawaba.com
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
