President of the Egyptian Television Network Suzan Hasan made revealed to “Al Safeer” (The Ambassador) magazine that famous Egyptian singer Amr Diab will be presenting a new weekly program titled “Al Awal” (The First).

The show will discover new rising stars who are good at writing songs, composing and singer them. Hasan stated that details for the new show are being finalized at this time to have it ready for production.

 “Al Safeer” magazine called Amr Diab’s office to see if the rumor is true, and his office manager stated that the famous singer Diab, who’s been away from the media, has met with the Egyptian Minster of Information. Their meeting lasted more than one hour.

The Minster had presented the idea of being the host for the new show “Al Awal” (The First) to the famous Egyptian star. Diab not only welcomed the idea, he also went into details on how to make the show a success.
 
After agreeing to the details of the program, the new show will most probably be aired on second Egyptian Channel on Thursday of every week. Every episode of the show will last for approximately one hour and a half. 

 On the program the contestants will go through two stages: the first will be a competition for all contestants coming from every Egyptian providence. They will compete against each other in singing, composing, and poetry. There will be a week scheduled for every providence.

There will be a judging committee for choosing the best performers. The judges for this program will be musician Amar Al Sharee’i and the poet Sa’ed Hijab.

On the other hand the second stage will include a professional academy; where it will teach the winners of the first stage everything that concerns singer from how to write, choose the lyrics, and how to compose and to end up with how to stand on stage while performing. This show will work with the competitors on how to be successful performers.

 Diab has made it clear to the Minister that he will sponsor the winners and will give them the support they need to become successful and famous. He also stated that this program will discover new faces from poor areas in Egypt where they are not able to make something of themselves for the lack of money.

 This show will be only for Egyptian rising stars and will have no voting methods on it. Preparation for the show will start by the end of the current month. Negotiations are currently underway to select the television channel that will broadcast the show and to set a budget for it.

 Previously, actress Zeina was nominated to host the show but had declined due to her preoccupation with other works. She stated that she is working on the movie “Al Shabah” (The Ghost). Zeina added that she had already signed the contract for the film at the time when she was asked to be part of the new show.

Zeina stated that she is very disappointed that she wont be working alongside Diab, but hopes that other opportunities will surface and she would work with Diab.

Diab’s office says there will be another host that will join the singer; however, the television station will decide on who will be a candidate.

© 2007 Al Bawaba