Entertainment News Roundup

Agram is my only friend, says Wahbi

Lebanese singer Haifa Wahbi said friendship within the entertainment scene is a rarity, adding that making friends with other singers isn’t a requirement, even if they were from the same country.

Nevertheless, she expressed her admiration for compatriot Nancy Agram and said that she was the only exception.

“Nancy and I are very good friends and we’re always connected. When I send her a shout-out in any of the interviews I do, she makes sure to call me personally to thank me, and vice versa,” Wahbi was quoted as saying by MBC’s official Web site.

“All these reports about bad feelings between us are not true. What’s true is that we’re competitors, but in an honorable way,” she added.

Meanwhile, Wahbi said she had to postpone her wedding until after the war in Gaza.

Nabawi, Karim to star in “El-Raks Maa El-Maghoul”

Khaled El-Nabawi and Nelly Karim have both agreed to star in the television series “El-Raks Maa El-Maghoul,” which is produced by Sawt Al-Cahera.

The new show will have a spy-thriller backdrop and will be written by Lieutenant Mokhtar Ezz El-Din and directed by veteran helmer Khayri Beshara.

Production is scheduled to begin sometime next April, while getting a Ramadan spot next season.

Nabawi last appeared on the small screen during Ramadan in the sitcom “Caffechinno” alongside Donia Samir Ghanem, Nashwa Mostafa, Soliman Eid, Amr Rmazi and Abdallah Meshref.

Karim also last appeared during Ramadan in the show “Naseem El-Rouh.”

Boshra to shoot “Lahazat Harega” again

Boshra is getting ready these days to start shooting her role once more in the second season of the hit television series “Lahazat Harega”.

“We’re preparing now, and we’ll be shooting very soon so we can finish it up before Ramadan,” Boshra told FilFan.com.

Amr Waked stars in the show alongside Randa El-Beheiri, Mahmoud Abdel-Moghni, Amir Karara and Ahmed Rateb.

Lots of other celebrities, including Ahmed El-Sakka, Mona Zaki, Ahmed Helmi, Youssra and Latifa have made guest appearances on the show.

Rotana’s February 2008 albums revealed

Rotana Production Company is getting ready to release seven albums throughout the coming month, February 2009.

“Seven new albums will be released in February, some produced by Rotana while some are only distributed by the company,” Rotana spokesman Hossam Mostafa told FilFan.com.

The albums will be released with the following dates:

February 7   : Hassan Abdallah 2009

February 10: Carole Sakr 2009

Ma’a Hobi 2009

February 21: Ahlam 2009

Hadramiyat 2009

February 28: Abdallah El-Rowayshed 2009

Mostafa also said that on Feb. 14 there will be a huge surprise by Rotana, but he kept all details under wraps, only saying that the company will release a big surprise on Valentines Day.

Considering that Amr Diab’s album is scheduled to be out mid-February, Rotana’s Valentine’s Day surprise just might be the release of Diab’s new album.

Entertainment News Roundup

Ahmed Ezz Against Himself in ‘Wesh Tani’

Scenarist Mohamed Diab has finished writing the script for a new cinema project, ‘Wesh Tani’, which will star Egyptian actor Ahmed Ezz.

“Actress Menna Shalabi will be starring alongside Ahmed Ezz in the upcoming film,” Diab told FilFan.com.

“The movie’s story is about drug dealing. Ahmed Ezz will be playing the roles of twin brothers – one of them is a good guy, but the other brother isn’t,” Diab added. “The action-thriller will be a surprise for the audience.”

Ahmed Alaa will be directing the film in his first helming experience after eight years of assistant directing with acclaimed filmmaker Sherif Arafa.

Shooting is scheduled to start in December 2208.

Elissa Drops Plans with Laila Kanaan

Lebanese music star Elissa asked her manager to end negotiations with director Laila Kanaan who has been brainstorming on a new idea for the singer’s upcoming music video.

Elissa decided to take this step after learning that the director is preparing a music video for Nancy Ajram’s song ‘Lamset Eid’, according to Akhbar El-Nogoum magazine.

Nancy‘s 2008 album ‘Betfakkar fi Eah’ won her this year’s World Music Award for the bestselling album in the Middle East, whereas Elissa won the same award in 2005 and 2006.

El-Nabawi reads “Samia Shaarawi” script

Actor Khaled El-Nabawi is getting ready to read the script for the new television series “Samia Shaarawi”, as soon as writer Beshir El-Deek finalizes it.

El-Nabawi initially agreed to play the lead role in the show, which will be directed by Nader Galal and also stars Menna Shalabi.

The show tells the tale of a female journalist who falls in love with a man before learning that the Israeli Mossad recruited him, which drives her to work for the Egyptian intelligence to capture him.

Meanwhile, El-Nabawi has just wrapped up his promotional tour for the movie “Dokhan Bela Nar” which premiered in Abu-Dhabi, London and Carthage festivals.

He is also awaiting the premiere of his new movie “El-Mosafer”, directed by Ahmed Maher, which he co-stars in with legendary actor Omar Al-Charif.

Black Theama and Massar Egbari Together in Concert

Music bands ‘Black Theama’ and ‘Massar Egbari’ have agreed to perform both in two concerts – one in Cairo and the other on Alexandria.

“The two bands will perform at two concerts. The first one will be in Cairo on the 23rd of November at El-Sawi Culture Wheel in El-Zamalek. The gig will take place at 8 p.m. at the River Hall concert,” the bands’ manager Taymour Sameh (aka TemTem) told FilFan.com.

“The second concert will be at the Library of Alexandria. It’ll start at 8 p.m. on the 4th of December,” TemTem added.

At the beginning of the concerts, both bands will unite to sing one of Mohamed Mounir’s songs. After that Massar Egbari will perform for 45 minutes before Black Theama take the stage for another 45 minutes. Then the two bands will perform the concert’s final song together.