Tani may refer to:

• Abotani (forefather of all Tani clans such as Galo, Nyishi, Apatani, Adi, Hill Miris, Tagin and others) a tribal group in Arunachal Pradesh, India
• The Tani languages
• Tani is a district in Khost Province, Afghanistan
• Tani, Afghanistan
• Tani is a word in the Hindi language which means "water", synonymous with pani (another Hindi word for water)
• Tani, Prasat a sub-district of Prasat District in Surin Province, North-Eastern Thailand
• Tani Cohen-Mintz, Israeli basketball player

Japanese family name[link]

Also, Tani (谷 which means "valley") is a Japanese family name. It can refer to a number of people, including:

• Hayato Tani, Japanese TV actor
• Ikuko Tani, Japanese actress, seiyū and narrator from Tōkyō
• Kei Tani, Japanese comedian, actor, musician
• Koichi Tani, a Japanese politician serving in the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party
• Ryoko Tani, Japanese Judo Medalist (Wife of Yoshitomo Tani)
• Tateki Tani, Lieutenant General in Meiji Period Japan
• Yoshitomo Tani Japanese Olympian and professional baseball player

Mythology and fiction[link]

• Nang Tani (นางตาน), the female Thai ghost of a banana tree (of the Kluey Tani variety)
• In the PC MMORPG Ragnarok Online, Nang Tani is best known as the MVP boss character of the Ayothaya Dungeon, where she is named "Lady Tani"
• Akiko Tani, a minor character of Case Closed (Detective Conan)

See also[link]

• Tanni Grey-Thompson, a British athlete

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2010)

David Moreno (born July 14, 1985 in Logroño, La Rioja) is a Spanish actor, presenter, singer and journalist.

Education[link]

From 1989 to 2009, Moreno took singing and dancing classes with many different Spanish teachers. He took a high school musical workshop with Stage Entertainment Spain (Madrid) in 2008. From 2006 to 2007, he attended Espada de Madera Theatre School in Madrid, and from 2007 to 2009 attended Corazza Actors Studio in Madrid. In 2009, he received a degree in journalism from The Complutense University of Madrid in 2009, and a degree in acting and musical theatre from Arts Educational Schools, London.

Television[link]

• Metro a Metro. Telemadrid. 2012
• In The Qube (Spanish version). Animax. Host. 2010
• Planeta Pokémon. Jetix. Host. 2005-2009.
• My School Musical 2: Locos por el baile. Disney Channel. Host. 2008
• RIS Científica. TeleCinco & Videomedia. Actor. 2007
• Corta-T. Cuatro & Videomedia. Actor. 2007
• Un Paso Adelante. Antena 3 & Globomedia. Extra. 2003

Theatre[link]

• High School Musical on Stage! as Ryan Evans. Spanish Tour 2008-2009. Stage Entertainment Spain
• Grease Tour. Spain. Elite Productions.
• Pulgarcito. Teatro Arlequín (Madrid) and On Tour (Valencia). Olimpy Productions
• El príncipe feliz. Teatro Arlequín (Madrid) and On Tour (Valencia). Olimpy Production

Voice-Over & Recordings[link]

• Irreality Show! it's a radio show that he hosts. HappyFM.es (2010- )
• High School Musical OST (Spain) as Ryan, EMI Music Spain & Disney Records
• Pokémon: Advanced Battle (Opening Song for the Spanish TV Series)
• Pokémon: Battle Frontier (Opening Song for the Spanish TV Series)
• Spanish Video Lessons: being a cartoon voice over, UR Universidad de La Rioja (Spain)

Others[link]

• Nominated as Best New Actor for HSM at Gran Vía Musical Theatre Awards (Spain)

References (in Spanish)[link]

• cineytele.com "Animax estrena su primer programa de producción propia" - actualizado marzo de 2010
• Mundoplus.tv "Animax presenta su nuevo espacio semanal: "In The Qube" - actualizado marzo de 2010
• La Rioja "El actor riojano David Moreno estrena la obra 'High School Musical'" - actualizado febrero 2008
• El Mundo "Arranca 'High School Musical'" - actualizado septiembre 2008
• Todo musicales Entrevista "David Moreno y Ana San Martín, los gemelos de HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, valoran su paso por el musical" - actualizado enero 2009
• La Opinión Coruña "David Moreno: ´Nuestro espectáculo tiene la magia de Disney y Broadway´"
• Red Teatral "David Moreno como parte del Cast de High School Musical

External links[link]

• David Moreno official website
• David Moreno at the Internet Movie Database
• David Moreno on YouTube

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)

Renato Carosone: Portrait - Augusto De Luca

Renato Carosone (3 January 1920 – 20 May 2001), born Renato Carusone, was among the greatest figures of Italian music scene in the second half of the 20th century. He was also a modern performer of the so-called canzone napoletana, Naples' song tradition.

Biography[link]

Beginnings[link]

Carosone was born in Naples. He studied piano at the Naples Conservatory and obtained his diploma in 1937, when he was just 17. Soon after he signed a contract as a band leader for a tour of Africa, which resulted in him working in Addis Ababa as a pianist. Here he would become a prominent figure of the music scene, performing with his band on several occasions. He returned to Italy only in 1946, after the end of World War II.

Despite his success abroad, Carosone was a stranger to Italian audiences. He had to start his career afresh, playing the piano for small dance-hall bands. These new performances were strongly influenced by the new rhythms and music styles he had encountered during his ten years' absence from the Italian music scene.

Success[link]

In 1949 he was asked to put together a group for a club's opening night. After some auditions, he signed the Dutch guitarist Peter Van Wood and the Neapolitan drummer Gegè Di Giacomo: the Trio Carosone was born. The trio became a quartet with the addition of the Hungarian Gypsy musician Elek Bacsik on bass, guitar and violin.

Afterwards Van Wood and Bacsik left the group to pursue solo careers. Gegè Di Giacomo remained with Carosone, who contacted other musicians to finally form a real band.

During the 1950s Carosone became more and more popular, his orchestra was in great demand both in Italy and abroad, and records sales were soaring high.

His song Torero - specially composed for a Spanish tour - remained for 14 weeks at number 1 on the US hit parade. Torero was translated into 12 languages and no fewer than thirty cover versions were recorded in the United States alone. On 5 January 1957 Carosone and his band started off a successful American tour with a concert in Cuba. This tour concluded with a triumphant performance at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York.

Retirement[link]

At the height of his career, Carosone announced his retirement from music in 1960: I'd rather retire now on the crest of the wave, than being tormented later by the doubt that yè-yè fashion and new armies wearing blue-jeans may wipe away all that I have achieved in so many years of work and worries. His decision caused an uproar. Some even suspected obscure criminal threats. Away from the spotlight, Carosone turned to other interests, mainly painting.

Comeback[link]

On 9 August 1975 Carosone made his comeback in a televised concert. He then resumed his musical debut with live concerts, performances at the Sanremo Music Festival, and TV appearances until the late 1990s.

Repertoire[link]

Several of his hits were the result of his long and fruitful collaboration with the lyricist Nicola Salerno, who used the pseudonym Nisa. They could understand each other perfectly: just one hint by Carosone, and Nisa wrote a funny, witty little story about it. "'O suspiro", "Torero", "Tu vuò fà l'americano", "Mambo Italiano", "Caravan Petrol", "Pigliate 'na pastiglia","'O Sarracino" were among their greatest hits.

A few famous songs in Carosone's repertoire were not written by Nisa: "...E la barca tornò sola" (a lively parody of a song performed by Gino Latilla at Sanremo Music Festival in 1954), "Tre numeri al lotto", "Maruzzella" (dedicated to his wife Marisa), "'O russo e 'a russa".

He made an album called Honeymoon in Rome with Capitol Records T-10031.

Tu vuò fà l'americano[link]

Tu vuò fà l'americano was featured in the popular 2010 track We No Speak Americano by Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP.

At the same time as Yolanda Be Cool's release, "Tu vuò fà l'americano" featured in the Italian and Swiss singles charts at #15 and #51 respectively.

It was also featured in the thriller The American directed by Anton Corbijn and George Clooney.

It was also featured in The Talented Mr. Ripley (film) Directed by Anthony Minghella and starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jude Law

External links[link]

• Official website in Italian and English

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2012)

This article uses citations that link to broken or outdated sources. Please improve the article or discuss this issue on the talk page. Help on using footnotes is available. Consider using the Checklinks tool to find, resolve and repair links. (November 2011)

Nancy Ajram نانسي عجرم
Nancy Ajram in December 2007
Background information
Birth name	Nancy Nabil Ajram
Born	(1983-05-16) May 16, 1983 (age 29)
Origin	Beirut, Lebanon, Arabia
Genres	Arabic Pop, World, pop
Occupations	singer
Years active	1998–present
Labels	EMI Arabia (1998) Megastar (2001–2005) In2Musica (2008–present)
Website	Official website

Nancy Nabil Ajram (Arabic: نانسي نبيل عجرم‎), (born May 16, 1983) is a multi-platinum recording artist and Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.^[1] With the support of her father, Nancy began performing as a child and released her first studio album by the age of 15. Her breakthrough occurred with the start of her collaboration with well-known producer Jiji Lamara, when she released her smash-hit "Akhasmak Ah" and 3rd studio album, Ya Salam. In 2004, she released her second international best-seller "Ah w Noss", which spawned several smash-hits, "Ah w Noss", "Lawn Ouyounak", and "Inta Eih" at which point Nancy had established pop icon status in the Middle East.

Her 2008 album "Bitfakkar Fi Eih" spawned seven singles and won Nancy's first World Music Award as Best-selling Middle Eastern Artist, the youngest Arab WMA winner to date. She has released seven studio albums to date and numerous other chart-topping singles such as "Sehr Ouyouno", "Atabtab", "Moegaba", "Ehsas Jdeed", "El Donya Helwa", "Mashi Haddi", and "Fi Hagat".

Nancy Ajram is the first and only female sponsor and spokesperson of Coca-Cola in the Middle East and Arab world. Considered by many as an Arabic music icon of the decade, Nancy was described on the Oprah Winfrey Show as one of the most influential personalities of the Middle East. Nancy has made the list of Most Powerful Arabs on Arabian Business several times, and was similarly listed by Newsweek as one of the most influential Arabs.^[2][3] Nancy's official Facebook page is the most subscribed Arabic artist page on the social-networking site and the first to reach 3 million subscribers,^[4] and her music video for "Fi Hagat" was an Internet phenomenon and is currently the most viewed Arabic music video on the Internet, on Youtube with over 26.3 million views to date.^[5]

Early life and beginnings[link]

Nancy Ajram was born into an Orthodox Christian family on May 16, 1983 in Achrafieh, a district in Beirut, Lebanon.^[6]

In 1995, at the age of twelve, Nancy Ajram took part in a variety show, Noujoum Al-Moustakbal, ("Stars of the Future"), a Lebanese reality television competition, which finds new solo musical talent. Ajram won a gold medal in the Tarab category after singing a song by Umm Kulthum.

Ajram studied music with renowned Lebanese musicians and despite being less than 18 years old at the time, the syndicate of professional artists in Lebanon accepted her as a member. Her first singles were titled "Hobbak Allam Albi elGheere" by Abdo Mounzer, and "Oulha Kelma Ala Shani". At the age of 15, she released her first album, Mihtagalak ("I Need You') in 1998. It was followed by Sheel Oyoonak Anni ("Stop Staring") in 2000, which achieved more success.

Music career[link]

[edit] 2002-2004: Akhasmak Ah

Ajram's breakthrough was when she began working with Jiji Lamara, an experienced producer and manager. In early 2003, Ajram rose to instant fame with the success of the lead single "Akhasmak Ah" and the release of her third studio album, Ya Salam ("Oh Wow") which was a best-seller. The music video of "Akhasmak Ah" caused a controversy; reminiscent of older Arabic films, Nancy appeared as a cafe manager who dances and flirts with its customers. The release of the next music videos, "Ya Salam" and "Sehr Ouyouno" quietened down criticism as they better introduced Nancy's vocal abilities and style to the public.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 2004-2006:Ah w Noss, Coca-Cola

Her fourth album, Ah w Noss ("Yes, and a half"), was released on April 12, 2004, and it was also an important marking point in Nancy's career. The tremendous success that "Ah w Noss" achieved, stabilized Nancy's position as an A-List star in the Arab music industry. Nancy then filmed "Lawn Ouyounak" (Color of Your Eyes), which portrayed Nancy as a bride in a traditional Lebanese wedding. After the release of the album, Nancy Ajram signed-up with Coca-Cola to be their official celebrity spokesperson for the Levant, Arabia and North Africa regions. Her first Coke commercial featured her hit, "Oul Tany Kida?" (Say That Again?), which was filmed with the international Italian director Luca Tomassini. The commercial's success lead to it being filmed as a music video behind the scenes of the commercial. The 4th hit single from the album, "Inta Eih?" (What Are You?), was a slow directed by Samir Sfeir. Nadine Labaki directed another clip that featured Nancy as a wife who sees her husband cheating on her yet she hides it in torment to save their relationship. The music video received tremendous positive reviews and Nancy was greatly praised. Leading Egyptian actors and directors, like Faten Hamama praised Nancy's acting abilities and movie offers doubled for Nancy. Nancy also opened for Enrique Iglesias's first concert in Egypt in 2004.

[edit] 2006-2008:Ya Tabtab Wa Dalla, Shakhbat, El Donya Helwa

Her fifth album, Ya Tabtab Wa Dallaa was released on February 15, 2006. Atabtab was considered Nancy's best album to date, with six music videos released, eight radio hits, and five songs used for commercials.

The title song's video was Nancy's last video directed by Nadine Labaki, as she then started working on her movie Caramel. Nancy then released the video of her Coca-Cola hit "Moegaba" (Admirer), as well as a video and commercial for her newly signed Damas Jewelry contract advertising their "Farfasha" set. The song used was Ana Yalli which was promoted before the album's release. Nancy then cooperated for the first time with prominent Lebanese director Said el Marouk, filming "Ehsas Jdeed" (A New Feeling) which is widely considered to be the most successful song of the album. The video, which was a salute from Said to his deaf and mute parents, depicted the story of a rich woman who falls in love with a deaf and mute man. Later in 2007, Nancy released all together the video of "Elli Kan" (All That Was) for Damas's second campaign, her Coca-Cola Side of Life commercial featuring a new single "El Donya Helwa" (Life is Beautiful), and a video and album directed towards children, titled Shakhbat Shakhabit (Scribbled Scribbles). "El Donya Helwa", Nancy's 7th commercial, is considered one of her most successful commercials representing her style and Coca-Cola's with colors, happiness, and music, and it led her to release a Live album featuring the single.

Ajram's sixth album was fully dedicated to children with a variety of songs aimed towards teaching children good values and morals, something she has wanted to do for a long time. The music video was her second cooperation with Said El Marouk and featured four songs from her album, the most successful of which were "Shakhbat Shakhabit" & "Shater Shater". Nancy performed these songs at several fund-raising events for children and other children's events, such as the children's TV channel MBC3, and the children's entertainment TV Show "Star Zghar". She then filmed with Fadi Haddad, the director of photography of her previous works with ElMarouk, a video for the song "Resala Ilal Aalam" (A Message to the World) which talks about world peace. The video was released on May 25, 2008, the day the Lebanese president General Michel Suleiman was elected ending a deadlock that lasted since November. It was the first video for Nancy that had an entirely graphical world that implied the suffering of children worldwide and the need to bring out a more colorful and happy world for them. Old rumors claimed that the video was presented to the UNICEF. In 2007, Nancy performed alongside Lionel Richie in Egypt at a launching event.

[edit] 2008–2010: Betfakkar Fi Eih, WMA, Oprah, UNICEF & motherhood

In February and March 2008, Nancy released three Coca-Cola commercials that featured a brand new hit from her long awaited album. The song, "Meen Gheyri Ana (Noss elKawn)" (Who Else?) was made by the successful Yey and Ana Yalli trio (Nizar Francis, Samir Sfeir, and Tarek Madkour). The single was an instant hit and served as a highly successful promotion 5 months before the release of the album. Nancy released her seventh studio album after several delays on July 30, 2008, which has been highly anticipated by fans for almost three years. This long awaited comeback album held lots of surprises for her fans with a huge change in her style that presented her matured vocal abilities like never before. Nancy's 7th album, Betfakkar Fi Eih?!, is considered to be one of her most successful albums so far as it won her first World Music Award in her career. The album included her first "Tarab" song called "Biteegy Sirtak" since 1998's Mihtagalak album, and in general had a wide mix of several different styles ranging from dance, beat, pop, to drama, romance, Tarab and oldies. Even though the hit video had mixed opinions, the second video of "Min Dally Nseek" was much more accepted, peaking at #1 for seven consecutive weeks in Melody Hits.^[7] The same musical trio who created "Ehsas Jdeed" did one of the instant radio-hits of the album, "Lamset Eed" (Touch of a Hand), which was filmed with Leila Kenaan with a high budget, and the song and music video peaked charts for months. With this album Nancy signed a celebrity endorsement deal with Sony Ericsson, as a special w595 phone was released holding Nancy's signature, and Wana Ben Idek was chosen as the commercial song.

On November 9, 2008, about a month after her marriage, Nancy Ajram won her first World Music Award for her best-selling album Betfakkar Fi Eih. In her short speech, Nancy thanked her parents, Jiji Lamara, her fans and album makers, and husband, saying "2008 has been a fantastic year - a successful album, my wedding, and now a World Music Award, what can I ask for more?"

On September 28, 2009, the Oprah Winfrey Show aired an episode titled "Fame Around the World" that talked about the most famous celebrities around the globe in brief reports. Representing the Middle East region and Arab world, Nancy Ajram appeared in a report featured on the show and was described by Oprah as "the Britney Spears of the Middle East". Nancy Ajram is the first and only Middle-Eastern artist ever mentioned on the show.

[edit] 2010–2011: World Cup, N°7

In the summer of 2010, Nancy was nominated by Coca-Cola Middle East to sing, along with K'naan, his international hit and song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, "Wavin' Flag". The Arabic version, titled "Shaggaa Be Alamak" and directed to the Middle East region, had its Arabic parts written by Ayman Bahgat Amar (who previously wrote Ah w Noss, Atabtab, Eftah Albak for Nancy) and the music remastered by Tarek Madkour. The original music video was used for K'naan's parts while Nancy's parts were filmed separately in Lebanon on the same protocol under Leila Kenaan's co-direction. Both the video and song were aired heavily during the FIFA season and part of the song was particularly played during commercial breaks on Al-Jazeera channel, which exclusively aired the games to the Arab world.

On August 30, 2010,^[8] Nancy's official Facebook page posted a 16-second preview of the music video for Nancy's next single, "Fi Hagat". The preview shows Nancy wearing her makeup and getting in the car on a rainy day. Later, it was announced that Nadine Labaki directed the video, thus making her comeback to music video direction after her 4-year break. The video is also the first collaboration between Ajram and Labaki since 2006's "Atabtab." The full music video premiered on September 6, 2010 at 8:00PM on Arabica TV and MTV Lebanon.^[9] As of January 2011, Nancy became the first and most viewed Arabic music video on the Internet.^[10]

In November, 2010, Nancy's Facebook page hit one million fans, becoming the most subscribed Arabic Facebook page on the site. Nancy expressed how thankful she was and promised her followers to add news and updates to the page. Later, the page announced "Sheikh El Shabab" and "Ya Kether" as the second and third singles from 7, respectively. The video for the second single premiered on December 23, and received favorable reviews from Arabic media, however, it did not achieve the same explosive rate of Internet views as did the first single "Fi Hagat", with only 750,000 views in a month. The album marks a shift in Ajram's career and launches her to a more international image, and is, to date, her second fastest selling album. It earned Nancy her second World Music Award as the middle east's best selling album.

2010–2012: Second kids' album[link]

In 2012, Ajram joined social networking website Twitter, and received ten thousand followers in two days. She immediately followed fellow singer Elissa and was followed back by her. The singer took her personal account to announce the video shoot of a fourth video from her seventh album, titled "Min Ma Ando." She also announced in late February that was nearly done working on a second album dedicated for kids. Ajram is set to embark a US tour in the summer of 2012.

Personal life[link]

In September 2008, Nancy wed Dr. Fadi El Hachem in Cyprus after a three-year relationship; the wedding ceremony, in Lebanon, was attended mainly by close friends and family and was only made based on their request. Nancy continued her work during pregnancy, during which she filmed "Min Dally Nseek", "Lamset Eed" and her first Sony Ericsson commercial. She also participated in several concerts, such as Layali Febrayer and received her World Music Award.

On May 16, 2009, Nancy gave birth to her first child, a daughter she named "Mila." Short for Milagrosa (miraculous in Spanish), Mila is also a traditional, Levantine name popular in rural Lebanon and meaning a "blooming tree".^[11] However, Nancy revealed that the name was Fadi's choice inspired by the Ukraine-born US actress, Milla Jovovich. Nancy released a song for her daughter, "Ya Rab Tekbar Mila" (I Pray that Mila Grows Up) on the same day. In a survey done by Rotana Magazine, Nancy was voted as the "Most Beautiful Mom" of 2009.^[12] Nancy chose not to reveal photos of her daughter Mila until they both appeared on the cover of "Prestige" magazine in an exclusive photoshoot. Mila later appeared in the set of Nancy's music video "Ya Kether" in the presence of the media who publicized her pictures.

In October 2010, a month after the release of her seventh studio album, Nancy announced that she was four months pregnant with her second child, a girl. During that period she had filmed "Sheikh El Shabab" and "Ya Kether" consecutively to be released during her pregnancy period. Nancy Ajram revealed on Mothers day special on MTV that she decided to name her daughter Ella. Ella was born on 23 April 2011.

Nancy Ajram is an Orthodox Christian.^[13]

Awards and titles[link]

• 1995 Nojoom Al Mustaqbal Golden Award - (Ajram's most significant pre-stardom award)
• 2003, 2005, 2007 Murex D'or Award - Best Female Lebanese Singer of the year, Beirut ^[14]
• 2003, 2006 Murex D'or Award - Best Video of the Year, Beirut.
• 2003: Ya Salam - Nadine Labaki, 2006: Ehsas Jdeed - Said elMarouk)
• 2003 The Golden Lion Award, Egypt
• 2003, 2007 LG Music Award
• 2003, 2005 Zahrat elKhaleej Magazine - Best Female Arab Singer, Dubai
• 2004, 2010 Zahrat elKhaleej - Best Music Video of the Year, Dubai (Lawn Ouyounak, Fi hagat - respectively)
• 2004 Arabian Music Awards - Best Female Arab Singer of the year, Dubai
• 2005 Newsweek - Most Influential Arab Personalities, Kuwait
• 2005 - Honor from the Opera House of Egypt
• 2007 - Certificate from the Pope of Rome
• 2007 Middle East Music Awards (Mobinil) - Best Female Arab Singer of the year, Cairo ^[15]
• 2007, 2009^[16] Arabian Business - World's Most Influential Arabs, Most Influential Contemporary Female Singer in 2007,^[17] Most Powerful Arab Singers^[3]
• 2007 Kol elArab Survey - Best Arabic Star of the year 2007 ^[18]
• 2008 9th Annual Doha Festival - Honor Award, Doha
• 2008 World Music Award - World's Best-Selling Middle-Eastern Artist, 20th Annual WMA, Monaco ^[19]
• 2008 Student Choice Award - [College Student Survey]: Best Album of the Year 2008, Beirut ^[20]
• 2008 AlJumhuriya newspaper, Freedom Magazine - Best Female Arab Star of 2008, Egypt.. only? ^[21]
• 2009 Regional Ambassador for the UNICEF in the Middle East & North Africa
• 2009 Al-Jazirah Newspaper survey : Best Female Arab singer of the Year. Saudi Arabia
• 2010 Stars Cafe Magazine - Best selling female artist of the decade.
• 2010 World Travel Award - Best Female world singer of the Year .
• 2010 Sama Al Noujoum-Best Female Singer 2010/Fi hagat Best Music Video^[22]
• 2010 Panet Survey-Best Female singer^[23]
• 2010 Arab Sound Awards -Best Arabic Female Singer^[24]
• 2010 Music My Life- Fi Hagat Best Song Of 2010
• 2010 Best Of Lbc 2010- N 7 Best Album/Fi Hagat- Best Music Video^[25]
• 2010 Panorama Fm (MBC)-N 7 Best Arabic Album.^[26]
• 2010-2011 Jaras Scoop Awards-Best Female Singer ^[27]
• 2010-2011 Melody Fm Awards-Best Female Singer
• Stars Cafe Awards 2010:
  • Best Female Artist
  • Best Album : 7
  • Best Song: Fi Hagat
  • Best Lyrics: Fi Hagat
  • Best Arrangement: Fi Hagat
  • Best Music Video: Sheikh El Shabab
• 2011 Won two awards from "Murex D'or 2010" ceremony in Lebanon. First award as the Star of Lebanese song, and the second award for the category of best music video for the song "Sheikh El Shabab."^[28]
• 2011 Best Female Singer- "Woujouh Men Lebnan" awards.
• 2011 Arabian Business- Most Famous Celebrity in the Middle East ^[29]
• 2011 World Music Awards World's Best-Selling Middle-Eastern Artist (Nancy 7)

Philanthropy and humanitarian work[link]

Ajram has participated in numerous charity events and concerts that she considers a priority in her music career. In the year 2006, Ajram opened an organization under the name "Jam'iyet Nancy Ajram Al-Khayria" (Nancy Ajram's Charity Organization) in Beirut, Lebanon, that works on collecting and distributing money for the poor. Nancy also released a song about peace, "Resala Ilal Aalam" (A Message to the World), in her children's album as a music video, which was rumored to be presented to the Unicef. Ajram also participated amongst over 100 other prominent Arab artists in a huge production called "ElDhameer elArabi", a 10-year sequel to "AlHelm Al Arabi" that outlines the major political events in the Arab world in the past ten years.

In June 2008, Nancy participated in The Big Ball, a charity event in Dubai which raised over Dhs 940,000 for helping underprivileged children ^[30] by auctioning one of her favourite dresses and encouraging children's fund-raising events; she announced, "The Big Ball is doing a wonderful thing and I'm happy to support it. I'm coming for my love of children and because I want to help underprivileged children find a happy place in this world. Children inspired my latest album Shakhbat Shakhabit and especially the song "Resala lel3alam" (A Message to the World)." ^[31] Ajram, however, continues to refuse announcing her other charitable projects to the public.

On October 22, 2009, the UNICEF chose Ajram to be the first female regional ambassador for the Middle East and North Africa, as was announced in a press conference held in Beirut. Nancy announced that she will be starting her charity projects in 2010. In late 2009 she appeared in the UNICEF's commercial marking the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, joining other influential Middle Eastern celebrities such as Kazem el-Saher, Saber el-Rebai and Karess Bashar.

Criticism and controversy[link]

• Many rumors of boycotts against Ajram's concerts filled the internet, although none appeared to be true.^[32]

• In October 2003, a riot broke out outside a concert by Ajram in Bahrain. Islamists from the country's main opposition parties, including Al Wefaq, attacked concert goers. Al Wefaq's leaders defended the action, as it was the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.^[32] In May 2006, Ajram returned to perform in Bahrain without any incidents.

• On her official website, Nancy Ajram has apologized^[33][34] for anti-Iranian remarks ^[35] falsely attributed to her on a website posing as her homepage.

• Nancy Ajram has expressed extreme anger towards recent circulating rumors in Egypt regarding the spread of nude photos of her on mobile phones. A large number of youths around Egypt and around the Arab world have been spreading nude photos of the singer supposedly taken at a women's spa for a full body wax. Nancy, however, denies the spa visit and claims such photos are fake.^[36]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Nancy Ajram Discography

• 1998: Mihtagalak
• 2001: Sheel Oyounak Anni
• 2003: Ya Salam
• 2004: Ah W Noss
• 2006: Ya Tabtab...Wa Dallaa
• 2008: Betfakkar Fi Eih?!
• 2010: 7

Children's albums[link]

• 2007: Shakhbat Shakhabit
• 2012: TBA

DVDs and live albums[link]

• 2004: Live at the Jarash Festival [DVD] - MegaStar
• 2005: Ma La Ta'arifunahu 3an Nancy Ajram [DVD] - MBC
• 2006: Ah w Noss: Collector's Edition [CD and DVD] - MegaStar
• 2006: Ya Salam: Collector's Edition [CD and DVD] - MegaStar
• 2007: Shakhbat Shakhabit [DVD]
• 2007: ElDonya Helwa - Live [Live CD]
• 2008: The Best of Nancy Clips [DVD]
• 2008: Greatest Hits [Compilation CD] - EMI
• 2009: Awwel Marra [Old Live Songs CD] - Artline Music

Non-album singles[link]

Nancy released several songs dedicated to special countries in the Arab world, starting with "Kuwait alShahama" in 2005. In early 2006, she released a single, "Ana Masry" ("I am Egyptian"), timed to coincide with Egypt's hosting and winning of the African Cup of Nations football tournament, taking it by storm. Its video showed Egyptians representing the diversity of the country lip-sync the patriotic lyrics of the song. Nancy also released a song for the rival Egyptian soccer teams "Ahly and Zamalek", being the first to do so after Sabah. Nancy released a sensual song for Lebanon called "Habib elOmr" composed by Ziad Boutrous, which preceded the 2006 Lebanese war. After the 2007 "Nahr el Bared" war, Nancy dedicated a song composed by Samir Sfeir to the Lebanese Army, called "Khalleek Bwejj elGhadab".

• 2005 "Kuwait Al Shahama"
• 2005 "Ana Masry"
• 2005 "Agbal" - (released in "Afdal Ma Endana" UAE compilation album)
• 2006 "Ahli w Zamalek"
• 2006 "Habib el Omr"
• 2007 "Bwejj el Ghadab"
• 2007 "El Dunya Helwa" [Coke Single] - (featured in Live performances album)
• 2009 "Ya Rab Tikbar Mila"
• 2009 "Efta7 Albak Tefra7" [Coke Single] - (released on Coke official website)
• 2010 "Masr el Ma7rousa"
• 2010 "Salemoli 3alaih"
• 2011 "Wahshani Ya Masr Moot"
• 2011 "7adri La3bek"
• 2011 "papa Porto"

Group works

• 2003 Il7a2ni (Follow Me) for the Lebanese Marathon, featuring Haifa Wehbe, Dina Hayek, Joe Ashkar, and Yuri Mrakadi.
• 2005 La Ma Khelset El Hekaya (It's Not Over) after the assassination of late president Rafiq elHariri, featuring Nawal elZoghbi, Haifa Wehbe, Wael Kfoury, Sabah, Maya Nasri, and many others.
• 2008 ElDhameer el 3arabi (The Arab Conscience) the sequel to the well-known "elHelm al3arabi" along with more than 100 artists including Wadih elSafi, Assala, Latifa, and Cheb Khaled.

Soundtracks

Ramadan 2009: Ibn elArandaly

• Intro: "Ya Ibn el Arandaly"
• Outro: "Kol elHekaya"

Ramadan 2011: "Samara"

• intro: "Samara"
• outro: "Samara"

Global Coke slogans[link]

Coca-Cola Middle East have always incorporated International Coke slogans into pan-Arab campaigns with Nancy. In 2007, Coca-Cola released their international trademark campaign of their popular slogan "The Coke Side of Life", which focused on themes such as fun, happiness, colors, and life. A collaboration with Nancy Ajram lead to the making of the song "El Donya Helwa" (The World is Beautiful) for which a commercial was filmed with an American director on international standards and hi-tech effects. Nancy insisted on filming in Lebanon which had been hit by war a while back. "El Donya Helwa" is considered Coca-Cola Middle East's and Nancy Ajram's most successful commercial to date; the single became one of Ajram's most successful songs, leading to its release as a single track in a "Live" album with live performances from her last studio album Atabtab.

In 2009, as the campaign was sequeled internationally with "Open Happiness", Coke Middle East and Nancy released "Eftah Albak Tefrah". However, due to Nancy's pregnancy and giving birth, she was unable to participate in the print or TV campaigns that year and the song was used on the International commercial instead. A website was launched for that campaign entitled "Eftah Tefrah".

In 2010, Coca Cola released an Arabic version of Wavin' Flag originally by K'naan. The Arabic version "Wavin' Flag / Shagga' Bi Alamak Da" (In Arabic شجّع بعلمك ده) has Nancy Ajram featuring K'naan and meant for pan-Arab promotion of 2010 FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa.

Videography[link]

Commercials and Official music videos[link]

Ajram's success as a singer led to high-profile advertising deals with Coca-Cola and Sony Ericsson and Damas Jewelry. Nancy remained the only Arab star promoting Coke until late 2007 when Egyptian sensations Mohammed Hamaki and Tamer Hosni joined in as well, as she still remains the only female. Coca-Cola and Nancy formed a great team since five years making commercials and music videos that stood out in the Arab world, synchronising local campaigns with worldwide slogans.

Middle East Coke Campaigns

DAMAS's youth-inspired set called "Farfasha", which are gold collections from the World Gold Council said to be chosen by Nancy herself, was promoted by her in three different campaigns. Each campaign had a new collection for the set and a song, commercial, and music video, starting with "Ana Yalli", then "Elli Kan" from Atabtab, and last with "Ibn elGiran" from Betfakkar fi eih?!.

A survey by Sony Ericsson where Nancy was named the most popular Arab star led them into signing a deal with her as their celebrity spokesperson. The company co-sponsored the release of her best-selling album Bitfakkar Fi Eih. In Febrauary 2009 the W595i phone was officially released with a Nancy special edition kit that held her signature on the back of the phone, a free copy of her album and ringtones of her songs. This was accompanied by print advertising, a press conference in Dubai, as well as a commercial set in March 2009 that featured Nancy and the song "Wana Ben Idek" from her best-selling album Bitfakkar Fi Eih.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Nancy Ajram Official Website
• Fiascos affect Arab music awards, 17 May 2004 BBC (Ajram voted best newcomer)
• Arab youth revel in pop revolution by Sebastian Usher, 21 May 2007, BBC

Radhey Shyam was an Indian basketball player who represented India at the 1980 Summer Olympics and the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi. He was a recipient of the Arjuna Award for his achievements. He died in 2006 at the age of 54 at his native village in Rajasthan.

References[link]

• Ex-cager dead
• Arjuna awardees

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