Merci

Merci may refer to:

Carole Samaha

Carole Samaha (Arabic: كارول سماحة‎‎) is a Lebanese singer, actress, and performer. She has released five studio albums. Samaha has a master's degree in acting and directing, which she earned in 1999 from the Saint Joseph University of Beirut.

In 2004 she won the Arab Music Award for best female newcomer. She has also won multiple Murex d'Or awards and was nominated for best Arabia New Act in the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008.

Before starting her pop music career, Carole Samaha was a classical actress and worked extensively with Mansour Rahbani and Marwan Rahbani.

In 2007 Carole Samaha returned to the theater to play Zenobia in the Rahbani musical with the same name. She appeared in the 2008 movie Bahr al nojoum alongside other Lebanese stars. She established her own production company, Lacarma, in 2009. In 2011 Carole Samaha starred in the TV series Al Shahroura, broadcast during Ramadan, as the singer and actress Sabah. In December 2012, Carole Samaha announced her plans to release a new album, in 2013 she was a judge in x factor and she was the mentor for the bands such as [younge pharoz, Maraya and les bledards ninja] In February 2013 and create a musical show – "The Lady" – produced by Rotana, premiering on Eid al-Fitr, August 10, 2013, in Casino du Liban.

Arena

An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. The word derives from Latin harena, a particularly fine/smooth sand used to absorb blood in ancient arenas such as the Colosseum in Rome. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the lowest point, allowing for maximum visibility. Arenas are usually designed to accommodate a large number of spectators.

The term arena is sometimes used as a synonym for a very large venue such as Pasadena's Rose Bowl, but such a facility is typically called a stadium, especially if it does not have a roof. The use of one term over the other has mostly to do with the type of event. Football (be it association, rugby, or gridiron) is typically played in a stadium while basketball and ice hockey are typically played in an arena, although many of the larger arenas hold more spectators than do the stadiums of smaller colleges or high schools. There are exceptions. The home of the Duke University basketball team would qualify as an arena, but the facility is called Cameron Indoor Stadium. Domed stadiums, which, like arenas, are enclosed but have the larger playing surfaces and seating capacities found in stadiums, are generally not referred to as arenas in North America. There is also the sport of indoor American football (one variant of which is explicitly known as arena football), a variant of the gridiron-based game that is designed for the usual smaller playing surface of most arenas; variants of other traditionally outdoor sports, including box lacrosse and futsal/indoor soccer, also exist.

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie in marketing campaigns that allow them to become more than just a song. Tie ins and merchandising could be used in toys are marketing campaigns for food and other products. Although the origins of music videos date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they came into prominence in the 1980s when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip". Since the creation and increased popularity of YouTube, mainstream artists now promote new music videos by releasing trailers of short promos on the site for their upcoming song and music video. Consequentially, YouTube has been converted into a social media platform for celebrities and artists to market themselves to their fans and audiences.

Shawn Mendes

Shawn Peter Raul Mendes (born August 8, 1998) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. He attracted a following in 2013, when he began posting song covers on the popular video sharing application Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manager Andrew Gertler and Island Records A&R Ziggy Chareton, which led to him signing a deal with the record label. Mendes went on to release an EP and his debut studio album Handwritten, whose single "Stitches" reached the top 10 in the U.S. and Canada, and number one in the UK.

Early life

Mendes was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and was raised in Pickering, a suburb of the city. He is the son of Karen, a real estate agent, and Manuel Mendes, a businessman, selling bar and restaurant supplies in Toronto. His father is Portuguese (from Algarve), while his mother is English. He attended Pine Ridge Secondary School in Pickering, Ontario.

Career

2014–present: Handwritten

He first started posting cover videos on the popular social video app Vine in 2013 and picked up millions of views and followers in a matter of months, becoming well known for his six-second snippets of renditions of many popular songs. By August 2014, he was the third most-followed musician on Vine. Artist manager Andrew Gertler discovered Mendes online in January 2014, bringing him to Island Records where he eventually signed and released his first single "Life of the Party" in June 2014. He is the youngest artist to debut in the top 25 with a debut song on the Billboard Hot 100, making to number 24 for the week ending July 12, 2014, at 15 years, 11 months and 4 days of age.