LEBANON: Pop princess faces Egyptian outrage over 'Nubian monkey' lyrics

Haifa Wehbe is no stranger to controversy. The sultry Lebanese provocateur made a name for herself on the Arabic music scene with her signature coquettish pout and tongue-in-cheek songs like "Boos al Wawa" ("Kiss the Boo-Boo) and "Ya Ibn al Halal" (roughly, "Hey, Good Little Muslim Boy").

But now the pop princess is finding herself at the center of a different kind of scandal after Egyptian lawmakers expressed outrage over allegedly racist lyrics in her new song "Baba Fein?" ("Where's Daddy?"), according to news reports. 

The song, a duet between Wehbe and a young singer who plays her son, is supposed to be a lighthearted lyrical argument revolving around bedtime, with the child at one point singing the line, "Where's my teddy bear and the Nubian monkey?"

LEBANON: Snoop Dogg brings West Coast style to East Beirut

First Obama went to Cairo.

Then Snoop Dogg came to Beirut.

The famed, foul-mouthed rapper performed before thousands of enthusiastic fans Thursday night at the Beirut Forum, one of Lebanon's largest concert venues.

Rap is huge in the Middle East, especially among the young, some of whom have woven its beats and attitude into rhymes that capture their own lives. 

IRAN: U2's green-tinted tributes to Iranian protesters

Anyone familiar with U2 knows that the band is not afraid to be political. Probably its best-known song, “Sunday, Bloody Sunday,” was written about a violent crackdown on a peaceful protest in Northern Ireland.

The sentiment behind the song could also be applied to the protesters in Iran, which is precisely what U2 did during two huge concerts in Milan and Barcelona:

The performance is quite a visual spectacle (after all, it is a rock concert), and the symbolism is less than subtle: the entire stage is flooded in green light, the signature color of the protests, and Persian text scrolls across the screen.

The text reads “Listen! Listen! Listen!” which one blogger attributed to "The Song of the Reed Flute," by famous Persian poet Jalaladdin Rumi. 

Persian poetry and Rumi in particular are some of the strongest sources of Iranian national pride.

The history of a violent crackdown behind the original song coupled with Rumi adds some intellectual weight to the visual spectacle of a rock concert.

It looks like the selection of the work itself was not coincidental. A reading of the poem suggests allusions to the violent crackdown in Iran as well as the disputed elections:

“Listen to the reeds as they sway apart,
hear them speak of lost friends.”
…
“This reed bends to spent lovers and friends,
its song and its word break the veil…”

This isn’t the first rock 'n' roll tribute to the protesters in Iran. Jon Bon Jovi collaborated with Iranian artist Andranik Madadian to cover  "Stand By Me." Both artists sing in Farsi and English.

-- Jahd Khalil in Beirut

MIDDLE EAST: An Arab tribute to the King of Pop

Middle East analyst and blogger Juan Cole of Informed Comment writes today about Michael Jackson’s popularity in the  Arab world. Jackson lived in Bahrain for a time after he was acquitted on child molestation charges in 2005. But he had a falling out with his benefactor, a son of the Persian Gulf island's emir.

Cole includes a link to a Middle Eastern video tribute to the King of Pop posted on YouTube. Although the comments suggest that a Jackson soundtrack may have been superimposed over a clip of men in traditional Arab robes dancing to music from the Gulf, Cole says “it is the height of hybridity either way.”

"Given the stereotyping of Gulf Arabs as medieval and fanatical, and given the hurtful prejudice against their very form of clothing in the West, it is only right that they should have the last word here on Michael Jackson's universal appeal."

Read Cole's post: Michael Jackson, Islam and the Middle East.

— Amber Smith in Los Angeles

Photo: Two Bahraini girls pass a poster of Michael Jackson at a store in Manama, Bahrain, on Friday, June 26, 2009. A store employee said Jackson's CDs sold briskly on word of the singer's death. Credit: Hasan Jamali / AP
 

IRAQ: Stars gather for concert in Kurdistan

Before a crowd of about 3,000 people, a group featuring some of world music's best-known performers -- including drummer Tariq Snare, all the way from Brooklyn, Iranian musician Sohrab Pournazeri (shown above playing the kamancheh) and multi-instrumentalist Matthaios Tsahourides of Greece -- played in Kurdistan on Friday. "Our group includes four different nationalities, and this event expresses the dialogue among different cultures," said Hussain Zahawy of Kurdistan, who plays the frame drum.

"Each state has its own culture and traditions, but after all, we are all human," Tsahourides said. See more pictures of the show below.

BAHRAIN: King of pop and Bahraini prince reach agreement

A legal row between the “king of pop” and a Persian Gulf prince over songs, promises and cash is apparently drawing to an end.

Michael Jackson was about to board his flight to London to appear in court in a lawsuit filed against him for reneging on an agreement with one of the sons of Bahrain's king. But he was advised by his lawyers not to go after they reached an out-of-court settlement “in principal” with the Bahraini royal, Sheik Adbulla Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa.

The legal settlement that is to be signed soon will remain confidential, Bakim Thanki, the royal’s attorney, announced this morning, according to the Associated Press.

The story started when the prince allegedly came to the aid of the 50-year-old Jackson, loaning the troubled pop legend millions of dollars to get through rough times. But, according to the royals, Jackson walked out on the prince when it was time to repay.

So the sheik sued Jackson, saying he failed to honor his promises, which were allegedly releasing an album, including songs the royal wrote himself, as well as an autobiography and a stage play. 

IRAQ: Hotel California in Baghdad

By Saif Rasheed in Baghdad

As a tradition during the feast of Eid, my family used to visit the homes of relatives and relax amid the wide gardens at the social Hunting Club in Baghdad's Mansour district.

Then came the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, and many of my relatives fled the country.

These days, with fewer family members to visit, we find ourselves spending more time at the Hunting Club. It is protected from gunfire, serves alcohol and steers conversations away from sectarian politics. 

The Hunting Club is different from what it was just a year or two ago. Security is better in Iraq.

MIDDLE EAST: A sordid entanglement of pop stars, businessmen

That an Egyptian mogul was arrested and charged in the killing of a sultry Lebanese diva yesterday came as a huge surprise in the Arab world. 

The story, reported in today's Los Angeles Times, drew a lot of attention in part because powerful men with strong political connections are rarely held accountable in the Middle East. But beyond that, the tragic fate of Suzanne Tamim, 30, shed light on the sordid reality of female pop stars in the Middle East.

These young and attractive women often get entangled in love stories with big-shot businessmen, who end up in many cases abusing them or controlling their lives and careers.

Tamim's tangled tale was the epitome of such scenarios.

EGYPT: The diva assassination plot thickens

The mystery of the slain diva grows more curious by the day.

The body of Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim was found in her Dubai apartment in July, and since then the case has veered from the skyscrapers of the Persian Gulf emirate to the upper crust of Egyptian politics. At least, that's what some newspapers would have you believe.

But that was before Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud, Egypt'€™s prosecutor general, ordered a ban on publishing stories about the slaying. On Sunday, authorities confiscated from newsstands copies of the independent Al-Dustour, which had run a tale headlined: “Was an Egyptian public figure involved in the murder of Suzanne Tamim?”

The Egyptian government usually moves against the independent press when someone in the ruling National Democratic Party is in trouble. Al-Dustour and other newspapers in the Arab world have hinted that one of the singer’s former lovers, an Egyptian real estate tycoon and member of Parliament, may be a suspect in the investigation. Media reports say the man who Dubai police arrested on suspicion of slitting Tamim’s throat has connections to and was paid by the businessman.

The rest is rumor, whispered asides and innuendo, which, in a country like Egypt, where facts are spare and information is tightly controlled by the government, take on a life of their own. The prosecutor’s decision to ban stories and question journalists only increases suspicion in the very places the government would prefer that no light be shed at all.

— Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo

Photo: Singer Suzanne Tamim, seen in a Cairo photo shoot, was found dead in her apartment on July 28. Credit: STRI / AFP/Getty Images

SYRIA: Merger of music, Islam and romance

Relying on modern visual and sound effects, Syrian singer Hossam Haj’s few works display a happy marriage between romantic song clips and Islam. After taking many viewers by surprise with his song, “O, Bravo, You Got Veiled!” a few years ago, Haj is about to launch his new song clip, “Let Us Pray Together, Sweetheart.”

“I am against pornography and indecency,” he said. “When you respect your faith, everyone will respect you. There is nothing wrong in expressing your faith or talking about love.”

In his first clip, Haj played the role of a groom who celebrated his bride’s decision to wear the veil. In his new stint, he depicts a ritual that has recently become widely practiced by young Muslims before marriage. When a couple feel like getting married, they perform a specific prayer to make sure their union will mark the right match.

“Nobody sings the way I do. My songs are about love but they also show that God is there to help lovers,” said Haj, who finances his song clips from his own pocket.