After the massive success of its 10th edition last year, Mawazeen Festival is back and will launch its 11th edition on May 18th, 2012.
This year’s festival is bringing together some of the biggest and brightest names in both the Arab and international music industry, each to perform on their own platform.
For the first time, and on May 26th, Wael Kfoury’s Morrocan fan base will get to see him perform live on the Hay Al Nahda stage, some of his most memorable old songs, in addition to the new music from his upcoming album.
On the same night, which also happens to be the closing night of the festival, Mariah Carey will be singing to her fans of the country which she has admired for so long, straight from the Hay Al Sweisi stage, which is specially built for international performances.
As for all the Rock music lovers, they have a date with the legendary band The Scorpions on May 24th, 2012, as part of their farewell tour, as they retire from their long and eventful music career.
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So what did Randy Jackson have to say today when he talked to reporters in a press call?
Not much when it came to buzz about Mariah Carey being on Simon Cowel’s short list of judges to replace Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherziner.
When asked if he thinks Carey would be a good judge for The X Factor, Jackson said, “She’d be amazing. I mean, I manage her, so of course I’m going to say that. She’d be amazing.”
So does he think Carey will join the show? “I don’t know if that’s ever going to happen,” he said. “Look, Simon’s one of the smartest people I know. I’m sure he he’s got some very interesting ideas up his sleeve.”
Would he have problems with his artist being on a rival show? “No, no, not at all. She’s her own person. She can of course do whatever she wants and she always will do that,” Jackson explained, adding, “Simon’s one of my dearest friends in the world.”
And so is Paula. But, he says, “I have not spoken to Paula” since she was fired.
“We texted back and forth. I’m sad to hear about what’s going on with that show. All of those people are dear friends of mine.”
Mariah Carey and Jermaine Dupri burned the midnight oil while recording for the pop diva’s upcoming album. The insomniacs checked in with their fans at 7 a.m. in a new episode of J.D.’s “Living the Life,” revealing that they have done about five songs for the follow-up to 2009’s Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel.
“The first night we did about three sketches for songs,” said Mariah, who is set to debut new material at the Mawazine festival in Morocco in May.
Mariah also teased J.D. for spending too much time online and the dangers of technology in the studio. Listen up, Lambs.
After weeks of gossip that ‘X Factor’ judge Nicole Scherzinger was leaving the show, sources are confirming that not only is Nicole quitting to work on her perpetually delayed album, but fellow judge Paula Abdul and host Steve Jones have been fired, too! No sooner did news of the show’s major overhaul hit the web, that speculation over who will serve as Nicole and Paula’s replacements for Season 2 began to run rampant.
One star who very well may join the cast of Simon Cowell’s reality competition is Mariah Carey. Many insiders are betting that the diva is Simon’s top choice for the show, since he wanted MiMi for the premiere season. At that time, while Mariah was “enthusiastic” about the opportunity, Simon revealed she was too busy tending to her newborn twins to take time for the gig.
While the diva herself has yet to respond to the speculation about her ‘X Factor’ future, Mimi’s husband Nick Cannon decided to speak on the topic during his radio show ‘Rollin’ With Nick Cannon’ last week.
“Like Nicole Scherzinger, my wife is not a fan of judging people. Nicole actually did say that she is used to performing, and the judging thing is not really natural for her,” he explained. Nick continued, reminding us that his wife is one of the biggest recording superstar ever, “I really think that a lot of entertainers feel that way and I think these shows are really good shows, but when you get someone of status, or just big-time, career-wise, to do these shows, I personally think it’s a step down.”
“Why would would my wife want to be on a show like that?” Cannon asked. “For somebody who has a legendary career, I don’t know why they would do that.” So, it looks like Nick certainly has his opinions about his wife sitting on the ‘X Factor’ judges panel, but Mariah doesn’t really seem like the kind of gal to let a man speak for her! We guess we’ll have to wait and see if the rumors will become reality.
“X Factor” judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger may have sealed their fates when they let a 13-year-old go home bawling.
The dismissal of that 13-year-old, Rachel Crow, represented everything that was wrong with the first season of “X Factor”: It was jumbled and confusing, with too much happening at once. It didn’t break new ground. And worst of all, it sometimes just felt mean-spirited.
Scherzinger was widely criticized for voting to send Crow home — on advice from Abdul — so that the judges’ panel would deadlock between Crow and fellow contestant Marcus Canty. The deadlock meant the decision came down to which competitor had more viewer votes. Host Steve Jones almost mechanically announced that Crow would exit, and turned to shake Canty’s hand, apparently not noticing Crow, beside him, falling to her knees in tears.
It was Simon Cowell who rushed to the stage to embrace her — not Abdul and Scherzinger, who orchestrated her exit, and not Jones, who announced it.
When Simon Cowell is the most empathetic person around, something’s wrong with your show.
Word late Monday that Abdul, Scherzinger and Jones are out for the second season of “X Factor” amounts to an admission by Cowell that the show he created hasn’t lived up to his lofty expectations.
He said before “X Factor” aired that he wanted it to top his former show, “American Idol,” as the biggest on television. But it has scored less than half the ratings of “Idol.” Its closer rival is NBC’s upstart singing competition “The Voice,” which slipped onto the airwaves and became a hit during the endless and much-hyped run-up to the “X Factor” premiere.
Cowell has long dreamed of including Mariah Carey on “X Factor,” if not as a judge than as a performer or mentor. Her pregnancy made that impossible once; later, Cowell said, plans for Carey to appear were undone by Hurricane Irene.
Now, nothing would seem to stand in the way of Carey sweeping in — except, perhaps, for fear that she can’t bring the show up to Cowell’s rigorous standards. Cowell’s hope at this point must be that the flaws in “X Factor” are cosmetic enough that new casting can improve it.
But the flaws may go deeper. From the beginning, the show has tried to gin up confict under the simple theory that conflict equals drama. It does, but not all drama is pleasant to watch.
At their best, “Idol” and “The Voice” temper their mini-controversies with redeeming moments. The good guys win and no one falls down crying — except tears of joy.
But “X Factor” feels at times like a mass-marketing machine, fueled by its prominent corporate sponsors, that can’t slow down for a few seconds of genuine human emotion.
Even Scherzinger seemed overwhelmed by the process as she refused to choose between Canty and Crow. Jones, who often seemed more focused on delivering his lines than making genuine connections, only added to the emotional disconnect. Abdul, the old hand, gave Scherzinger an easy out by advising her to send the decision to the viewers.
It was the coldness of the dismissal that made it so uncomfortable, as if a little girl’s dreams were just a casualty of something bigger. A better judge could have humanized the moment, promised Crow that better things lay ahead. Instead, she got the paralyzed, inexperienced Scherzinger and the cool Abdul, who advised her fellow judge to pass the buck.
Cowell’s next judge, or judges, may be gifted enough to humanize his show. But that’s a lot to ask of one or two panelists. The show should also back away from its many cynical elements, like playing up the dire financial straits of its contestants, and suggesting to viewers that one contestant exposed himself, when he actually didn’t.
What “X Factor” badly needs is more compassion — or at least a better show of it.
This has bothered me for 17 years: why wasn’t “When I Saw You” by Mariah Carey released as a single?
In 1995-96, Carey was at one of her (many) career peaks and this ballad could have easily been the fourth Hot 100 No. 1 from her album “Daydream.” Columbia chose the admittedly beautiful ’50s-styled “Forever” instead (although it didn’t give that song a physical CD release).
“When,” an ode to love at first sight, would’ve countered nicely to the themes of loss and longing featured on her other “Daydream”-era singles (i.e., “One Sweet Day”), not to mention its insanely hooky chorus where Carey belts out 16 bars of melisma – without ever taking a breath! (Maybe that’s why she, as far I know, has never performed it live?)
Such a shame because this track should’ve been huge (and still could be a hit today).
Artie O’Daly
West Hollywood, California
Hi Artie,
I like “When I Saw You,” too, although I can’t argue with Columbia having released “Forever.” It was actually a bold choice, as not many songs on pop radio in recent decades sound like “Unchained Melody.” The waltz rose to No. 9 on Pop Songs in summer 1996.
This e-mail, in fact, deserves its own countdown! Here are my picks for Carey’s top five songs that should’ve been singles, guided by my radio background that taught me that a hook outweighs any other attributes a song may have. Had they been released, Carey might have already passed the Beatles (20) for most Hot 100 No. 1s. She currently has 18.
5, “Languishing (The Interlude),” from “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel” (2009). Maybe if Carey had recorded the song in full and not just as a 2-minute, 33-second filler track, it would’ve been a stronger single candidate. Still, she packs the song’s short length with a memorably catchy chorus.
4, “So Blessed,” from “Emotions” (1991). A song similar in sound to “When I Saw You,” as well as her debut single, “Vision of Love – which spent four weeks atop the Hot 100.
Tie 3, “Reflections (Care Enough)”/”Lead the Way,” from “Glitter” (2001). Yes, I’m aware that “Glitter” is one of the most maligned movies in cinema history. Too bad, because I’ve always felt that its soundtrack contains two of her best ballads. “Lead” was co-written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, who teamed to pen her hits “Can’t Let Go,” “Hero” and “Anytime You Need a Friend” (plus the No. 1 song ahead on this ranking).
2, “Whenever You Call,” from “Butterfly” (1997). It seemed that the ballad might finally become a single when Carey rerecorded it as a duet with Brian McKnight and revived it on her 1998 compilation “#1′s.” Although a video was filmed, the song never became a radio single.
1, “All I Ever Wanted,” from “Music Box” (1993). Despite her catalog of monster hit singles, my two favorite songs of Carey’s are the seasonal “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and this ballad (also co-written with Afanasieff). Who knows, had “All” become the fourth single from “Music Box” instead of the No. 12 Hot 100 hit “Anytime You Need a Friend,” Carey might’ve extended her career-opening streak of top 10s to 12. Instead, her run halted at 11, still a Hot 100 record among new artists matched since by only one act, the singer that prompted this discussion when her streak stopped with the No. 29-peaking “Marry the Night”: Lady Gaga.
Nick Cannon has spilled the details on his relationship with Mariah Carey, describing themselves as “hopeless romantics.”
The TV presenter and the diva married back in 2008 amid criticism that their relationship wouldn’t work, but three years and twin babies later, the couple appear to be stronger than ever.
“Mariah and I are both hopeless romantics,” Nick told Bleu magazine.
“We just made a pact to say that we want to be in this because we enjoy each other and we love each other…We want to be successful at being in a relationship; we want to have a good time.”
“A relationship shouldn’t seem like something you have to work at; it is not a task. We always wanted a fairy tale relationship…and the drama that normally comes with it, we [can] do without.”
The couple are said to have grown even closer recently as a result of Nick’s kidney failure.
My beautiful wife is planning to make her return to the music scene after taking time off to focus on the pregnancy and the birth of our two wonderful babies, Moroccan and Monroe.
She’s rejuvenated and ready to start sharing some of the amazing new music she has been making in the studio!
Our new family has definitely given her a great new source of inspiration and creativity. I’m so proud of her and can’t wait for her to release more phenomenal music!
This May she’ll be headlining the 11th Annual Mawazine Festival in Morocco, where she’ll be sharing some songs off her new album!
After the massive success of its 10th edition last year, Mawazeen Festival is back and will launch its 11th edition on May 18th, 2012.
Friday, February 3, 2012
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