Depending on which part of the world you are visiting this blog from, you may or may not know this; Saudi Arabia has no cinemas. Nope, none at all. They're illegal, banned, immoral, haram, shaitan. What the reasons are behind them not being allowed really don't make sense to me, but then neither do a lot of Saudi laws.
My best guess on why cinemas aren't allowed is that they would they would encourage mixing of sexes, although that could probably be solved through separate seating. The other reason is the content being shown, although to me that doesn't make much sense since pretty much every household has access to both Satellite TV and internet. Also, you could always censor certain scenes (or depending on the movie, whole parts). We're pretty used to censoring scenes in Bahrain & UAE; I don't really mind if it's a pretty upfront sex scene, but sometimes they seem to cut random things out of the movie leaving you with a 'WTF just happened there' moment.
Whatever the reasons behind it, it's pretty clear that going to the cinema has become a bit of a tourist attraction for Saudis whenever they leave the country (that would explain the sharp increases in ticket sales on Wednesday and Thursday nights in Bahrain). Statistics (verified or not, I don't really know, but these were compiled by Saudi) show that a quarter of a million people visited UAE in 2010 JUST to go to the cinema. Pretty hefty number just for movies.
Recently, the Saudi Ministry of Culture & Information has made an announcement, saying it is ready to support the opening of cinemas in the country, as long as the government approves and gives the go-ahead. The Mayor of Riyadh also recently mentioned they are in the process of setting up cinemas in the country. Put it all together and it seems fairly likely that Saudi will finally have cinemas, and pretty soon.
Woohoow Saudi, finally turning into a country of sin.
Iran's getting a little feisty. It's not really something new; they seem to enjoy unnerving the USA (and the rest of the world) randomly every now and then. Is this time a little more serious though?
If you're not keeping up with the news (and let's face it, most of the world seems to be involved in something else at the moment, whether it's Kim Kardashian's new TV show or trying to find a job in a still unrecovered global economy); due to their belief that Iran is producing nuclear weapons, the US wants to impose sanctions on Iranian crude oil, and stop anyone from around the world buying it. In simple layman terms, that means no massive global income for Iran.
Iran turns around and says, you want to screw me up the backside? Sure, impose those sanctions, and i'll block the Strait of Hormuz (the little bit of water in the gulf where all the UAE/Saudi/Kuwait/Bahrain/Qatar oil gets exported to the world). Essentially, that means blocking off 20% of the world's oil supply. Essentially, that means a pretty steep increase in global oil supplies. Essentially, that means re-triggering another global recession for a world that still hasn't recovered from the previous one yet.
There's a lot of other noise in the equation, from the Iranians capturing a supposed spy drone in their airspace last month, to capturing and sentencing an ex-marine US citizen to death over the past few days. Add to that the fact that the US, UK and allies aren't really jumping in joy about the thought of another recession, and have started deploying their troops to the region (everywhere from Israel, regional bases, and to the waters around the area), as well as sold the GCC a cool trillion dollars worth of Jet Fighters, and the equation doesn't sound too good.
Of course, for all we know, Iran could be playing psychological games. This isn't the first time they've threatened and raised the stakes to the point of explosion, just to turn around last minute and say "Helloooo guys juuuust kiddding!" (imagine a strong Iranian accent and it sounds more fun) and hug it all out. I'm pretty sure they know the US can't really afford to go to war right now (internally the country is kinda screwy, even US army/marine bases are suffering from budget cuts), so maybe they're just playing a high-stake game of chicken.
Either way, for the uninformed, this has been going on for the past two weeks, and troops on both sides have started deploying over the past couple of days in serious numbers. Let's hope Ahmedinejad is going to turn around and make an announcement with his big cheesy smile and say "Hey guys, we're just kidding, why so serious?"
Wow, 24 leading Arab superstars on one collaboration. Akon and Shakira also collaborating on the track. Quincy Jones.
Backing by some of the biggest names in the region, including names from the Qatar Govt, Dubai Media City, Sony Music, and a ton more.
An initiative to raise money and funds to support talent and content from this region.
What a load of crap that final product came out to be.
Now don't get me wrong. Concept wise, this whole thing was AMAZING. Just the sound of it and the potential it had to be was beautiful. I heard about it from some reps at one of the major music labels a few weeks before it came out, and figured this would be something that would blow everyone away. It would talk from the Arab world not just back to the Arab World, but to the whole World.
Sadly, so far I haven't heard anything positive about it. I caught a glimpse of it on MBC a couple of weeks ago, and thought to myself, that was IT? All that talent, all that positive energy, went into that? Again, don't get me wrong; i'm not a hater. I love to see these sort of initiatives, anything that can propel our region to another level on the global playing field. Having all those superstars on one track is an amazing feat. Quincy Jones alone is more than just a legend. The message was strong and clear, to come together to bring a better tomorrow. The production levels put into this were obviously world class. But somewhere along the line, the potential collapsed.
I don't know how to start with where things went wrong; is it with the very standard melody and beat? Sure it has different tunes from different Arabic styles & instruments every now and then, but that was hardly something on the level of a legend such as Quincy. And the lyrics? Average to say the least. It doesn't really speak to me, or to the Arab world. FINE. Let's say the music wasn't great, they should back it up with an amazing video that speaks to the people, right?
Wrong. The video is just a few seconds of each artist in the recording studio, and a bunch of children running around various places in Doha. There are a few joyous moments, but those are limited in seconds.
Also, the Akon part just stands out, in a funny way. I know you wanted to add another major superstar here, but it just looks out of place. The Shakira intro I can understand, maybe he should have put in his own intro instead?
If the video was meant to speak to the people, then it would show something the average viewer would relate to; maybe peoples faces from around the region. It could show some happy, some sad, some in pain, some working for a better tomorrow. Maybe some of the scenes of the events of the past few months; not necessarily the violent and painful parts, maybe just showing people from all over, gathering together in unity. Your average person from the street can't really relate to a number of superstars dancing around in a studio. Let me not even comment on the errors in the video where the singing isn't properly synced with the audio (sure, it happens in many videos, but at that level of production, it's unacceptable).
I understand the video is trying to stay away from the politics, which is understandable. But again, Tamer Hosni? I'm sorry, but you just alienated 80 million Egyptians who were anti-Mubarak by featuring him in the track; did we all forget what happened back in Febraury? Egypt alone has 3 million (or so it feels like) musicians, was this really the best choice? Who made the decision on artists again?
And finally, the PR for the whole track, trying to hype it up. The headline message wasn't "A track pushing for a better tomorrow in the Arab World" or "A song calling for unity and togetherness". Nope. The headlines were almost always "24 MAJOR ARAB SUPERSTARS ALONG WITH QUINCY JONES AND AKON ON ONE TRACK". That's just a mirror of the whole crumpling music industry nowadays. They're trying to sell you the hype you don't want. I love Qunicy and his art, I have a ton of respect for most of the artists on the track (especially Kadhem Alsaher, dude is all class, even here he still shines as probably the best performer). But you won't get me hyped up on a track just because they're all on it. It's the digital age, the music is everywhere, the videos are everywhere, and the average person can get them any time. People aren't even watching the VMA's and EMA's even though there's a million and one celebrities on. You can't hype a track by saying so and so is on it. You have to make a song move emotions in people. You have to make good music, you have to make a great video. That's what the 'old-school' music industry doesn't understand, you can't sell hype anymore. If people want hype, they'll visit the YouTube channel, and no one ends up buying your music (explains 2 million hits on the video today and probably hardly anything sold).
I honestly have no idea what the actual message for this is. What is it meant to be; re-unite after the revolutions around the Arab world? Come together and build? Everybody calm down after what we've all been through? I'm not even sure. There's no real clear message.
The track makes me reminisce to 'Arab Dream' (الحلم العربي). That was done in the 90's; video is hardly of the greatest quality, editing is far from great, but that video and song can bring tears to your eyes. It still has the footage of performers in the studio, it still has that all-star ensemble, but the emotion comes through, it doesn't appear cocky, and it talks about our pain and struggles, the wars we've been exposed to that are still fresh in memory, and our dream to unite & move forward. Besides the studio shots, the video is powerful, and includes footage taken in the 80's and early 90's. We're in 2011; the amount of footage out there is astounding, it shouldn't be difficult to find something that speaks to people and doesn't trip over the politics. I would buy this track 10 times over just for what it is, and wouldn't even consider putting a cent towards the Bokra track.
Just another point; they're selling this track on iTunes? Whereas iTunes isn't officially available for more than half of the Arab countries (unless they have a US, European or credit card from a verified country)? Even if people did want to buy the track, you're not making it easy for them. Well done. Clap clap.
I really wanted this to make an impact, if anything, the Arab world needs something to push them forward through the multiple crises. We need to know there is hope and that everything will be fine. For all I can see, Bokra hasn't come close to achieving this, and it's a little depressing to be honest. Music was the way to speak to the masses, and with the way the industry is headed nowadays I don't know what it can achieve any more.
(I know i'm probably going to get a wave of hate for not being supportive of the cause and so on. I actually went out and bought the track, not for the song itself but in support of the cause only. I know it was a good-willed initiative, but the whole thing was badly managed & executed, and on that grand level, is a total failure).
Just finished filming and editing this music video - Sain is an Emirati rapper who just burst onto the scene; we tried to do a little something different with this one. Forget the regular girls, cars and money in your average rap videos, this takes you into the mind of someone 'inSain'. We put a few hidden messages in this one, see if you can figure any out. Enjoy.
