Mohamed Assaf’s voice carries the symphonic life of every victim of war and trauma. He learned how to sing in an atmosphere of war and blood shed , among the sound of bullets and bombs, but today he reveals the true identity of Gaza and its people who are worthy of their beautiful life and finding peace to their heartache and abandoned country. He brings joy to those who need it by giving them the slightest hint of hope out there which is happiness rather than torment and death.
Mohammad Assaf traveled from Palestine to Egypt to audition for Arab Idol it took him two days to reach Egypt by car due to complications on the border. It was a difficult time to reach Egypt. At first he had to bribe the Palestinian security at the border to leave Gaza and then once he reached the hotel where the auditions were placed the doors were closed in which they did not accept anymore auditions so he jumped over the wall. After he jumped over the wall the Egyptian police stopped him, he sang for them and they made him go through, although he couldn’t get a number to audition since it was full, he sat hopelessly in the hall where other contestants were waiting for their turn. He started singing to the contestants, a Palestinian man who was suppose to audition heard him and gave him his number and told him that i know i won’t reach to the finals but you will. This story was told by his mother and father during an interview on the famous Palestinian TV channel “Zamnpress” (Old Press).
After singing Ragheb Alama‘s song, the famous Lebanese singer during one of the primes on Arab idol , which made the judge’s praise him even more, Ragheb Alama didn’t just love his performance, but he also surprised him with a generous gesture in appreciation for his ”great performance” granting him the right to sing and release his song “Ya Rayt Fiyyi khabiha”. Ahlam the famous Emirate singer also told Assaf that despite the song being 26 years old, due to this performance and your voice you will make it live another 62 more years.
During Assaf’s period in Arab Idol he sang patriotic songs that described the rough patches his country went through such as ” Ya Tayer el Tayer” which is a song about the different cities of palestine and a Mawal ( Beginning of a song ) about the suffering of his people during the war. He also sang a patriotic song about Lebanon and dedicated it to them after also surviving the suffering they’ve went through during their tough years.
Family members, neighbors and Palestinians in general have been waiting for his performance in Beirut every Friday night hoping they’ll blow their minds away as well as the judges by performing with powerful vocals on love and patriotism in front of millions of Arab television viewers, Mohammed Assaf has soared to stardom as the voice of Palestinians and every other country that has been through trauma and war. He shows that we Palestinians are humans who have a deep and beautiful culture,” said Majida Abu Almeaza, 45, a mother of five from Gaza City. “He has struck a chord with Palestinians by singing classic Arabic songs that deal with issues other than war and struggle” .”Because of years of war, Palestinians have not had much stability, and so they cling to the classic songs he performs because they touch on topics of normality, like love. To many here, that kind of music offers them a sense of stability.”
Source: wikipedia.org Arab Idol
Tags: Arab Idol, Mohammed Assaf, Palestinian
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