Mae Luna from the Philippines, one of the contestants in the second edition of Nagham competition, performs her rendition of a Whitney Houston classic in a video uploaded on Music Affairs Centre’s YouTube channel.
Voting has started for the second edition of the exciting Nagham competition, a singing contest organised by The Music Affairs Centre under the Ministry of Culture and Sports.
Yesterday, the Music Affairs Centre uploaded on its YouTube channel the videos of all 17 aspiring singers vying to be crowned this year’s winners in two categories namely singing in Arabic language and singing in other languages.
The contestants brought to the stage many years of honing their talent in singing both as hobby and passion, some starting from as young as five years old. The music videos of the finalists’ performances accompanied by live band were recorded in the Center’s production studio. Two winners from each category will take the first place that will be decided by jury and voting (number of likes that each competitor’s video will get at the Centre’s YouTube channel during the voting phase).
The second place winners will be decided by the jury for each category. The finalists in the Arabic singing category are Muhammad Habib from Mauritania, Sibal Abu Murad from Lebanon, Rawan Aldous from Palestine, Mahmoud Hamdy from Egypt, Muhammad Al Omari from Yemen, and Yusra Kharroubi, Riad Issa, Maryam Al Turki and Dalila Dhefi from Tunisia. In other languages category, the finalists are Abubakar Mohamed from Somalia, Ali Shawkat from Pakistan, Aarya Prasad and Palavi Aditya from India, and Brian Joseph Sales, Anna Vinna Olonan, Mae Luna, and Rosadelo Villanueva from the Philippines.
The contest follows the huge success the inaugural edition enjoyed last year which saw the wealth of talent Qatar possesses in the field of music when a large number of aspiring musicians from various nationalities took part in the competition despite limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Conducted in several phases, the exciting competition, which was divided into two categories namely singers and instrumentalists, took place virtually between June and September.
Under the Department of Culture and Arts at the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Music Affairs Centre continues to play an active role in supporting music activities in Qatar, developing talents and spreading the culture of music to citizens and residents.
The Centre has been organising events for the community such as music festivals which focus on reflecting the importance of cultural diversity of the communities residing in Qatar and reflect the ministry’s vision of stressing the importance of opening up to other cultures.
