Come On-a Her House

Let's brighten the end of this gloomy week with a true ray of starry sunshine - the latest magnum opus in the magnificent career of that Levantine ultrastar, Miss Nancy Ajram.

Call Me Madam Freedom

Well, I bet you thought this was the last place in the world you were going to encounter a World Cup post, didn't you? Guess again, darlings, for Mr. Muscato and I have been caught up - as much as one can on the benighted shores of Massachusetts - with the goings-on in Capetown, Jo'burg, and thereabouts. Of course, it hasn't been the same since the team I was rooting for - North Korea, natch - was so unceremoniously ousted, but we've soldiered on.

Even better, I've got not one but two ways to tie the (it must be admitted) unaccustomed athletic theme into topics more regularly found herein.

First up, the video seen above - a regionalized version of the omnipresent tournament song, "Waving Flag", featuring my favorite Arab-pop ultrastar, that Kylie of the East, Miss Nancy Ajram. It's both an improvement on the original song and actually rather a fun little clip.

Second, as part of my ongoing effort to broaden your horizons, I'm proud to bring you a snippet of news from our once-and-future part of the world that may have escaped your attention. The National, a UAE-based English rag, has passed on the rather fascinating news that local religious authorities have declared via fatwa that the World Cup's signature contribution to noise pollution, the vuvuzela, is - at least in certain conditions - haram, or off limits. That'll learn 'em, but I doubt it will do much to quell the mosquito-like hum that has been the background to our lives for the past four weeks or so...

The Queen of Pop

Here's another installment in our ongoing efforts to bring Arab-pop to all you gaijin (actually, the Arabic word is iganib, but I fell for gaijin while in Japan), a new hit by the reigning diva of the genre, the fabulous Nancy Ajram.

A miracle of nature and art, Miss Ajram has been top of the charts for half-a-dozen years now, a fairly long career in a region in which stardom is either permanent (as with the several deities of Egyptian song and film of the forties and fifties who are still the biggest things around, living or dead) or entirely disposable.

While this little number, "Mashy haddy" ("Walking Near Me") may not be on par with the masterworks of Um Kulthoum, it's a catchy little tune with a candy-coated video that pits plucky Nancy against a deeply lizardly boyfriend. Why she wants to keep him is never quite clear, but you have to admire its stylized visuals and clever art direction.

Like many of Nancy's best videos, it's directed by a woman and gives every sign that the star herself is entirely in control of her image and career - and perhaps rather more interesting than the average, run-of-the-mill thrush. There's no question that she's a brilliant self-marketer, proving, if nothing else, that it's not only in the States that a clever girl can take a little talent and a lot of moxie and go a very long way. Maybe in thirty years she'll be importing kids from Malawi...

"Oh, the Magic of His Glance!"

In this endearing mini-epic, Lebanese ultra-star Nancy Ajram plays a kittenish Beirut hairdresser who astonishes her BFF, her mother, her baby sister, and finally her extremely festive colleague and their customers with the story of a hunky construction work who made eyes at her.

And guess what? In less than five minutes, it crams in all that plus a happy ending!

Frankly, I prefer it to any rom-com made since Four Weddings...