Year: 2006

The X Factor, The Essence of Success

FremantleMedia has announced that it is launching a local version of The X Factor in the Middle East.

The X Factor, XSeer Al Najah (The X Factor, The Essence of Success) will be produced by Lebanese production company Studiovision and will premiere on 26 March on music channel Rotana TV, culminating in the grand finale on 4 June.

FremantleMedia regional manager, Middle East and North Africa Isabelle Garcia said, “We are really excited about bringing this format to the Middle East. Not only do we have fantastic judges with great backgrounds but also the acts coming forward are something the Arabian public has never seen before.”

FremantleMedia adds that thousands of hopefuls with dreams of becoming the next Arabic singing sensation have turned up to perform at auditions in The Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Kuwait, Egypt, Dubai and Tunisia. Judging the talent are Michel Elefteriades, owner of the celebrated Music Hall in Beirut; Nelly from Egypt, a performer in both the acting and singing fields and Khaled El Sheikh, a Bahraini producer and composer. Following in the footsteps of the UK production, the three categories will comprise younger and older contestants and groups.

The X Factor has been broadcast in five territories to date: the UK, Belgium, Colombia, Australia and Russia.

The difference between The X Factor and SuperStar is that at the end of the auditions, hopefuls are whittled down to 120 and divided into three categories. Each category are assigned one judge faced with the task of shaping up their acts so that one of them emerges as the winner.

Sounds interesting…

[Source: FremantleMedia]

Jeans for Muslims

They’re high around the waist, wide around the leg and have lots of pockets for holding watches, bracelets, glasses and other knickknacks.

A new line of jeans designed by a small company in northern Italy, under the name of Al Quds Jeans, caters to Muslims seeking to stay comfortable while they pray.

The bagginess is to ensure the wearer avoids stiffness while bending down repeatedly during prayers. The pockets are for holding all the accessories Muslims have to take off while they worship. And the jeans have green seams

50th Anniversary of Tunisia’s Independence

Today is the 50th anniversary of Tunisia’s independence from France, and quite a bit ironically, I’m actually in Paris on this important day.

The first thing I would like to do is to salute everyone who played a role in liberating our country and to honor the memory of all the people who struggled for our country’s independence. You are all heroes, and you’ll live forever in Tunisia’s history and memories, as well as in our hearts.

Tunisia has come a long way from 1956 to today, and a lot has been accomplished, but of course we still have more to do together to go on building a better Tunisia for us and for the future generations.
It’s up to us to shed our passive attitudes and take a more active role in making Tunisia all we want it to be.

Tunisia is a dream, and just like those who gave their lives for the freedom of Tunisia believed in it, we too should believe and cherish this dream, and do all we can to make it a reality.

I’ll quote Mahatma Gandhi again here with his famous quote “You should be the change that you want to see in the world.”, and I’ll modify it to become, “We should all be the Tunisia that we want to see in the world.”

Wise Words By A Wise Man

Here are a few quotes by Mahatma Gandhi, a very wise man…

– An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.

– What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?

– You should be the change that you want to see in the world.

– I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.

– First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

– I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.

More Random Thoughts From Paris

I’m starting to like Paris more and more each day as I discover new places in it and get used to moving around. I don’t really feel like it’s the kind of city I could live in, but still it’s a really nice place to visit.

It’s amazing how many churches and cathedrals this city has; almost every road has a great big beautiful one sitting at its end.
It’s almost as if there was a law that was passed in the old ages saying: “Every street gets its own church, every boulevard its own cathedral, and if there isn’t enough space for one, at least throw in a nice arch!”

Last night, after work, I took Drako’s advice and went for a walk by the St. Martin Canal. Very nice place; maybe if I had more time, I’d take a book and go back to relax and read there. But time is short, and there are still many things to discover.

Why the hell do fast food restaurants here have a big scary black guy in a suit standing there staring at you? It’s quite freaky…
By the way, just to make things clear, this is not a racist comment, he’s not scary because he’s black, he’s scary because he’s a big hunk who looks like he’s so hungry from having to smell food all day long, that he’s going to eat you next.
Maybe it’s for security reasons or maybe it’s to scare people into eating quickly and leaving, I don’t know, but it’s a bit weird.

What is it with bicycle lanes here?
One moment you’re walking on the pavement in peace, and the second after, all of a sudden, that part of the pavement has turned into a bicycle lane and some guy or girl is ringing their bell at you.
It’s either there’s a bicycle lane throughout the whole length of the pavement or there isn’t. Make up your minds.

I came across a KFC yesterday. Shame I can’t eat there, though. I had to just turn around and go find somewhere else with Halal meat to eat.
Why can’t these big chains in countries that have a big number of Muslims or Jews at least have a few restaurants that provide Halal or Kosher food?

As there is no TV in the appartment I’m staying in, I’d get really bored once I got home. So a couple of days ago, as I was wandering around, I found a used CD and DVD shop, and I bought the first season of “The 4400“, which is a really cool series a friend in Tunis told me about. So every night, before going to sleep, I’ve been enjoying an episode or two of it. Very cool stuff.

Real Life Ad And Popup Blocker

You’re walking down a street in your favourite part of town, whistling or humming a cool tune, trying to enjoy the nice weather and the really good mood you’re in.

But wait, it’s not working; there’s something annoying you, distracting you, bugging you… Something is not the same about this street, it’s no longer what it used to be, it has somehow lost its charm; what is it?

It’s those huge billboards, those ugly posters stuck everywhere, those flashing fluorescent lights, those ads all around you that have transformed your nice street into a brainwash walk-through.
No wonder you’re distracted, every colour in the world is used with no harmony in these ads around you; of course you’re annoyed, the chaos of how these ads are set is incredible.

And then, just as you start to adjust to not looking at the ads and try to focus on whatever green or untouched buildings are left, someone pops up out of nowhere, bringing you close to a heart attack, presenting you with a flyer for this, a paper ad for that, a visit card for whatever…

It’s a nightmare…
Don’t you just wish we had real life ad and popup blockers to get rid of all that? Something that would just strip all those ads from the places we go to and hold back those popup advertisers from us while we have our nice stroll wherever we want to?
Ah, I’d really like to have that…

Google Mars

After Google Earth and then Google Moon, now we’ve also got Google Mars.

Google Mars allows users to view the surface of the Red Planet either by a colour-coded altitude map, black and white photographs, or an infra-red map.

The maps used on Google Mars were made from images captured by Nasa probes Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor, both currently orbiting the planet.

The service was launched to mark the 151st anniversary of the birth of Percival Lowell, an astronomer who mapped and studied Mars in the 19th century.

Up next in the news: Martians sue Google over Mars mapping service, claiming it’s a threat to planet security!

Random Thoughts From Paris

Don’t they have Burger King in France?!
Shit, they don’t have Burger King in France!
It turns out there was, but this Belgian group Quick, yeah it turned out to be from Belgium, bought the whole French chain of Burger Kings some years ago.
I had dinner at a Quick last night, and it was nothing close to the Burger King experience or taste. What a shame!

Went to the nearby Virgin Megastore last night; it’s pretty unorganized compared to the ones in London. I browsed through some DVDs but got fed up of it because whenever I thought of a specific movie, I wouldn’t be able to find it because it had a totally different name in French.
What is it with the French and their totally unrelated movie title translations? They really suck!

On my way to Virgin Megastore I passed through a small alley which was full of African restaurants, especially Senegali cuisine. The smell was spread throughout the alley and it reminded me of my childhood in Zimbabwe and the smell of the food there.
It didn’t make me want to eat there, in fact, it nearly made me not want to eat anywhere, but well it was nice unearthing a few memories.

Ah, last night…
It’s either that my upstairs neighbours are a couple of horny energizer bunnies or that there’s a very friendly woman living up there, because last night there was certainly a lot of action going on with 5.1 surround sound effects and all.
Very interesting…
Note to self: Your studio is on the second floor, definitely not the third!