DUBAI // Whenever the judges tried to single out the youngest of the five-member Emirati team on Arabs Got Talent, nine-year-old Saeed al Ameri would not have it.
"I am not the only star," he said. "Each and every one of us is a star."
That sense of brotherhood helped alleviate the disappointment that followed when the votes came in. The only Emirati team to make it to the popular contest's semi-finals, with their version of the traditional Yolla dance, was eliminated during the first live show on February 25. The show wraps up on April 8.
"It is OK," said Saeed. "We didn't win, but we didn't really lose either. We represented one of the UAE's traditional dances and we had fun doing it."
Their team, Eyal Zayed, or Sons of Zayed, performed the traditional dance which involves throwing wooden rifles into the air. In that episode, the Lebanese singer Joseph Dahdah won first place while second place went to a breakdancing duo from Morocco.
The reality TV show, marketed as the Middle East's version of other popular Got Talent shows that started in the UK, premiered in January on MBC4. About 100 acts tried out during auditions held at hotels in Abu Dhabi and Dubai last year.
The show's team travelled to 13 countries and auditioned more than 1,500 hopefuls - choosing just 300 for the first six shows, which were taped in Beirut.
The programme is broadcast at 10pm on Fridays with groups or individuals performing to win the top prize of 500,000 Saudi riyals (Dh489,000).
Saeed, who has been practising the Yolla dance since he was five, said he was not nervous performing on stage in front of the judges. And although the team is prevented by the show's rules from auditioning again, Saeed would be up for it. "I would go and do it all over again."
Up there with him was his 18-year-old brother, Hassan, and their cousins Saleh, 21, and Mohammed, 19, who are brothers. The fifth member is the family's 22-year-old neighbour, Salem, who is an al Ameri just like the rest of the crew.
"People joked and asked us why didn't we just call ourselves Eyal (Sons of) al Ameri," said Saleh. "We wanted to represent our country by naming ourselves after the father of the country, the late Sheikh Zayed."
The group has been performing together for five years during local festive occasions. But the team's opportunity to appear on Arabs Got Talent was "pure coincidence", said Saleh, the leader of team.
"An MBC producer saw our performance on local TV and suggested we apply online," he said.
Saleh said he had expected to see more performances native to this region, such as al Dabka dance, which involves stomping on the floor and kicking, and is performed in the Levant Arab countries. When Saleh told his friends the team would be performing the Yolla, they were not very encouraging.
"Everyone here told us no one would understand it and how it wasn't creative enough," he said. "But we stuck to it. I was actually disappointed not to see other contestants on the show performing any traditional talents, like al Dabka, but instead copying western talents."
Saleh thought perhaps not enough Emiratis knew about the show.
"I hope for the second season they do more local advertising so more Emiratis know where to go and how to apply," he said.
The MBC marketing team said there were plans for a second season of the show with expanded operations and advertising to reach more would-be hopefuls and encourage them to audition.
The Emirati team, flown into Lebanon four days before the live show, spent most of their time before the broadcast rehearsing.
The show's celebrity judges - the Lebanese singer Najwa Karam, the Egyptian talk show host Amr Adeeb, and the Lebanese journalist and academic Ali Jaber - called their performance "unco-ordinated" and "confusing".
"I disagreed with them," Saleh said. "I don't think they understood the dance and so to them it looked confusing. My brother and I were throwing two rifles at the same time, and each of the members had a solo moment in the centre of the stage."
The best thing about being on the show, he said, were the friendships formed and e-mail addresses exchanged. The contestants became unofficial ambassadors of their home countries.
"I learnt a lot about other Arab countries, like Libya and Egypt, and what is happening there, and they found out more about our country," he said. "We kept showing each other photos we had from our home countries and discussed them."
In the end, the team took their loss in stride.
"We just wanted to represent the UAE on the world stage and honour Sheikh Zayed by performing in his name," Saleh said.
rghazal@thenational.ae
The Al Barzakh Festival takes place on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm in the Red Theatre, NYUAD, Saadiyat Island. Tickets cost Dh105 for adults from platinumlist.net
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
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Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESplintr%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMay%202019%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammad%20AlMheiri%20and%20Badr%20AlBadr%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20and%20Riyadh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Epayments%20%2F%20FinTech%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESize%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E10%20employees%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eundisclosed%20seven-figure%20sum%20%2F%20pre-seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eseed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eangel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
French Touch
Carla Bruni
(Verve)
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Tips on buying property during a pandemic
Islay Robinson, group chief executive of mortgage broker Enness Global, offers his advice on buying property in today's market.
While many have been quick to call a market collapse, this simply isn’t what we’re seeing on the ground. Many pockets of the global property market, including London and the UAE, continue to be compelling locations to invest in real estate.
While an air of uncertainty remains, the outlook is far better than anyone could have predicted. However, it is still important to consider the wider threat posed by Covid-19 when buying bricks and mortar.
Anything with outside space, gardens and private entrances is a must and these property features will see your investment keep its value should the pandemic drag on. In contrast, flats and particularly high-rise developments are falling in popularity and investors should avoid them at all costs.
Attractive investment property can be hard to find amid strong demand and heightened buyer activity. When you do find one, be prepared to move hard and fast to secure it. If you have your finances in order, this shouldn’t be an issue.
Lenders continue to lend and rates remain at an all-time low, so utilise this. There is no point in tying up cash when you can keep this liquidity to maximise other opportunities.
Keep your head and, as always when investing, take the long-term view. External factors such as coronavirus or Brexit will present challenges in the short-term, but the long-term outlook remains strong.
Finally, keep an eye on your currency. Whenever currency fluctuations favour foreign buyers, you can bet that demand will increase, as they act to secure what is essentially a discounted property.
FIXTURES
December 28
Stan Wawrinka v Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Milos Raonic v Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 29 - semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Stan Wawrinka / Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Milos Raonic / Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 30
3rd/4th place play-off, 5pm
Final, 7pm
