PMc 2012 is celebrating “Eid” with the Mega Star “Maher Zain” on Sept.1st in Rexall place.
Multi-Platinum singer, songwriter & producer Maher Zain is the new star of modern Islamic Music with his meaningful songs that aim to inspire and entertain people and send a message of peace and hope to the world. In March 2011 Maher Zain became the first Arab singer to reach 2 million Fans on Facebook in less than a year and a half of the release of his debut album. April 2012 witnessed the launch of his second album “Forgive Me” with the hit single “Number One for Me” that exceeded 4,500,000+ views on YouTube in less than two months of its release.
Leaving behind a lucrative career in the mainstream music industry in New York where he worked with internationally renowned producer RedOne (Akon, Lady Gaga, Enrique Iglesias, Michael Jackson etc) Maher instead chose to make music that reflects his roots of being both European, Arab and Muslim and he is working with Awakening Records (who launched the career of British artist Sami Yusuf) to inspire the youth across the world. In early March 2010, Maher’s debut album “Thank You Allah” (released by Awakening Records) was the No.1 highest selling album on Amazon in the world music section and Number 8 in the R&B section. With the release his second album “Forgive Me” Maher continues to inspire the world through his music. Maher has already had concerts in 20 countries including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Holland, Bosnia, UAE, Egypt, Algeria, Bahrain, Thailand to mention just a few. With his passion, incredible talent and unique style, the sky is the limit for Maher.
In early 2009, Maher Zain re-entered the music industry albeit with a different kind of music and decided to work with Awakening Records (UK) on an album that reflects his identity – Arab, Muslim and Swedish. Awakening Records released his debut album ‘Thank You Allah’ in October 2009 to international acclaim. The album went on to become a multi-platinum success, reaching the number 1 spot on Amazon’s World Music charts and number 9 on the R&B charts, and picking up 10 platinum awards in Malaysia alone – making it officially the best selling music album in Malaysia in 2010 and indeed in the last decade. Maher has already performed in sold-out concerts in Sweden, US, France, UK, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Malaysia, to name just a few.
Maher Zain’s music mixes the sounds of R&B with traditional spiritual, soul and contemporary pop music, not just updating spiritual music and inshad but fearlessly reviving it with contemporary flair. Maher’s songs are instant classics of great power and timeless, unassailably intense spirituality.
The concert Program also includes:
Political comedian and commentator Dean Obeidallah:
Born in the Great State of New Jersey, Dean’s comedy comes in large part from his unique background of being the son of a Palestinian father and a Sicilian mother. Dean, an award winning comedian who was at one time a practicing attorney, has appeared on “The Axis of Evil”Comedy TV special which aired in the US on Comedy Central and in the Middle East on Showtime Arabia. He is the co-creator of Comedy Central.com’s critically acclaimed Internet series “The Watch List” featuring a cast of all Middle Eastern-American comedians performing stand up and sketch comedy. Dean has appeared twice on ABC’s “The View,” on the nationally syndicated TV series “Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen” and was one of five comedians profiled in the recent one hour TV Special entitled: “Stand Up: Muslim-American Comics Come of Age”which aired in the US on PBS and internationally on BBC World and Al Jazeera.
The Virtuoso of Arabic Poetry’ Hisham El-Gakh:
Hisham al Gakh has become a hero of sort for speaking out about the popular uprising in Egypt at the Prince of Poets contest. Hisham al Gakh recited his poem to thunderous applause and fluttering Egyptian flags at the Al Raha Beach Theatre. An excerpt of the English translation of the poem by Scott Cole is given below.
An Honest View of Liberation Square:
“You are the most beautiful one, O Egypt, who has decided
that this fear has passed and has ended.
The streets were toying with us, the streets were toying with us with their coldness and their frost,
and we could not give an explanation at the time.”
Edmonton-based poet Ahmed Knowmadic:
Ahmed Ali also known as Knowmadic is a Somali-Canadian poet who is known to use humor and word play in his poetry to create awareness of social issues that aren’t often given attention. He feels he is continuing the legacy passed on by his ancestors who shared a common interest in spoken word.
In the few years that he has been active, Ahmed has been able to achieve national recognition for his witty, humorous and metaphorical style of poetry.
In 2009, along with a few other poets Ahmed was able to help excel the spoken word poetry community In Edmonton with the inception of the Breath In Poetry Collective, a group of poets which run a regular poetry night every Tuesday and are recognized by SpoCan Canada. Additionally, Ahmed facilitates workshops throughout various communities empowering individuals to use the power of words to communicate effectively.
In 2011, along with team Edmonton, Ahmed became the Canadian Festival of Spoken word champion.
He also competed in the underground competition placing second out of 20 plus well recognized poets throughout Canada.His line “I Am Africa” was given most memorable and most likely to appear on a T-shirt.
