Friday, December 5, 2014

A00019 - Mutaz Barshim, Record Setting High Jumper

Mutaz Essa Barshim (Arabic: معتز عيسى برشم‎; born 24 June 1991) is a Qatari track and field athlete who specialises in thehigh jump. He is the national record and Asian record holder with a best mark of 2.43 m (7 ft 111⁄2 in). He was the Asian Indoor and World Junior champion in 2010. He won the high jump gold medals at the 2011 Asian Athletics Championships and 2011 Military World Games, and he won the bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games held in London, with a height of 2.29 m (7' 6"). He jumps off his left foot, using the Fosbury Flop technique, with a pronounced backwards arch over the bar.

Early life[edit]

Barshim gave a "Feature" interview to the IAAF's on-line news publication in April 2013 and explained how he started in the sport. Mutaz was born in Doha into an Afro-Arab family of 5 boys and 1 girl, where his father was a Qatari athletics competitor in middle- and long-distance races. All of the Barshim children became active in the sport of athletics (track & field) because of their father, who, after retiring from competition, became the coach of a local club. Barshim tried both running and long jumping as a youth. He told the IAAF interviewer, “I grew up, nothing special, like any kid in Qatar. I joined a club because my father was going to the club training so sometimes he used to take me there with him. I knew athletics because of my father." He attended an Arabic school in Doha, where he learned to speak English. At age 15 he switched to the high jump and quickly excelled. Soon, he was training in Doha at the ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence. He finished to train in ASPIRE in 2009, when his personal best was 2.14 m. It was from then, September 2009, when his new (and current) coach from Poland/Sweden Stanisław "Stanley" Szczyrba arrived to Doha. He has been his coach since then, and Barshim said, "He is more than a coach, we are like father and son." During summer season in Europe, they spend time at Szczyrba's home in Warsaw, Poland, and they also train in Sweden so that Barshim does not have to waste time flying to and from Qatar between competitions.[2]
Barshim enjoyed his first international successes in 2010, at the age of 19. He set an indoor Qatari record in Gothenburgin early February with a jump of 2.25 m,[1] and then went on to take the gold medal at the 2010 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, winning with a clearance of 2.20 m.[3] He was selected to represent Qatar at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha and his performance of 2.23 m left him in fourteenth place in the qualifying round.[4] These feats made him the first graduate of the ASPIRE Academy to either compete at the world championship-level and hold the national record in an Olympic sport.[5]
Barshim won at the Arab Athletics Championship for Juniors in Cairo in May 2010, clearing an outdoor best of 2.23 m, and then went on to secure the continental junior title at the 2010 Asian Junior Athletics Championships. His winning mark at the competition (2.31 m) was a national record and a world-leading mark for junior athletes[6] – it was also the best jump by a junior since Huang Haiqiang cleared 2.32 m in 2006.[7] He went on to win at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Moncton, winning with a height of 2.30 m.[8]

2011[edit]

He won gold in the Asian Athletics Championships in Kobe after clearing a height of 2.35 m, a new national and championship record.[9] He continued his good form and won a gold medal at the Military World Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with a 2.28 m clearance.[10] He made his debut on the global senior stage at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu and reached the final, missing a medal on count-back and ranking seventh overall. He became high champion at the Gulf Council Championships and the Arab Championships before capping off his year with yet another international gold medal at the 2011 Pan Arab Games held on home soil in Doha.[11]

2012[edit]

At the 2012 indoor Asian Championships, held in Hangzhou, China, on 19 February 2012, Barshim won the gold medal and established a new personal best (and national record) of 2.37 m (7'9.25"), breaking the previous championship record of 2.34: it was also the highest indoor jump in the world, to date in 2012.[12] He began jumping at 2.10 and had first try clearances at 2.15, 2.20 and 2.24, before missing once at 2.28, temporarily falling to second place when Chinese jumper Zhang Guowei cleared on his first try. Zhang then failed at 2.31, while Barshim resumed his flawless jumping with first try clears at 2.31, 2.34 and 2.37. He then failed in three attempts at 2.40.

Barshim on the 2012 Olympic podium
At the 2012 Olympic Games, held in London, United Kingdom, on 7 August 2012, Barshim won the bronze medal with a jump of 2.29, finishing in a 3-way tie for third place with Derek Drouin from Canada and Robert Grabarz from Great Britain.[13]
Barshim suffered a back injury in early 2012 and (later) said he was not healthy at the London Olympics. The problem was found to be a stress fracture in the fifth (L5) Lumbar vertebrae. In an interview for the IAAF in April 2013, Barshim said: "It started hurting bad before the (2012) World Indoor Championships and then I had to stop a bit. Before the Olympics, I had to stop again, but we have a really good sports center in Doha and I also received treatment in Warsaw."[2]

2013[edit]

Barshim began his 2013 season indoors, in Sweden, in mid-January. He entered six competitions in Europe in 3 and one-half weeks, jumping 2.30 or better every time and winning five of the six before his back injury forced an early end. His season-best of 2.37 matched his career indoor best and was the highest in the world indoors in 2013.

Barshim celebrating a clearance at the 2013 World Championships
Mutaz first entered two "small" competitions in Sweden, jumping 2.30 on 13 January, and then an (early) world-leading 2.33 (7' 7 3/4") in Växjö on 20 January. He next competed in the famous, invitation-only Moravia High Jump Tour, finishing 2nd (on misses) behind Olympic champion Ivan Ukhov as both jumped 2.30 in Hustopece on 26 January, and then Barshim won the second leg at Trinec on 29 January, tying the meet record of 2.34. On 3 February he won the Russian Winter Games in Moscow with yet another world-leading jump of 2.37 - which also tied his Asian indoor record from 2012 - ending that competition with a narrow miss at 2.40. He then flew to the Europa SC High Jump competition in Banska Bystrica, Slovak Republic, where his aching back restricted his jumps. In one of the strongest fields of the year, five jumpers cleared 2.30. Barshim began at 2.15, next cleared 2.30, then passed until 2.36 where his 3rd attempt clearance (only his fifth jump overall) gave him the win.[14]
Barshim ended his indoor season on 6 February, as he did not want to risk further injury, hoping to be able to thrill his hometown fans when the IAAF's Diamond League opens its 2013 outdoor season in Doha on 10 May.
Mutaz opened his outdoor season on 10 April 2013 with an "appearance" at the GCC Athletics Championships held at Doha's Khalifa International Stadium. He took only two jumps, casually running in from almost half the distance of his usual approach to clear 2.19 meters with his first attempt and then improving to 2.25 with his second. Having clinched the win, he quit to avoid hurting his back. Of note, his younger brother Moamer took second place with a jump of 2.16.[15]
At the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League Meet in Eugene, Oregon (1 June 2013), Barshim won, being one of 3 men to clear 2.36 (7'8 3/4"), a new meet record. Barshim was in the lead with no misses. After everyone missed their attempts at 2.39, Barshim, jumping last, saved his final (third) attempt for one try at new personal best of 2.40 (7' 10") and made it. He becomes only the 8th man in history to have cleared 2.40 outdoors, and the first since 2000.

2014[edit]


Barshim supporting the Doha bid for the 2019 World Championships
World Indoor Champion: Barshim jumped sparingly during the 2014 Indoor season because of chronic back pain. Nonetheless, he entered the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland on 8 & 9 March as favorite to medal, behind heavily favored Russian jumper Ivan Ukhov. In the Finals on Sunday 9 March, Barshim was sensational, clearing 7 consecutive heights on his first attempt, up to and including a new Asian indoor record of 2.38m (7' 9-3/4"). Ukhov required 3 attempts to get over that height and when both men failed at 2.40m, Barshim won the gold medal, while Ukhov took silver based on the tie-breaking count-back (misses). The 22-year old Qatari has now won a medal at the last 3 major competitions: bronze at the 2012 London Olympics, silver at the 2013 World championships in Moscow, and gold at the 2014 World Indoor Championships in Sopot.
In early May, when the IAAF Diamond League came to his home, he had to watch as Ukhov not only bested him but moved up to equal the third highest jump ever 2.41m, while Mutaz was relegated to fourth behind Derek Drouin and Erik Kynard. On June 5 in Rome, he reversed that result, joining the group equal to third best ever at 2.41 while Ukhov finished in fifth behind the same athletes and Bohdan Bondarenko(who is also part of the group from 2013).
A week and a half later, at the Adidas Grand Prix, Icahn Stadium, New York City, Barshim and Bondarenko were locked in a tight competition. On his first attempt at 2.42m, Barshim cleared and improved his personal best and his own Asian Continental record, while setting the Diamond League record with a 2014 world-leading leap equaling Patrick Sjoberg's former world record from 1987 as the second best outdoor jump in history. Moments later Bondarenko equaled Barshim's jump, also on his first attempt. Ukhov and Carlo Thränhardt (1988) have also jumped that height under the more controlled conditions indoors. Barshim then missed his first attempt at 2.44m. Ahead on misses, Bondarenko decided to pass at 2.44m and as a result, Barshim also passed on his remaining jumps at 2.44m and the bar was then raised to 2.46m, one centimeter above the existing world record height of 2.45m set on July 27, 1993, by Javier Sotomayor of Cuba. Both jumpers took a combined five attempts at the world record height with Barshim coming closest to clearing the height on his first attempt.[16]
Bondarenko and Barshim's jumps are the best in the world since Javier Sotomayor of Cuba cleared 2.42m in Seville on June 5, 1994. Only Sotomayor, on four occasions, has jumped higher than these two men.[17] The two men also made multiple attempts at the record in the final Diamond League meet of the 2014 season with Barshim again coming closest in his final attempt, clipping the bar with his heel. He won the competition with a PB of 2.43 giving him sole possession of the second-highest jump of all time.[18]

Competition record[edit]


Barshim at the 2010 Janusz Kusociński Memorial

YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
2010Asian Indoor ChampionshipsTehran, Iran1st2.20 m
World Indoor ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar14th (q)2.23 m
Asian Junior ChampionshipsHanoi, Vietnam1st2.31 m NR
World Junior ChampionshipsMoncton, Canada1st2.30 m
Asian GamesGuangzhou, China1st2.27 m
2011Asian Athletics ChampionshipsKobe, Japan1st2.35 m NR
World ChampionshipsDaegu, South Korea7th2.32 m
Pan Arab GamesDoha, Qatar1st2.30 m
2012Asian Indoor ChampionshipsHangzhou, China1st2.37 m AR
World Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey9th2.28 m
Olympic GamesLondon, United Kingdom3rd2.29 m
2013World ChampionshipsMoscow, Russia2nd2.38 m
2014Asian Indoor ChampionshipsHangzhou, China1st2.36 m
World Indoor ChampionshipsSopot, Poland1st2.38 m AR


*****

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rsO-waG1yU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC0tNAlHWSc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIrDPa7moec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhetXEyz2Hk
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Tuesday, December 2, 2014

A00018 - Sabah, Prolific Star of Arab World Entertainment


Sabah, Enduring Star in Arab World Entertainment, Dies at 87

By 





Sabah in 2004.Khaled El-Fiqi/European Pressphoto Agency


Sabah, a prolific and provocative Lebanese singer and actress whose fame in the Arab world endured for six decades, died on Wednesday in Beirut. She was 87.
Her death was announced by the National News Agency of Lebanon.
She was known by a single name — Sabah means “morning” in Arabic — but little about her was understated. She recorded 50 albums, appeared in nearly 100 films, married at least seven times and underwent an undetermined number of cosmetic surgeries.
Her hair had its own narrative — morphing from brown and basic when she emerged in the 1940s to blond and big, impervious to the elements, fashion or the conservative mores of the Middle East.
Her real name was Jeanette Gergis Al-Feghali, but she took her stage name as a teenager in 1940s, when she began appearing in films by the Egyptian director Henry Barakat. She went on to become a draw for decades. Among her better-known works are “How Can I Forget You?” (1956), “The Street of Love” (1959) and “Laila Baka Feha al Qamar” (1980).
Although she was Lebanese, many of her films were made with Egyptian production companies, and her stardom spanned much of the Middle East. In 2010, when she received a lifetime achievement award at the Dubai International Film Festival, Abdulhamid Juma, the festival chairman, described Sabah as “a bridge” between Lebanon and Egypt. This week, Ramzi Jreij, Lebanon’s information minister, said Sabah “was an Arab artist that invaded every Arab country, especially Egypt.”
While her films were mostly seen by Arab audiences, Sabah appeared around the world as a singer, performing Arab pop songs and also Arab classical and folk music. She specialized in mawwal, a slow, a cappella form of singing. In 1956, she appeared in the United States for the first time in concerts in Boston, Detroit and New York, where she sang at the St. George Hotel in Brooklyn.
“She practices in her suite on a high floor in the Navarro Hotel on Central Park South,” Meyer Berger wrote in The New York Times that year. “Other hotel guests pause in the corridor, entranced by the melodies.”
She was born into a Christian family on Nov. 9, 1927, in a village outside Beirut. Her father abused her and took some of the money she earned early in her acting career, according to the National News Agency of Lebanon.
“She married early to leave her father’s overbearing financial control,” the agency said. It also said that Sabah’s brother “killed her mother because he believed she was seeing someone outside marriage.”
Information about survivors was not immediately available.
Sabah was married at least seven times, though some sources say 10. One of her husbands was Anwar Mansy, a prominent Egyptian violinist. Another was Joe Hammoud, an official in the Lebanese government. The marriage she seemed to treasure the most was the shortest, to the Egyptian film star Rushdy Abaza. They were married in the late 1960s for three days.
She told an interviewer several years ago that Mr. Abaza was the true love of her life and that their marriage was so brief because it turned out that he was married to another woman at the time, the belly dancer Samia Gamal.
“When I see him in a film,” Sabah said, “he’s so real and I feel that he’ll come out of the screen any second to be with me.”

*****

Sabah (Arabic: صباح‎; born Jeanette Gergis Al-Feghali, 10 November 1927 – 26 November 2014) was a Lebanesesinger and actress. Considered a "Diva of Music" in the Arab World, (the same title often given to Oum Kalthoum, Warda Al-Jazairia and Fairuz), she released over 50 albums and acted in 98 movies as well as over 20 stage plays. She had a reported 3,500 songs in her repertoire. She was one among [1] the first Arabic singer to perform at Olympia in Paris,Carnegie Hall in New York, and Piccadilly Theatre in London and Sydney Opera House in Sydney. She was considered one of the four Lebanese icons along with Fairuz, Wadih El Safi and Zaki Nassif and was nicknamed "Empress of the Lebanese Song" (Arabic: إمبراطورة الأغنية اللبنانية‎) for it.Sabah, known locally as “Al-Sabbouha” was born in Bdadoun, Lebanon. Her father was severe towards her, even beating her sometimes. When she started making a small amount of money out of her movies, he used to take it away from her. She married early to leave her father’s overbearing financial control. Her brother killed her mother because he believed she was seeing someone outside marriage.She began singing and acting in the 1940s in Egyptian movies when Egyptian filmmaker Henry Barakat recognised her talent. Her first featured film was “El Alb Laho Wahed” produced by Asia Dagher. Although a Lebanese national, the majority of her films were co-produced with or focused on Egypt. She starred with many famous actors, such as Abdel Halim Hafez, Kamal El Chenawi, Ahmad Mazhar, Rushdy Abaza and Hussein Fahmy.

Career[edit]

She released her first song in 1940, aged just 13. The singer soon caught the eye of Egyptian film producer Asia Dagher, who immediately signed her for three films. The first of these, El-Qalb Louh Wahid (The Heart Has Its Reasons), made her a star - and she was known by her character's name - Sabah, which is Arabic for morning - ever after. But she also acquired several affectionate nicknames, including "Shahroura", Arabic for "singing bird", and "Sabbouha," a diminutive of Sabah. Among her most popular films were Soft Hands (1964), Ataba Square (1959) and The Second Man (1960), in which she played a cabaret singer who vows to avenge her brother's death at the hands of a smuggling ring. In her parallel music career, she recorded more than 3,000 songs, working with a string of legendary Egyptian composers, including the late Mohammed Abdul-Wahhab. She specialised in a Lebanese folk tradition called the mawal, and her most famous songs included Zay el-Assal (Your Love is Like Honey on my Heart) and Akhadou el-Reeh (They Took the Wind). The star held Egyptian, Jordanian and US citizenship as well as Lebanese, and continued to perform and make television appearances into her 80s.

Personal life[edit]

At home, she was humorously mocked for refusing to leave the limelight, as well as her garish outfits and use of cosmetic surgery. But she was unabashed: "I'm proud that I'm a village girl but I had a lot of ambition," she said in 2008. "She broke so many taboos. I don't know if she was even aware of it," said Chady Maalouf, head of programming at Voice of Lebanon radio. "She was the example of a star, she was totally complete in her appearance, behaviour and voice. She shocked people all the time." Sabah released over 50 albums and acted in 98 films during her career. She married nine times, most most notably to Egyptian actor Roshdi Abaza and Lebanese author-director Wassim Tabbara. Her last marriage, to Lebanese artist Fadi Lubnan, lasted 17 years. She had two children, Dr Sabah Shammas and actress Howayda Mansy, both of whom live in the United States.

Biography[edit]

Al Shahrourah,[2] a TV drama based on her life, aired during Ramadan 2011. She was portrayed by actress/singer Carole Samaha.
According to Lebanese Media Magazine Al Mawed and contrary to popular belief, Sabah was not married to her hairdresser Joseph Gharib.[3]

Awards[edit]

Sabah received many awards during her lengthy career. Recent examples include:
  • Lifetime Achievement Award from the Dubai International Film Festival.[4]
  • Honoured by the Egyptian Cinema in Cairo.[5]
  • Honoured in Beirut with a statue.[5]

Selected filmography[edit]

  • Iyam El Loulou written by Karim Abou Chakra (As well as Nousi Nousi a play written and directed by Karim Abou Chakra)
  • Kanat Ayyam (1970)
  • Nar el shawk (1970)
  • Mawal (1966)
  • El Aydi el naema (1963) aka Soft Hands
  • El Motamarreda (1963)
  • Jaoz marti (1961)
  • El Rajul el thani (1960)
  • El Ataba el khadra (1959)
  • Sharia el hub (1958)
  • Salem al habaieb (1958)
  • Izhay ansak (1956)
  • Wahabtak hayati (1956)
  • Khatafa mirati (1954)
  • Lahn hubi (1953)
  • Zalamuni el habaieb (1953)
  • Khadaini abi (1951)
  • Ana Satuta (1950)
  • Sabah el khare (1948)
  • Albi wa saifi(1947)
  • lubnani fi al gamiaa (1947)

Last Years And Death[edit]

Until 2009, she performed both in concert and on television, including such programs as Star Academy (the Arabic equivalent of the United Kingdom’s Fame Academy), where she sang her new single onstage opposite a line of mannequins displaying costumes from several of her early films and musicals. In the 1990s, she and her former husband Fadi Lubnan (Kuntar) made a documentary about her life.She also developed a close collaboration with singer Rola Saad in remaking some of her old hits, such as “Yana Yana”. The accompanying video, in which Sabah is shown as “the notorious diva” to whom her younger colleague pays tribute, has received wide play on Arabic music channels. Sabah was hosted on Akher Man Yalam on 31 May 2010.In the 2011 edition of the famous Beiteddine Art Festival, a show retracing the incredible journey of Sabah as a singer and movie star was performed. In the title role Ruwaida Attieh, shared the stage with more than 40 singers & dancers.After selling her building in the early 2000s, she moved to “Hotel Comfort” in Hazmieh, Beirut. She lived in “Hotel Brazilia” next to her old hotel. She suffered from many illnesses due to several Thrombus in her brain. This caused her to lose control of her left hand and foot. However she did not lose her memories, but she suffered from a diminished ability to concentrate.Al Shahrourah, a TV drama based on her life aired during Ramadan 2011. She was portrayed by actress/singer Carole Samaha.Sabah’s reaction was mostly positive towards the series and was happy that it was a success. However, she had some comments about inaccuracies, such as the depiction of her father as wearing the traditional Lebanese costumes. Sabah’s professional success did not seem to mirror her personal life.In recent years, Sabah, who was humorously mocked for her - at least - nine marriages, experienced financial difficulties. Constant rumors involving Sabah’s death have been circulating in the past decade because of her advanced age. She has been described as “The artist who would not die”. However, Sabah was saddened by those rumors, saying :”Am I bothering them while i’m still alive ?”. On the topic of death, she said: “I’ve lived enough”. Sabah died on November 26, 2014 at the age of 87 in "Hotel Brazilia" for unspecified illness arround 3 a.m . Clauda Akl, the daughter of her sister Lamia said that Sabah wished before dying that people will dance Dabke in her funeral, to not feel sad and to keep listening to her songs.

Funeral: Sunday 30 November, 2014[edit]

Hundreds of friends, family and fans packed into Beirut church face downtown "Saint Georges" Sunday 30 November 2014 four days after her death to say farewell to the famed Lebanese singer, actress and entertainer Sabah.The daylong proceedings took on a festive air as the crowds celebrated the taboo-breaking six-decade career of Sabah, who died Wednesday 26 Novemver 2014 at the age of 87. A military brass band played in the street outside St. George Cathedral in downtown Beirut, where fans clapped and sang their favorite Sabah songs.Earlier, a troupe of dancers in traditional dress performed to the diva's music played from loudspeakers."I will call it celebration not a funeral," said Lebanese actress Ward El-Khal. "We feel today that we came here to share her feelings and to remember her. We will miss her."For the funeral Mass, Sabah's flag-draped coffin stood near the altar with a giant picture of the singer as a young woman with peroxide-blond hair. After the service, mourners carried the casket aloft — with people clapping, throwing flowers and reaching out to touch it and the photograph — outside to a waiting hearse. Sabah's body was carried through many towns to the church where she was buried.

*****

Sabah - obituary

Sabah was a Lebanese singer who perfected sentimental ballads and melodramatic movies but not the art of marriage

Sabah posing on a film set in Alexandria
Sabah posing on a film set in Alexandria Photo: AFP/GETTY
5:36PM GMT 01 Dec 2014
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Sabah, who has died aged 87, was a Lebanese singer who recorded more than 50 albums, acted in some 80 films, had 3,500 songs in her repertoire and was reported to have been married nine times; her stage name – meaning “Morning” – hinted at her fondness for a new dawn.
Along with the singers Fairuz and Wadih El Safi, and the composer Zaki Nassif, she was one of a quartet of Lebanese musical icons who were said to embody “joie de vivre à la Libanaise”. Sabah was considered daring and provocative, and she tested the boundaries of what was acceptable for a woman in the conservative Arab world. Although a Maronite Christian, she gained a popularity that transcended religious boundaries, even during the civil war of 1975–90.
As a singer she delivered joyful ballads such as Zay al Asal (“Your love is like honey”), Akhadou el-Reeh (“They took the wind”) and Habibet Oumaha (“Her mother’s love”). Her musical milieu was melodramatic and her personal life was riven by tragedy: her father was violent and controlling and her mother was murdered by Sabah’s brother (who suspected her of having an affair).
Sabah overcame these traumas to become the first Arabic singer to perform at the Carnegie Hall in New York, the Piccadilly Theatre in London and the Sydney Opera House.
Along the way she gained a reputation for being something of a diva. A glamorous performer, she was frequently compared to Cher and Madonna. There was great interest in her colourful private life and rumours swirled around her. One of her husbands was said to have divorced her over the length of her skirt; the Arab press expressed their shock when, in her seventies, she had a romance with a young winner of the Mr Lebanon contest; and a persistent rumour had it that she was secretly married to her hairdresser.
She was born Jeanette Gergis al-Feghali on November 10 1927 in Bdadoun, Lebanon, into a Maronite Christian family. As the third daughter of Gergis Feghali, who longed to father a boy, she claimed to have grown up scorned and neglected. “One day I was crying because they forgot to feed me,” she confided in an interview in 2012, “and one of my uncles told my parents that I had a beautiful voice when I sobbed.”
She released her first song in 1940, aged 13. The Cairo-based Lebanese filmmaker Assia Dagher signed her up and brought her to Egypt where she was given a three-film deal. “I’m proud that I’m a village girl,” Sabah recalled in 2008, “but I had a lot of ambition.” At first the Egyptian critics were far from friendly. However, after adopting the name Sabah, lifted from the character she played in her first Egyptian film, she gradually won over the public, appearing in movs alongside prominent Egyptian actors such as Anwar Wagdi and Salah Zoulfiqar.
Sabah on a film set in Giza, south of Cairo, in the 1950s (AFP/GETTY)
Another co-star was the matinée idol Rushdy Abaza, a notorious charmer who became her husband in 1977. They were divorced within the year. “I managed to win Rushdy’s heart and marry him at a time when he was coveted by all the women,” said Sabah. “I was the one who asked for a divorce because Rushdy was often too pompous and incapable of separating his public and private lives.”
Her success and longevity were partly due to her savvy choices in collaborators; she teamed up with some of the Arab world’s leading composers, including the Egyptians Baligh Hamdy and Sayyed Mekkawi, and Assi Rahbani of Lebanon.
Sabah in the mid 1940s with the Egyptian film star Anwar Wagdi during shooting in Cairo (AFP/GETTY)
Her films were distinctly hokey. Their titles testify to her affection for the swoon and swagger of romantic sagas and crime dramas: My Heart and My Sword (1947), The Express Train of Love (1947), My Father Deceived Me (1951), He Stole My Wife (1954). In The Second Man (1960) she played a cabaret singer who sets out to avenge her brother’s death. Perhaps understandably, familial strife was a recurring theme. She never transferred her success to Hollywood, but worked consistently in the Arabic film industry through the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.
As she aged, Sabah’s flamboyant outfits, dyed blonde hair and surgically altered features invited mockery. Yet she remained a huge celebrity in Lebanon even after her retreat from public life. She spent her final years living quietly in the Brazilia Suites Hotel in the Beirut suburb of Hazmieh.
Sabah at an official function in Beirut in the 1990s (AFP/GETTY)
Sabah is thought to have been married nine times. As well as Abaza, her husbands included Wassim Tabbara, Ahmed Farag, Anwar Mansy, Nagib Shammas and Baligh Hamdy. Her last marriage, to the artist Fadi Lubnan, lasted 17 years.
She is survived by a daughter by Mansy and a daughter by Shammas.
“You want me to tell you what my secret is?” she said in 2012. “The secret that no one knows is that I am reconciled with myself and I worked very hard to be different.”
Sabah, born November 10 1927, died November 26 2014

*****
Sabah (Arabic: صباح‎; born Jeanette Gergis Al-Feghali) (b. November 10,1927 – d. November 26, 2014) was a Lebanese singer and actress. Considered a "Diva of Music" in the Arab World, (the same title often given to Oum Kalthoum, Warda Al-Jazairia and Fairuz), she released over 50 albums and acted in 98 movies as well as over 20 stage plays. She had a reported 3,500 songs in her repertoire. She was one of the first Arabic singers to perform at Olympia in Paris, Carnegie Hall in New York, Piccadilly Theatre in London and the Sydney Opera House in Sydney. She was considered one of the four Lebanese icons along with Fairus, Wadih El Safi and Zaki Nassif and was nicknamed "Empress of the Lebanese Song" (Arabic: إمبراطورة الأغنية اللبنانية‎) for it.  Sabah, known locally as “Al-Sabbouha” was born in Bdadoun, Lebanon. Her father was severe towards her, even beating her sometimes. When she started making a small amount of money out of her movies, he used to take it away from her. She married early to leave her father’s overbearing financial control. Her brother killed her mother because he believed she was seeing someone outside marriage.  She began singing and acting in the 1940s in Egyptian movies when Egyptian filmmaker Henry Barakat recognized her talent. Her first featured film was El-Qalb Louh Wahid (El Alb Laho Wahed) produced by Asia Dagher. Although a Lebanese national, the majority of her films were co-produced with or focused on Egypt. She starred with many famous actors, such as Abdel Halim Hafez, Kamal El Chenawi, Ahmad Mazhar, Rushdy Abaza and Hussein Fahmy.
She released her first song in 1940 at just 13 years of age. The singer soon caught the eye of Egyptian film producer Asia Dagher, who immediately signed her for three films. The first of these, El-Qalb Louh Wahid (The Heart Has Its Reasons), made her a star - and she was known by her character's name - Sabah, which is Arabic for morning - thereafter.  She also acquired several other affectionate nicknames, including "Shahroura", Arabic for "singing bird", and "Sabbouha," a diminutive of Sabah. Among her most popular films were Soft Hands (1964), Ataba Square (1959) and The Second Man (1960), in which she played a cabaret singer who vows to avenge her brother's death at the hands of a smuggling ring. In her parallel music career, she recorded more than 3,000 songs, working with a string of legendary Egyptian composers, including the late Mohammed Abdul-Wahhab. She specialized in a Lebanese folk tradition called the mawal, and her most famous songs included Zay el-Assal (Your Love is Like Honey on my Heart) and Akhadou el-Reeh (They Took the Wind). The star held Egyptian, Jordanian and United States citizenship as well as Lebanese, and continued to perform and make television appearances into her 80s.
Sabah released over 50 albums and acted in 98 films during her career. She married nine times, most most notably to Egyptian actor Roshdi Abaza  (Rushdy Abaza) and Lebanese author-director Wassim Tabbara. Her last marriage, to Lebanese artist Fadi Lubnan, lasted 17 years. She had two children, Dr. Sabah Shammas and actress Howayda Mansy, both of whom live in the United States.
  • Iyam El Loulou written by Karim Abou Chakra (As well as Nousi Nousi a play written and directed by Karim Abou Chakra)
  • Kanat Ayyam (1970)
  • Nar el shawk (1970)
  • Mawal (1966)
  • El Aydi el naema (1963) aka Soft Hands
  • El Motamarreda (1963)
  • Jaoz marti (1961)
  • El Rajul el thani (1960)
  • El Ataba el khadra (1959)
  • Sharia el hub (1958)
  • Salem al habaieb (1958)
  • Izhay ansak (1956)
  • Wahabtak hayati (1956)
  • Khatafa mirati (1954)
  • Lahn hubi (1953)
  • Zalamuni el habaieb (1953)
  • Khadaini abi (1951)
  • Ana Satuta (1950)
  • Sabah el khare (1948)
  • Albi wa saifi(1947)
  • lubnani fi al gamiaa (1947)
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