Haifa Wehbe

Haifa Wehbe هيفاء وهبي
Background information
Born	(1967-03-10) March 10, 1967 Mahrouna, Lebanon
Genres	Arabic pop, world
Occupations	Singer, Actress
Years active	1990s- (Model) 2007–present (Actress) 2008-present (Singer)
Website	http://www.haifawehbe.com

Haifa Wehbe (Arabic: هيفا وهبي or هيفاء وهبي‎  Lebanese pronunciation: [ˈhajfa ˈwehbe]; born March 10, 1967) is a Lebanese singer and actress who rose to fame in the Arab world as runner up in Miss Lebanon and later through the release of her debut album Houwa El-Zaman (Arabic: هو الزمن) in 2002. She is known through her music for her beauty, showmanship, sex appeal, provocative mannerisms and image. She has released four studio albums and made her acting debut in 2008 Pepsi-produced film Sea of Stars. Wehbe is one of the most notable singers in the Arab World and is considered one of the most successful Lebanese singers. In 2006, she was on People Magazine's 50 most beautiful people list.^[1]

Early life

Wehbe was born in Mahrouna,^[2] a small farming town in Lebanon. Her Lebanese father Nadim Antar and an Egyptian mother from Al Mansoura, Sunni Muslim family.^[3] Wehbe won the title of Miss South Lebanon at the age of sixteen^[4][5] and was a runner-up at the Miss Lebanon competition.^[6]

Wehbe also made a name for herself when she starred in a music video clip for the famous Arabic crooner, George Wassouf. By 1996, she had appeared on over one hundred magazine covers.

Career

Houwa El-Zaman (2002–2003)

In 2002, Wehbe released her first album, titled Houwa El-Zaman (Arabic: هو الزمن, English: "It Is The Time"), which became a commercial success, in part thanks to the popularity of her first single "Akoul Ahwak" (Arabic: أقول أهواك, English: "I Say I Love You").

Baddi Eish and television career (2004–2007)

Wehbe released her second studio album Baddi Eesh (Arabic: بدي عيش, English: "I Want to Live") in early 2005, which lived up to expectations due to the success of its lead single "Ya Hayat Albi." Released after the assassination of Lebanese politician Rafik Hariri, the title single of the album is about "freedom, considered to be among the most basic of human rights".^[7] Her follow-up single became her biggest hit to date, "Ana Haifa" (Arabic: أنا هيفاء, English: "I Am Haifa"), which became her novelty song. In 2006 she released a follow up single "Bus al-Wawa" (Arabic: بوس الواوا, English: "Kiss the booboo"), the song was later used in a Pepsi advertisement. The song was also voted Song of the Year in 2006 by Radio Scope and Sawt Al Musika.^[8]

In July 2005, Wehbe, along with 14 other celebrities from the Arab world, appeared on the live pan-Arab reality series Al-Wadi (Arabic: الوادي, English: The Farm), based on the French reality show La Ferme Célébrités. Wehbe's role featured songs from her then new album.

Wehbe was the first Arab artist to appear on the Italian television channel Rai Uno at Piazza Navona in Rome, performing in front of celebrities and fashion designers. Haifa Wehbe has also performed with artists from outside the Arab world. On June 10, 2006, Wehbe became the first artist in the Arab world to perform with rapper 50 Cent when she performed the opening act for his first concert in Lebanon, at BIEL in Beirut.

In summer 2006 she was a spokesperson for Pepsi, and worked on Pepsi ads with football star Thierry Henry which were aired on Lebanese television during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Film career beginnings and Habibi Ana (2008–2009)

Wehbe starred in the Pepsi-produced film Sea of Stars released in early 2008, along with Carole Samaha, Ahmad el Sherif, Wael Kfoury, Brigitte Yaghi, and Ruwaida al-Mahrooqi^[9]

On July 4, 2008, Wehbe released her third studio album Habibi Ana (Arabic: حبيبي أنا, English: "My Love") which contains 15 songs including the lead single "Mosh Adra Astana". In the Middle East album sales struggled due to Haifa's lack of promotion as she was concentrating more on her acting and film career.

In 2009 Wehbe starred in Dokkan Shehata, a high-grossing Egyptian drama film. The film was produced by Khaled Youssef. It was released in June 2009 and immediately became a huge success in the Middle East whilst gaining tremendous publicity.

Baby Haifa (2010)

After a lengthy delay, Wehbe released a children's album titled Baby Haifa in March 2010 under Rotana Records.^[10]

Wehbe was scheduled to work on the Egyptian movie Leilet El-Baby Doll, but canceled due to her overbooked schedule. The singer will be starring in another movie with producer Muhammad Al Sabki scheduled for sometime in 2011.

In April 2010, Wehbe was featured on French DJ David Vendetta's album Vendetta on the song Yama Layali.^[11]

Wehbe was working on her fifth studio album, “Bukra Bafarjeek”. In September 2011 Al Bawaba reported that Wehbe was threatening to leave her label Rotana "for neglecting her and not paying any attention to her work".^[12]

MJK “Malikat Jamal Kon” (2012–present)

On 8 May 2012 Release her awaited album "MJK ~ “Malikat Jamal Kon” ("Miss Universe" English translation). The Album was produced and contains 14 songs, a fusion of oriental and western music. “Bokra Bfarjik” was the first clip and single for the album; The video was shot in Italy and was directed by Giangi Magnoni and was release on 10 May. Haifa Wehbe is the first Lebanese artist to hold a #1 position of any sort on US iTunes with a foreign language Album. "MJK" received good ratings from critics around the world.

Ghala Ghala (2013)

During summer 2013, Haifa released her new song "Ghala Ghala", which remained on the Top Arab Song Chart for weeks. Haifa revealed in an interview that she dedicates her song to her new love named Ahmad, a Lebanese businessman living in Saudi Arabia, but did not revealed his identity.

Other works

Wehbe occasionally works as a television host and has also designed her own selection of diamond jewellery.

Personal life

Wehbe is a victim of parental alienation. In the 1990s, she married her cousin Nasr Fayyad when she was 18 and traveled with him to Nigeria where he worked.^[13] During her pregnancy, she returned to Lebanon and separated from her now ex-husband quoting marital problems. She had a daughter whose name is Zeinab Fayyad who also was a victim of parental alienation until she became an adult and continued to refuse to have any contact with her mother, even after she herself got married to Shaaban Reda Fawaz and had a child. Wehbe's ex-husband and his mother have not allowed Wehbe any contact with Zainab. In Lebanon, it is customary that the father gets automatic full custody of the children.^[14][15][16]

Wehbe has had no contact with her daughter since Zainab was one or two years old. Understandably, Wehbe tried to deny that she has ever had a daughter, but that was rebutted during her interview with Tony Khalifeh.^[17]

In 2005, Wehbe announced her engagement to a Saudi businessman Tariq Al-Jaffali. After only a few weeks, she and her fiancé decided to split for personal reasons and family issues.

On June 25, 2007, Wehbe survived an accident while filming a music video for the song "Hasa Ma Bena" in Lebanon. In the video, a single engine airplane was to chase Wehbe as she drove a car. However, the airplane inadvertently hit the car, taking off the front windshield of the convertible she was driving.^[18] Despite the severity of the accident, Wehbe suffered only minor cuts and bruises.

Wehbe married Egyptian businessman Ahmad Abu Husheima on April 24, 2009 in Beirut.^[10] Among the guests at the wedding party were singer Anastacia,^[19] Kim Kardashian,^[20] Diddy, Googoosh, Samar Ibrahim, Nawal Al Zoghbi, Najwa Karam, Ragheb Alama, and Sherine.^[10]

It was announced that Wehbe and Abu Husheima had split in November 2012.

Criticism and controversy

Elissa rivalry

Haifa is known for her enmity and rivalry with Lebanese singer Elissa. In 2009 Haifa compared the two singers to 'cars' by saying that Elissa is an 'old car' while she is a 'new' one. This statement was highly publicised and talked about in the media and press, causing anger between fans.^[21] Elissa refused to reply and just stated carelessly: "When someone compares me to a car, is there anything left for me to say?". This enmity stopped when Nishan had Elissa live on his show and called Haifa. Both Elissa and Haifa were surprised, but assured people that there are no problems or issues between the two singers.^[22]

Further controversy started when Haifa claimed that Elissa's perfume, Elle D'Elissa, was supposed to be hers, but Elissa didn't reply and said that the perfume is hers and only hers yet again, Haifa and Elissa announced the love and peace between them. During the Murex d'Or 2010, after Haifa had finished her performance and accepted her award, she said that Lebanon is a country of love and that all Lebanese people love and respect each other. And to prove to people that what she was saying was true, she said "There's no problem with Elissa, and this is the proof to all people," she shook hands with Elissa and congratulated her on her success.^[22]

Allegations of racism

In 2009, lyrics in one of Wehbe song's Baba Fein (from her unreleased 2010 kids album) seemed to refer to Nubians as "monkeys". Exact translation: "Where is my teddy bear and the Nubian monkey?".^[23][24] Black Egyptians accused the artist of racism and singing a song that fueled racism and discrimination against them.^[25] In 2010 a lawsuit filed against Wehbe was dropped.

Another incident occurred after the 2009 Egypt–Algeria World Cup dispute, adding to the diplomatic tension between the two countries. Wehbe went on to make statements that she would not be performing in Algeria anytime soon, because Algerians "...wouldn't understand her music". Algerian officials and many Algerians responded to Wehbe's statements stating she would not be welcome in Algeria anyway.^[26] Algeria's cultural minister stated that Wehbe would be banned from performing in Algeria for insulting Algeria and the Algerian people regardless of whether she apologizes.^[27]

Wehbe went on to explain her initial comments to Lebanese host Tony Khalife, saying that she didn't mean to offend Algerians or Algeria as a country but was condemning the actions of a few Algerians during the match. She then added saying: "I couldn’t help it but cry when I saw the blood of an Egyptian woman on the stadium!".^[28]

Political views

During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war, she left her home, in Verdun, Beirut and moved to Egypt for the duration of the conflict.^[7] In a concert in the Lebanese town of Jounieh, Wehbe congratulated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah for his stand against Israel during the war.^[29]

In a further interview with Reuters, Wehbe stated that Israel attacked Lebanese civilians intentionally while Hezbollah attacked only military targets:

"I believe the whole world knows who started this war and who aggressed on whose land. There isn't a war that starts from nothing and he who begins is the unjust one."^[30]

Wehbe also refused to perform at any concert during the 34 days of the war including fundraisers, saying that there were more ways than one to show support for Lebanon.^[29]

Wehbe has also urged fans to support Japanese victims of the Tsunami.^[31]

2007 Lebanon elections and concert in Beirut

Wehbe wore a shirt with the face of President Michel Suleiman during her performance at the election celebrations in downtown Beirut.

Lebanese newspapers said scores went onstage when Haifa appeared, despite attempts by police to prevent them from reaching the pop star.^[32] She also sang the Fairuz classic "Ya Hawa Beirut" ("Oh my love Beirut"), which is a nostalgic song written during the Lebanese Civil War that reminisces on the "Glorious Days" of Lebanon prior to 1975.

Image

Wehbe has natural light brown eyes. However, she is famous for the Waicon Tri-Kolor lenses she has used for her image most of her singing career.^[33][34][35]

Wehbe was ranked 8th in the 2006 Edition of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women by the website AskMen.com.^[36] Wehbe was also ranked number 2 in the AskMen.com's 10 Hottest Arab Women article.

Some in the more conservative Arab countries deem her revealing outfits scandalous. One Bahraini member of parliament called her a sexual singer who spoke with her body, not her voice. Wehbe said she was aware of the efforts to ban her from performing at the concert but had chosen to ignore their attempts to silence her.

"I am a performer and not a politician," Haifa said. "I know my fans want me I am there for them. I am not concerned with the other issues."^[37]

In April 2008, the Islamist-dominated parliament of Bahrain passed a motion urging the government to ban Haifa Wehbe's show in the country.^[6] As a result of the motion, Wehbe performed in Bahrain with more modest dress, wearing a long green gown with a low V-neckline during the performance.^[6]

Discography

Studio albums

• Houwa El-Zaman (2002)
• Baddi Eesh (2005)
• Habibi Ana (2008)
• MJK (2012)

Other albums

• Baby Haifa (2010)

Soundtracks

• 2008: Sea of Stars
• 2013: Haifa/TWS

Singles

• "Agoul ahwak"
• "Wa7di"
• "Ma Sar"
• "Ya 7ayat albi"
• "Bedi 3ich"
• "Ragab"
• "Ana Haifa"
• "Fakerni" (radio only single)
• "Ma Khadtesh Bali" (radio only single)
• "Leik el wawa"
• "Naughty" (radio single only)
• Tigi El Zay
• "Mosh Adras Astana"
• "Ma t2oulch el 7ad"
• "Hasa Ma Bena"
• "Yaben el Halal"
• "Sanara"
• "Baba Fein/Lama El Shams Trawa7
• "Enta Tany"
• "80 Million Ehsas"
• "Yama Layali"
• "Boukra Bafarjik"
• "Ya Majnoun"

Concert Tours

2011

• January 29- Amsterdam, Netherlands (TBA)

2010

• November 18- Al Massa Hotel, Cairo
• November 17- Movempic Hotel, Beirut, Lebanon
• July 31 – Movempic Hotel, Beirut, Lebanon
• July 24 – Chouf, Lebanon
• July 22 – Batroun, Lebanon
• July 16–19 – Casablanca, Morocco
• July 4 – PRIVATE CONCERT, Monaco
• July 2 – Zahle Festival, Zahle, Lebanon
• May 8 – Phoenicia Hotel, Beirut
• March 13 – Houston, Texas

Filmography

Films

• Sea of Stars (produced by Pepsi) – released July, 2008
• Dokkan Shehata – June 2009
• Halawet Rouh – Summer 2014

Television

• Al Wadi (2005) – reality television show based on the French reality show La Ferme Célébrités.

Awards

• 2002: The "Golden Lion" Award in Egypt.^[8]
• 2004: Best Young Female Arab singer in Egypt.^[38]
• 2005: The Oscar for "ninashnash" for her song Baddi Eesh from her second album.^[8]
• 2005: The "Murex d'Or" award with the title "Best Artist of the Year".^[8]
• 2006: The "Murex d'Or" award with the title "Best Artist of the Year".^[8]
• 2009: The "Murex d'Or" award with title "Most Popular Lebanese Singer"^[39]
• 2010: The "Murex d'Or" award with the title "Best singer actress"
• 2010: The "ART" Award for her role in her first Egyptian Film "Dokkan Shehata"
• 2011: World's Most Desirable Woman List No. 49 Rank^[40]
• 2011: Most beautiful Arabian model cum actress list Ranked #2^[40]
• 2011: Murex d'Or best song award, for "Yama Layaly."^[41]

References

Further reading

• Arab youth revel in pop revolution by Sebastian Usher, May 21, 2007, BBC

External links

• Haifa Wehbe.com: Official website

Authority control WorldCat VIAF: 54453305 LCCN: no2008085171 ISNI: 0000 0000 6314 6868 BNF: cb155079675

Persondata
Name	Wehbe, Haifa
Alternative names	هيفا وهبي
Short description	Lebanese singer, model
Date of birth	1974
Place of birth	South Lebanon
Date of death
Place of death