Personal Characteristics and Public Image

Question:

Discuss about the Reputation Formation for Biographical Highlights.

Thesis Statement: The selected diva is Nouhad Wadie’ Haddad, popularly known as Fairuz. The selected factors are the personal characteristics, public image and other traits, her personal life, media reputation and controversies associated with her.

Nouhad Wadie’ Haddad, popularly known as Fairuz or Fairouz, is a famous singer and respected living legend in the Arab world. She is one of the most admired personalities and her melodious songs are heard constantly throughout their region. She came into limelight after appearing at the “Lebanese Nights”. Formerly, she is known as the “Ambassador of the Arabs”, titled from one of her albums named, “The Moon’s Neighbor”. Her musical aptitude and pretty voice became noticeable in the community she lived in. She started performing at a very young age, in school celebrations and festivals. A local musician noticed her and encouraged to join his music classes to receive basic training. From there, her journey to the world of music began (Almashriq.hiof.no 2017).

Fairuz’s self motivating nature, pretty voice, bold and courageous characteristics won the hearts of many people. Being a public figure, she presented Arab femininity, local loyalty, human decency and accomplishment, which is recognized by people over generations. In the onset of the twenty first century, her impactful performances successfully won the hearts of the then young generation. People remained in awe of her personality and music. During the period of her vocal training, she learned reciting the Qur’an, as this was viewed as a necessary element for correct pronunciation and understanding elegant Arabic language as well as its poetry (Biography.yourdictionary.com 2017).

Born to an orthodox and poor family of Lebanon origin, Fairuz’s life was filled with joy and happiness. Since her childhood, Fairuz had a knack for singing and sang at school’s events. Her father saved some money from his limited income, for the education of his children. She was admitted to the Saint Joseph School for Girls but later due to World War II, she moved to some public school. She attended school, where her pretty voice got immediate recognition by a trained musician. She converted her religion after getting married to Assi Rahbani, who again framed her career in singing. Her contribution to Arab world’s music is imperishable. She has been a world renowned singer, famous for her accomplishment in musical career and commitment she has to the values and concerns of Lebanon culture as well as the Arabian world (Almashriq.hiof.no 2017).

Personal Life and Musical Career

In her youth, Fairuz met enthusiastic music listeners all over Lebanon. One of her meetings was with the Rahbani brothers, Mansour and Assi. They were the rising talents as lyricist and composer respectively. They collaborated and composed modern Western tunes into Arabian music. The trio got huge public exposure and people loved their taste of music. They started producing experimental forms of music of various genres (Doyle 2016). In several instances, Fairuz’s music expressed graceful qualities, which extended the appeal to the listeners belonging from different national as well as social backgrounds. Later in the year of 1954, she got married to Assi Rahbani at a church, which was attended by a huge crowd of their respective fans. She converted her religion, which didn’t pose a threat for their musical careers. The married couple set up a villa in the Antelias, suburb region of Beirut, which later served as an inspiration to many of their composed songs and music (Encyclopedia.jrank.org 2017).

However, her life was involved with controversies and several alleged political affiliations. Her concert at Damascus in the year 2008, angered many of her fans as well as some Lebanese politicians as it described the country Syria, as a territory of enemies. Moreover, since many of her works were written by the Rahbani brothers, after a year of Mansour’s death, Lebanese court banned her from performing the songs which involved the Rahbani’s contributions. This occurred due to the issue being complained by one of Mansour’s children, which led to several protests all over the world and her fans gathered around Beirut’s National Museum (Malley 2013).

Fairuz has always been the hope of the Arab world; she has gained mass popularity and attention. Her great personality and sweet voice has entertained millions of people for several decades. She received immense popularity worldwide and her singing often seems effortless. She appeared on radio at the time, when the media type dominated the world. She performed Egyptian music and her shows lasted for half an hour or more. She received global appreciation, articles and several papers related to her success are published in various newspapers, journals and books. Her page on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram has millions of followers worldwide. Her interviews are broadcasted over television and at time aired on radios of the Arab world (Npr.org 2017).

Fairuz was a shy kind of a person, as she mentioned in one of her personal interviews. She feared stage performances, but her love for music never faded away. Her musical aptitude and pretty voice became noticeable in the community she lived in. She started performing at a very young age, in school celebrations and festivals. A local musician noticed her and encouraged to join his music classes to receive basic training. From there, her journey to the world of music began. Her pretty voice, self motivating nature, bold and courageous characteristics won many people’s hearts (Thenational.ae 2017). Being a public figure, she presented Arab femininity, local loyalty, human decency and accomplishment, which is recognized by people over generations. In the onset of the twenty first century, her impactful performances successfully won the hearts of the then young generation. People remained in awe of her personality and music. During the period of her vocal training, she learned reciting the Qur’an, as this was viewed as a necessary element for correct pronunciation and understanding elegant Arabic language. Her good qualities helped in shaping her personality and reputation, which attracted her fans (Wetzel 2013).

Controversies and Political Affiliations

Tragic incidents occurred to her life when her name got associated with some controversies and other alleged political affairs. Moreover, her concert at Damascus in the year 2008, angered many of her fans as well as some Lebanese politicians as it described the country Syria, as a territory of enemies. Moreover, since many of her works were written by the Rahbani brothers, after a year of Mansour’s death, Lebanese court banned her from performing the songs which involved the Rahbani’s contributions. This occurred due to the issue being complained by one of Mansour’s children, which led to several protests all over the world and her fans gathered around Beirut’s National Museum. In addition to this, her son sparked controversy in the year 2013, in an interview when he was regarding his mother’s political vision. His statements even went viral over the social media and politicians went furious. However, her fans stood by her side and protested against it (Biography.yourdictionary.com 2017).

To conclude, Fairuz is the most famous in the world of Arab, her songs her widely renowned and accepted all over the world. Her songs are popular and mostly listened among the Lebanese and Arabian groups. Her performances are widely loved by the people. She is melancholic and hieratic and becomes motionless, while performing live on stage. However, she still feels the stage fright, at times. For several decades, all the Arabic radio stations start their broadcast with her song. She became the first singer from Arab to perform at Greece and her performance was widely accepted by over nine thousand people.

References

Almashriq.hiof.no (2017). Fairuz – Biography. [online] Almashriq.hiof.no. Available at: https://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/700/780/fairuz/legend/biography.html [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].

Almashriq.hiof.no (2017). Fairuz – her music. [online] Almashriq.hiof.no. Available at: https://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/700/780/fairuz/legend/music.html [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].

Biography.yourdictionary.com (2017). Fairuz Facts. [online] Biography.yourdictionary.com. Available at: https://biography.yourdictionary.com/fairuz [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].

Cannon, M.E., 2013. Just spirituality: How faith practices fuel social action. InterVarsity Press.

Doyle, P., 2016. Lebanon music. Bradt Travel Guides.

Encyclopedia.jrank.org (2017). Fayruz (1933–) – personal history, biographical highlights, personal chronology:, legacy of a star, influences and contributions, the world’s perspective. [online]Encyclopedia.jrank.org.Availableat:https://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/5680/Fayruz-1933.html [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].

Malley, R., 2013. The Essentials: Music Selections for Cultural Learning.

Npr.org (2017). Fairuz: Lebanon’s Voice Of Hope. [online] NPR.org. Available at: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128431817 [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].

Thenational.ae (2017). Singer Fairouz dragged into Lebanon’s political fray. [online] The National. Available at: https://www.thenational.ae/world/singer-fairouz-dragged-into-lebanon-s-political-fray-1.314985 [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017].

Wetzel, R., 2013. The Globalization of Music in History (Vol. 2). Routledge.