Arab Idol helped me grow

Lebanese singer and 'Idol' judge Nancy Ajram Cairo - Mahmoud Al Rifai Multi-platinum Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram has said her role as a judge on the televised singing competition Arab Idol has helped her grow as a musician. In an exclusive interview with Arabstoday, Nancy said: “I think that my participation in Arab Idol has given me a lot of important experiences. It has really added to my career.” Speaking about her decision to take the judging spot on the entertainment programme, she said: “At first I was hesitant and worried about doing it. In the Arab world, judges in talent programmes are often misunderstood. Audiences think they favour the contestants from their own countries.” The musician expressed her admiration of the contestant’s voices this year, saying: “I’m really impressed by all the singers. It took us a long time to decide who we should put through to the second qualifying stage. It got so bad that we had to change the voting format because we couldn’t come to a decision.” “We got rid of the rescue card to leave the chance to the audience to choose the contestants,” she added. Discussing her upcoming album, the starlet confirmed that most of the project had been recorded. Nancy released a new track on Friday which has experienced great airplay on Arab radio. She said: “This album isn’t very different from my last one. It will include 12 songs and I sing them in Egyptian, Lebanese and Gulf dialects.  The album will also include a duet with Ragheb Alama. “I didn’t think I would have time to collaborate with Ragheb Alama because of our busy schedules. But we were brought together by Arab Idol and decided to go ahead with the idea. I hope it will be well-received and everyone will enjoy it once it’s released,” Nancy added.