In the Arab World, Pop Stardom Can Be A Touchy Subject

Ringtone downloads are subject to piracy as well, however, making it extremely difficult to track sales with any real accuracy.

But many believe that is all about to change, partly because of contact with the West. American and European interest in Arab pop has increased in the past few years as world events have drawn attention to that region. The French Top 20 regularly includes songs of the Rai genre, an upbeat brand of Algerian pop that was unheard of in the West before the early 1990s. U.S. nightclub DJs have begun using Arab pop standards for dance mixes, such as the hits of the 1950s Egyptian diva Om Kalthom (Egypt's Edith Piaf). Sting collaborated with Rai singer Cheb Mami to record the 2000 single "Desert Rose." And such movies as "Black Hawk Down" and "Ocean's Twelve" have included Arab pop in their soundtracks.

Just as Western eyes are turning toward Arab pop, Arab pop is looking westward, too -- for tips on star-making. Sabri, who lived in the United Kingdom for 23 years, explains the techniques he is adopting for his protege, Ruby: "There are very few talent agents in the Middle East, and the ones that do exist don't think tactically. I know how a superstar is made in [the West]. They are directed all the time; they don't make a lot of appearances everywhere." By contrast, many Arab pop singers have no agent independent of their record label and make the bulk of their money by performing at weddings and private parties.

This is backbreaking work, and Sabri wants Ruby to have no part of it. "It's not appropriate for a superstar," he says. (Tell that to Destiny's Child, which recently accepted $2 million to perform at a bar mitzvah for the son of U.K. billionaire Philip Green.)

In spite of these setbacks, American pop hasn't completely taken over the Arab world. Mahfouz says Egyptians, for example, buy much more Arab pop than American pop, at a ratio of about 7 to 1.

Even so, Arab pop stars such as Haifa believe that for Arab pop singers to expand their careers in the West, they will have to make at least one compromise: doing some songs in English. "Look at Shakira," Haifa says in an interview. "She is a Latina singer, but no one in America heard of her until she recorded a CD in English. But the way she sings and dances is still [Latino]."

Haifa isn't worried, in other words, that singing select songs in a different language would be tantamount to succumbing to Western hegemony: "You will never lose the flavor of the Oriental mood even if you sing in English. We will still use Arabian instruments, and [even English recordings] would still have some Arabic words like ' habibi ,' " which means "darling."

Ajram takes a slightly different view: She foresees performing songs in an even mixture of Arabic/English or Arabic/French but would prefer not to switch over entirely to a European language. On the other hand, she says, the choice of language itself is irrelevant because "the music itself is changing. American music already influences [Middle Eastern] music" and vice versa.

In other words, the evolution of music is an unstoppable force unto itself and ensures that artistic exchanges will continue, with or without a translation.