Is UAE singer Ahlam sharp-tongued and arrogant, or soft-hearted and spontaneous? Millions love her and follow her on social media for a glimpse of all of those qualities, which she shows as a judge on hit TV talent show Arab Idol.
One thing’s for certain: She has a strong presence — whether she’s being positive or negative — a beautiful voice, fabulous taste in clothes and jewellery, and the will to achieve her goals despite family restrictions.
The difficulties Ahlam Al Shamsi Al Hajiri, known as Ahlam, faced at the beginning of her singing career made her the strong person she is today, she told tabloid! in an exclusive interview, hours before launching her new album, Ba Tahadak (I Challenge You) in Dubai on Tuesday evening.
In a conservative society like the UAE, it wasn’t unusual for Ahlam’s brother to categorically reject her decision to take the path of singing, recalls the 46-year-old.
“I come from a big family in UAE... it was difficult for me to sing. My mother’s approval was the most important thing for me, and it took me nearly three years to make her accept it. After that, I don’t care for anyone else. That is it. I took my decision to become a singer,” she said.
In 1993, she signed the first contract to produce her first album, which released two years later.
Asked about the difference between her 1995 and 2015 albums, she responded with a laugh “Oh. Twenty years of experience.”
“Twenty years of experience in singing, in training the voice pitches, in making the right choices. In everything,” she said.
Ahlam’s new album is her first with Platinum Records under a three-year contract she signed earlier this year.
Platinum Records is owned by Saudi artist Rashid Al Majid in partnership with the pan-Arab Saudi-owned television channel MBC, which screens Arab Idol.
In an expansive interview, the singer opened up about fashion, family and music.
On... her fans
The comments made by Ahlam, a star in the Gulf region and wider Arab world, on Arab Idol have made her one of the region’s most controversial celebrities; since the show started, Ahlam has been both vehemently attacked and praised on social media.
Today, she has 4.6 million Twitter followers, a figure that puts her high up on the list of most-followed public figures in the region.
“Thank God. People’s love is nice, and it is equally nice for people to follow you. To be in social media and people like you and follow your news, this is surely very nice.”
She has participated in many festivals in the Arab world, from Dubai to Kuwait to Doha, where in 2003, Ahlam was crowned The Queen after the Doha Festival presented her with a diamond crown and gave her the title.
Ahlam still recalls how she participated in that festival for six years and how the tickets for her concerts always sold out.
Since then, people started calling her The Queen wherever she goes in Arab countries, she said.
“To have the feeling that people agree on liking you is really a nice feeling, it is nice when your audience calls you a queen. They don’t have to tell you a nice word if they don’t like you. What is not nice is when you tell your audience [with arrogance], ‘I am the queen’,” she said.
On... cosmetic procedures
Ahlam’s have a very straightforward approach about parts of her life. Case in point: Her cosmetic procedures.
Unlike many Arab singers and actresses, Ahlam doesn’t mind disclosing what treatments she’s had.
“Cosmetic procedures differ. I like doing mesotherapy, facial masks and Botox.”
Asked about others’ unwillingness to reveal such information, Ahlam responded, “Why? These procedures were developed by medicine. Everybody in Hollywood and Bollywood says they do it to look pretty all the time.”
“In the past, we use to put on [facial] creams and wait for it to show results. Now, no. You put an injection in your face and it glows,” she continued with a laugh.
However, she explained she is “against overdoing it”.
On... her style
The UAE star, who travels on a private jet, is also known for her expensive clothes and jewellery.
“Fashion is number one to me,” she said. “I want to appear in a nice way in front of audiences.”
“Each one of us lives with what God gives him”, she said when asked how much she spends.
Every person, she continued, would make a budget for him or herself and decide accordingly what to buy and when, she noted.
She also stressed that she is keen to show respect to the conservative background she comes from and the society she lives in.
“This has even increased after I got married,” she noted.
On... her family
Ahlam is married to the prominent Qatari rally champion Mubarak Al Hajiri, with whom she has three children: Fahid, 11, Fatima, 7, and Lulwa, 5.
Fatima and Lulwa were named after Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, the mother of the UAE nation, and Princess Lulwa Bint Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia.
Fahid shows “100 per cent” interest in sports, she said. “He loves football, which is good. This is better than cars [racing],” she said with a smile. “As for my daughters, they are repeating the words of the songs of Hala Al Turk,” the Bahraini child star who found success on the reality show Arabs Got Talent.
When it comes to family, Ahlam said she loves to spend “as much time possible with them”.
Also, “I like to cook. I am known across the Arab world for cooking,” she said proudly. “I am a cook before being a singer”.
“I cook everything from all cuisines — Emirati, Gulf, Iranian, Indian and Italian.”
On... Arab Idol
Arab Idol is considered the top singing TV competition in the Arab world, and Ahlam believes “no other show will take the place of Arab Idol”.
Other singing shows on MBC include The Voice, Arab Got Talent, and recently X-Factor and The Voice Kids. Some viewers believe there are too many programmes and this will eventually negatively affect the popularity of the shows.
“I have benefited from the show and [it has] benefited others, as well. I benefited by becoming more aware of focusing on peoples’ voices. I would become irritated if I hear somebody singing and he or she doesn’t have a nice voice. In the past, that wasn’t the case. Today, it is as if I am exercising my Arab Idol duties outside Arab Idol”.
Did you know?
If Ahlam was given the choice to produce a duet with a non-Arab singer, she would chose Jennifer Lopez. “I adore her, or Beyonce, whom I also like very much.”
