Artist
Kadim Al Sahir
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Kadim Jabbar Al Samarai better known by his artistic name as Kadim Al-Saher (Arabic: كاظم الساهر; born September 12, 1957 in Mosul, Iraq), is an Iraqi singer, composer and songwriter. He has been dubbed the "Caesar of Arabic Song", and "Iraq's Ambassador to the world".
Kadim Al-Saher has established himself as one of the most successful singers in the history of the Arab World, since the start of his career. Ranging from big romantic ballads to more political work, from pop to Arab classical music. In 2003, according to an international poll conducted by BBC, more than half-a million people from 165 countries voted his composition Ana Wa Laila (Me and Laila), his most famous song about his love for Laila, as the sixth in the world's top 10 most popular songs of all time.
He performs with an orchestra of twenty to thirty musicians on Arabic percussion, oud, qanun, nay, and a full complement of strings (violin, cello, and bass). While some of his work makes use of electronic musical sounds, he avoids the use of synthesizers to imitate acoustic instruments. His work frequently features Iraqi folk instruments, rhythms and melodies.
Before he entered the Baghdad Academy of Music, Al Saher's self-education through the radio had given him a firm grounding in the rich repertoire of mid-twentieth-century Arab vocal music. He became deeply familiar with both classical Arab music, whose main representatives were Egyptian and Lebanese, and the Iraqi maqam repertoire, a local art form featuring vocal virtuosity and a vast repertoire. This solid grounding in traditional musical styles informs his work as both a singer and a composer.
One of his first videos was made in collaboration with one of his friends that happened to be a television director. The song in question was "Ladghat El Hayya" (The Snake Bite), which was broadcast on Iraqi television in 1987, one year before the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The song was the source of a major controversy due to particular sensitivities that were common during that era. Iraqi television officials asked him to either change the lyrics or have it banned. His refusal to change the lyrics and its consequent ban only helped to increase the popularity of the song. He began giving concerts all over the Persian Gulf and recording his music with Kuwaiti labels.
A year later, he had a hit with "Obart Al Shat" (I crossed the river). Some of his professors at the Academy denounced it as sha'bi (pop) music, anathema to those who taught classical music. Al-Saher had managed to circumvent the system and had become a star on his own terms—he even undertook his first US tour in 1989. Having conquered pop, Al Saher turned around and established himself in the Arabic classical world with "La Ya Sadiki" (No, My Friend), a magnum opus that lasted almost an hour and found him using maqams (scales) that hadn't been used in Iraqi music in several decades, revitalizing a tradition.
In 1991 and due to the Persian Gulf War, Al-Saher transferred his base of operations to Jordan where he lived with his family for a few years. He considers living in Jordan as an important period of his life and career success later on. Al-Saher performed some of his most successful concerts which were held in Jerash and produced two successful albums at Sameer Baghdadi's Studios in Amman, Jordan.
Points of sale
Head There!
Beirut
Virgin Megastores - Beirut Souks
Virgin Megastores ABC Achrafieh
Virgin Megastores - City Center
Virgin Megastores - ABC Verdun
Kesserwan
Baakline
North Metn
Virgin Megastores ABC Dbayeh
North
whish Money | Total | Bsharri
AS Company - TBO | Zgharta
Ticketing Box-Office (Dar El-Chimal)
South
Al Ittihad Book Shop - TBO
Bekaa
2025
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April
ALEPH
08:30 PM | Casino du Liban
GHASSAN YAMMINE - De moi à Aznavour
08:30 PM | Casino du Liban
GHASSAN YAMMINE - De moi à Aznavour
08:30 PM | Casino du Liban
CHOU MNELBOS
08:30 PM | Casino du Liban
TABIAT BASKETBALL vs AMMAN UNITED CLUB
06:45 PM | Stade Nouhad Naufal
AL DIFAA AL JAWI SC vs AL RIYADI BEIRUT CLUB
09:45 PM | Stade Nouhad Naufal
AMMAN UNITED CLUB vs AL DIFAA AL JAWI SC
06:45 PM | Stade Nouhad Naufal
One Thousand and One Nights
08:00 PM | Theatre Caracalla
AZIZ MARAKA LIVE IN CONCERT
08:30 PM | Casino du Liban
One Thousand and One Nights
08:00 PM | Theatre Caracalla
AL DIFAA AL JAWI SC vs TABIAT BASKETBALL
06:45 PM | Stade Nouhad Naufal
SAGESSE SC vs AMMAN UNITED CLUB
09:45 PM | Stade Nouhad Naufal
UNDER WATER BUBBLE SHOW
06:00 PM | Casino du Liban
UNDER WATER BUBBLE SHOW
03:00 PM | Casino du Liban
One Thousand and One Nights
08:00 PM | Theatre Caracalla
AMMAN UNITED CLUB vs AL RIYADI BEIRUT CLUB
05:45 PM | Stade Nouhad Naufal
TABIAT BASKETBALL vs SAGESSE SC
09:45 PM | Stade Nouhad Naufal
Pinocchio and Friends Meet Mini Studio
04:00 PM | Sin El Fil Municipality
SAGESSE SC vs AL DIFAA AL JAWI SC
05:45 PM | Stade Nouhad Naufal
AL RIYADI BEIRUT CLUB vs TABIAT BASKETBALL
09:45 PM | Stade Nouhad Naufal
VENUS Avant-Première
08:30 PM | Theatre Monnot
One Thousand and One Nights
08:00 PM | Theatre Caracalla
Q&A session with Ivan and Alissar Caracalla
07:00 PM | Theatre Caracalla
VENUS
08:30 PM | Theatre Monnot
VENUS
08:30 PM | Theatre Monnot
BASKETBALL NATIONAL DAY 2025
12:00 PM | Stade Nouhad Naufal
One Thousand and One Nights
08:00 PM | Theatre Caracalla
Pinocchio and Friends Meet Mini Studio
04:00 PM | Sin El Fil Municipality
VENUS
08:30 PM | Theatre Monnot
The Grand Easter
12:00 PM | THE GRANDHOUSE - MAR ROUKOUZ
The Grand Easter
12:00 PM | THE GRANDHOUSE - MAR ROUKOUZ
Pinocchio and Friends Meet Mini Studio
04:00 PM | Sin El Fil Municipality
VENUS
08:30 PM | Theatre Monnot
VENUS
08:30 PM | Theatre Monnot
One Thousand and One Nights
08:00 PM | Theatre Caracalla
VENUS
08:30 PM | Theatre Monnot
One Thousand and One Nights
08:00 PM | Theatre Caracalla
The Golden Night - Maestro Elie El Alia
08:30 PM | Casino du Liban
VENUS
08:30 PM | Theatre Monnot
One Thousand and One Nights
08:00 PM | Theatre Caracalla
VENUS
08:30 PM | Theatre Monnot
One Thousand and One Nights
04:00 PM | Theatre Caracalla
POPERA
08:30 PM | Casino du Liban
VENUS
08:30 PM | Theatre Monnot
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