Apr 2001
In this issue:
Features
Brown Eyed Girl
A complete makeover and a new collection of songs, but Dina Hayek remains the most credible of Lebanon’s new generation of singers – and definitely one of the most alluring.
Issue: Jan, 2007
“Ah, Dina Hayek,” says the driver, zipping through The Chouf, the winter sun streaming through the car windows at right-angles. He pinches his forefinger, middle finger and thumb together, raises them to his lips and offers a loud, explosive kiss. “Helweh ikteer! She is beautiful.” He leans for the volume control and floods the interior, and possibly half the valley, with the vaguely mystical drums of the title track to Dina’s new album Ta’a li-Elbi. Back in the city-centre hotel, a twenty-something telecoms executive leafs through the last issue of NOX left on a table and stops on a half-page picture of the singer. He sighs and exclaims this is the girl he would marry. “She is perfect,” he says. “And a really, really nice girl. Not like the others.” And we all know who he means.
Dina Hayek’s wholesome appeal, and her luscious voice, seems to be universal across Lebanon’s social and economic spectrums. Few music stores fail to have her promotional posters prominently displayed, and several have the danceable, trance-like beat of “Darb al-Howa” blasting out of the speakers. Her face also peers out from the covers of a dozen luxury lifestyle magazines that spill from numerous kiosks into Hamra’s tight, cobbled streets.
Not all, though, have bothered to update her look; several have the old Dina, where her soft, feminine and genuine beauty is obscured by layers of severe make-up and a wardrobe more suitable for an Italian music TV host. This is high-street Dina, the would-be rival to the country’s more tabloid stars, who compensate for comparatively modest vocal talents with more obvious, physical charms. For Dina, it worked for a while. But it was clearly too teenage, too shopping mall, for a serious performer. And, mercifully, in the Arab music world, greater maturity means more sophistication – not less. Christina Aguilera’s contrived sexuality is not what her new style is all about.
It is, though, all about beauty; gone are cat-like eyebrows, lipstick that seemed it was applied with a paintbrush and coats made out of gold PVC, and in comes hair straight from namesake Selma Hayek’s rustic Latin playbook, cascading down in completely grab-able dark-brown tresses, and make-up so subtle it would make the local MAC rep weep into his pillow. What’s left is the perfect frame for those intense, coal-black eyes that could paralyse any man within 30 feet. One stare and you’re virtually on your knees promising the earth, and whatever else comes into your head.
“I’m known for my romantic songs, obviously,” she says, answering the questions in her management office run by her brother, Dany, even though she is clearly struggling with a December cold. “But my new album is a mixture of different genres that I hope will incorporate all the music tastes my fans will have. But basically it’s a mix between romantic songs and popular music.”
NOX arrives at Dina Hayek’s office on the day her new video is about to be shown on Rotana TV, and the morning papers are getting very excited about the tale of love-behind-the-bars. Accompanying the song “Darb al-Howa”, the clip shows Dina in full soap-opera mode, showcasing some neat acting skills alongside that purring, velvety voice. “My new video clip is all about a love story in which a man goes to prison and everything falls apart,” she says, with considerable enthusiasm. “The concept of the video is to reveal more of the emotions in the song ‘Taa Li-Elbi’.”
Although, as we meet a full three weeks before the next NOX is due on the shelves, she isn’t giving away any further details. “No, no, no! For the rest of the story, you and your readers will have to watch it!” Which we of course did later on, and we can reveal that, well, a man goes to prison and everything falls apart. Music videos have never quite nailed the narrative part.
And with that, Dany ushers us into another room to show us the latest batch of pictures of Dina, handing us some old postcards to once again highlight just how dramatic the change has been, and some Kuwaiti and Saudi magazines that soft focus her to the point of obscurity. “I want to thank NOX magazine for this interview,” Dina says, by way of a farewell. “I'm looking forward to the readers knowing more about me and get to know my music. Hopefully that means more success in the future.”
We hope so, too.
For the full version of his article, see NOX06.
