Nemr Abou Nassar vs LBCI

A lot of people absolutely adored Nemr Abou Nassar’s recent 20 minute rant against LBC and the situation in Lebanon that LBC somehow represents through their misrepresentation of an award show.

After all, aren’t the best kinds of pep talks those carried about by people financially better than 95% of the Lebanese population and with a second nationality to fall back on, just in case?

LBC has now replied to Mr. Nassar with what I think is an absolutely brilliant example of professionalism. For the first time, you have a Lebanese TV station acknowledging a mistake happening and taking the blame for it. Now LBC, my hat is off to you.

Hello Everyone,

Many of you rightfully expect LBCI’s transparent and honest answer to Mr. Abou Nassar’s video.

Like most would agree, LBCI succeeded in exporting Lebanon to the world with unparalleled levels of professionalism. This did not happen by coincidence or magic, but as the result of the perseverant work of hundreds of professionals. And it happened because we believe in our country, in its talents, and in all men and women dedicating themselves for Lebanon, whom we reassure of our unwavering support.

We do not (thank God!) pretend to be perfect. Mistakes happen with all corporations, and we believe the successful institutions are those who draw lessons to avoid repeating them. Let us be clearer: LBCI takes full responsibility of the mishaps that took place and regrets their impact on all the people involved. We salute the efforts of Dr. Sfeir and For Lebanon and sincerely hope that our apologies will be accepted.

The performance, which is not reflective of our standards, was due to the fact that the filming was outsourced in all good faith by LBCI to an external team, which did not perform up to expectations. Again, we are not trying to put the blame on someone else as we fully acknowledge our lack of proper selection. And we are willing to do everything possible to repair the harm that was inadvertently made.

What is an unforeseen sub-performance should not be dealt with as a premeditated wrongdoing, or as a hidden agenda targeting local talents. Though we fully understand the frustration, linking this incident to malevolent intentions is taking things out of proportion. We cannot stress enough how much LBCI supports Lebanese talents from all genres and languages and our track record in this case cannot be brushed aside because of a blunder. An unjust accusation cannot be an answer to a non-premeditated mistake.

Many people can testify that LBCI has broken many partnerships with organizers who did not abide by our standards in term of respecting the people attending the event, thus speaking of intentional sabotage is simply not an option. Criticizing what is wrong is what we do, and we support numerous points that Mr. Abou Nassar has raised, but we are against dramatized criticism which turns into a witch hunt.

We hope that a new page will be opened, and that we will continue to collaborate with all our valued talents to serve our common cause which is Lebanon, as we are all fighting in the same ranks. Mr. Abou Nassar ensured a good coverage for the event and helped in clearing the organizers’ reputation which we also hold dear. We join our voice to his to also thank them for their efforts, hoping to put this unintentional incident behind us

If only other institutions in this country can be this professional in the way they handle criticism.

The Conclusion of the Myriam Klink and Nemr Abou Nassar “Cat” Fight

This is a Lebanese meme done by twitter user @RachaMneimne and, even though I said I wouldn’t blog about the whole thing again, I think this is way too spot-on to be passed on.

Racha has also had the following to say, as a reply to Nemr’s 30 minute rant in which he declared Myriam Klink and other like hers as being “whores” who couldn’t take criticism but can take other things easily, “full pun intended.”

Hey Nemr Why So Angry? “Have a Sense of Humor, For The Love of God!”

 As a sum-up, here’s what Lebanon has been busy with for the past few days.
  1. Myriam Klink’s performance of her song “3antar” surfaced. (Check it here)
  2. Nemr Abou Nassar noticed the video and made a big deal of it. Twitter drama with Klink ensued. Everyone started making fun of her as well. (Check it here).
  3. Nemr Abou Nassar went on his radio show and had a full-blown rant about the state of the music industry. I’ve seen many people call it EPIC. I see it as everything but. (Check it here).
Finally, thank you Racha for telling it like it is.

The Myriam Klink Saga: Nemr Abou Nassar Replying to her on Radio

Remember when I said Nemr will be using Myriam as one of his sources? Well, it didn’t take long. Here’s a full-blown 30 minute radio show about Klink and about what he thinks she represents of Lebanese society.

I don’t listen to Lebanese radio so this is my first time hearing this. I agree with him on many points that are raised. Our music scene is despicable.

However, how’s calling women whom you don’t approve of whores and sluts part of the Lebanese culture you’re trying to bring forward?

Is Myriam Klink giving Lebanese women a bad image? Only people who categorize a whole population based on a distorted perception would think so. And we are fueling that, giving way more attention than necessary to those we “deem” inappropriate.

Simply put, Nemr Abou Nassar has given Myriam Klink 30 minute of radio time during prime time, which she wouldn’t have dreamed of. He even says the MixFM site crashed. He has made her almost as famous as he is in almost one day. Does he think the points he raised will resonate with her or those who like her? I doubt.

I’m pretty sure if Nemr had discovered Nancy Afiouny before or Lara Kay, this whole debaccle would have been a repeat. In fact, I’m sure both Nancy Afiouny and Lara Kay would kill for the publicity Klink has gotten in 48 hours.

Anyway, both sides of the dispute have said their share. Can we refocus on important things now? Li2anno sara7a, shi bila33e. 

And this is the last Myriam Klink/Nemr Abou Nassar post I’ll have here. Enough with giving attention to the both of them.

Myriam Klink vs Nemr Abou Nassar, Myriam Klink Is Everywhere… Enough is Enough, Lebanon!

Hello bundle of hotness…

I never thought that after posting about Myriam Klink yesterday morning that I’d come back home in the afternoon to find that post with hundreds upon hundreds of hits and Klink all over the place.

It was funny at first. Comedian Nemr Abou Nassar picked up on it and started picking on Myriam via twitter who didn’t let him down and actually replied.

The following are some of Nemr’s tweets:

And some of Myriam’s tweets:

Everyone else, including yours truly, is talking or has talked about Myriam Klink as well. Obviously, no one has anything nice to say. She’s officially a representation of everything going wrong in the country, everything that we need to burn down, everything that we need to hate.

The past month or so? A distant memory. No. The only thing wrong currently is Myriam Klink’s song.

Sure, it’s a horrible song. It’s something that shouldn’t even be put on airways. But that didn’t stop many “singers” before Myriam Klink from releasing songs and eventually not making it. The only artist that “made” it with a sultry attitude is Haifa Wehbe. And even she knows her show is less about her singing and giving art than about actually giving a show.

Nemr Abou Nassar will be using Myriam Klink as a much-needed source of jokes in his upcoming comedy shows. He even has one scheduled for tonight and, surprise surprise, it’ll be all about her. On the other hand, Myriam Klink’s video jumped from 1000 views on youtube yesterday morning to over 26K today. Her twitter followers have also doubled overnight to about 2000. I’m getting referrals to my blog from people googling her name.

She has officially made it.

And yet, people don’t seem to let go. I’ve never had a subject burn on me as fast as this. In the past 24 hours since Myriam Klink was first exposed, she exploded with such a magnitude that any Myriam Klink related tweet today is causing me nausea. People have nothing better to do?

So for all matters and purposes, leave Myriam Klink alone and she’ll get back to what she does best all by herself. As for everyone else, here’s how it should break down.

You like the song? Then listen to it with your earphones on as much as you want.

You hate the song? Then express your hate without calling Myriam Klink the stupidest person that has ever walked the Earth. She actually has a biology degree, if that proves anything.

You hate Myriam Klink? I don’t see why you should. But if you do, then fine. Just don’t let me know in every single waking moment that you consider her an abomination.

You like Myriam Klink? She sure is lovable. And you’re so rare that I’ll give you a free-pass for now. But if you’re gonna shove her down my throat…. Never mind, you can do that as much as you want.

The whole point is: when it comes to Myriam Klink, enough is enough.

Update: Nemr has had a radio show in which he had a 30 minute rant about Myriam Klink. Check it out here.