Here is some background about Said...Said is a long time friend of mine, from my "old-days" in Lille, France.He has moved to France from Morocco in the seventies, at the age of 15!He has gone through several hardships in life in general, but he never gave-up or turned his back on life or on his friends. He had always "a thing" for music, so in those long cold days in Northern France, Said would keep himself and his friends warm by performing love and folk songs for some of the biggest giants of "Le Chant Arab", like Mohammad Abdelwahab, Abdelhalim Hafez, Wadee El Safi, Abdel Hadi Belkhayate, and many others...His dream was to make it "one day", but he had a couple of flaws, which didn't go well with the artistic scene (Al Saha Al Faniya) at that time. He was "kind of shy", not your shrewd business man type, who can negotiate and say "NO" & "YES" when need be. Second, he did not care for, nor did he know any of the "Hezze Ya Nawa3em and "Heshe Beshe" popular song that cabarets and casinos in Paris were looking for at the time. So when he went and "applied" for those positions, he was not the best candidate to rally the drunken crowds in the clubs and fill-up the floor dance.He's what you would call "Motreb Al Omaraae". All he knew and loved to sing was classical music "Tarab Al Asseel". We (his friends) have repeatedly encouraged him to go to Morocco and participate in one of those Star TV Shows, which promoted new and upcoming stars, and so he did...The problem was (w/o mentioning any names), THEY liked his voice (so he claims), but as soon as they found out that he's from France (i.e facance), this guy wanted a brand new Mercedez, the other wanted a washer & dryer, and the other....and the other...you all know how it goes back home.Oh well, the rest is history...Said continued to enjoy singing to friends and family, hopping that one day he gets his "fair shot"...It's may be too late now, because last I've seen him was in 1993 when I came to visit from the US. It was then, when I've decided to seize the opportunity and get him for one whole afternoon to sing to my "low-tech" camcorder with a few friends around us. It wasn't easy at first (remember he's kind of shy), but as you can see, he quickly opened-up and started singing w/o even a microphone...Just imagine what this guy's voice would sound like using today's audio technology or recording studios!This weekend (almost 15 years later), I came across an old VHS tape, a 1993 soiree with Said "L'Artiste Inconnu". I've decided to convert it to smaller WMVs and upload it to arabfilms, so you can all enjoy Said's voice and tell me what you guy/gals think...which was your favorite clip?P.S. I'm sure you've noticed that his "Oud playing" is not the best out there He had always told me that he feels and can sing much better, if someone else was playing the instrument instead. He learned how to play "Oud" alone, not at school, but by using his "musical ear" and lots of lots of practice.A True Story!

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