Forbes Middle East has released on Thursday, two lists of top artistic performers who are active in the Middles East or ehave an Arab origin, but active abroad, including five Egyptians.
According to the magazine, the methodology behind the ranking was tracking the Arab celebrities’ activities since 2016. The list classifies celebrities into five categories such as singers, actors, directors, fashion designers, and footballers.
The five Egyptians are actor Amr Waked, footballer Mohamed Salah, director Abu Baker Shawky, and singers Amr Diab, and Tamer Hosny.
Ranked second in the acting category, Waked made his first Hollywood appearance in Stephen Gaghan’s Syriana in 2005, alongside stars George Clooney and Matt Damon. Waked rose to fame globally after playing a French detective in Scarlett Johansson starrer Lucy that went on to net $463.4m, according to the Box Office Mojo. His first work as a producer was Winter of Discontent in 2012.
Coming third in the directing category is Shawky, the director who made it to the Cannes selection with his first film “DYomeddine” along with his wife and producer, Dina Emam, their film received the Francois Chalais Award from Cannes, and was nominated for the prestigious Palme d’Or.
On the top of the football list is Salah, who gained fame in the international leagues as he won the Golden Boot award and set a new record in the Premier League with 32 goals in 38 games and has led Liverpool to the UEFA Champions League final. Salah was named as the top Arab football player worldwide 2017, by Forbes Middle East.
In the singing category, Egypt scored two places with the two dominant talents Hosny and Diab, both who have a huge fan base in Egypt and the Arab world. Diab was the first Middle Eastern artist to receive the golden button from YouTube celebrating one million subscribers on his channel, while Hosny has collaborated with many global artists including Shaggy, Snoop Dogg, Akon, and has recently released a duet with Jason Derulo for the Coca-Cola 2018 World Cup song.
