Baya al Ward بياع الورد | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 2006 | |||
Recorded | 2005–2006 | |||
Genre | Arabic Pop | |||
Label | Rotana | |||
Producer | Jean Saliba, Fadi Bitar | |||
Amal Hijazi chronology | ||||
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Singles from Baya al Ward | ||||
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Baya al Ward (Arabic: بياع الورد, English: The Florist) is the fourth studio album by the Lebanese singer Amal Hijazi released under the label Rotana in 2006. For the project, Hijazi collaborated with renowned producers like Jean Saliba and Fady Bitar and worked with some of the biggest names in the industry like Elias Naser, Samer Nakhla and Haytham Ziad. Despite the negative publicity and controversies over the album's theme, it was a commercial success, topping various charts in countries like Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Tunisia, UAE, and Kuwait. In addition, the album received generally positive reviews in the west and was sold highly in the UK, France and Canada.
"Baya al Ward" was the lead single from the album. Despite the controversies over its music video, it was a commercial success and debuted at number one in a number of countries all around the Middle East.
After the release of "Baya al Ward", Hijazi embarked on a highly publicised world tour. She even made a number of guest appearances in talk shows and gave various live concerts. Although there was a great demand for music videos of songs like "Rajaa", "Yala Lally Amaan", "Lemma Tghmmed Ayneik" and "Jnoon Bhebbak", Hijazi refused to film any of them because of the political instabilities in her native Lebanon. In early 2007, however, she released the music video of "Baheb Nuoa Kalamak" which gained generally negative reviews from critics due to its low budget and the poor production by Rotana. In addition, the music video was a fail being directed by Mirna Khayat. Critics later advised Hijazi not to cooperate with Khayat for future projects.
Despite the attacks on the album and the music video and the controversies that Hijazi was in fact promoting homosexuality and lesbianism, the album was a bestseller of 2006. According to Hijazi, the Critical reception of her album generally had a positive impact, for it propagated the album. According to the official sales charts provided by Rotana more than three editions of the album were sold in less than a year, and this made Hijazi one of the biggest-selling singers in the Middle East, and one of the most wanted performers on stage.