Dounia Batma

Dounia Batma (Arabic: دنيا بطمة) (born 1 April 1991) is a Moroccan singer and actress who rose to popularity around the world as the runner-up of the first season of Arab Idol (the Arabic version of Pop Idol) on MBC. She lost the title against Egyptian contestant Carmen Suleiman. She married Mohamed Al Turk, the father of Bahraini singer Hala Al Turk.

Dounia Batma
دنيا بطمة
Batma in 2012
Born (1991-04-01) 1 April 1991
Casablanca, Morocco
Occupation(s)actress, singer
Musical career
GenresArab pop, Khaleeji, Arabic music, Moroccan music, Moroccan pop, Middle Eastern music, Raï
LabelsAl-Turk Production

Batma was born and raised in Hay Mohammadi, in the Ain Sebaa-Hay Mohammedi district of Casablanca, Morocco. Her father, Hamid Batma, played for different bands including Mesnawa and Nass El Ghiwane, and her uncle, Laarbi Batma, is the leader of Moroccan fusion group Nass El Ghiwane, considered by Martin Scorsese as "Africa's Rolling Stones".[1] She studied tourism after high-school, without stopping to dream about a musical career.[2] In 2010, at the age of 18, inspired by her already-famous older cousin Khansa Batma (Mohamed Batma's daughter), she took part in a Moroccan musical competition, called Studio 2M, broadcast on 2M TV, in the Oriental category.[3] She sang various songs of both Moroccan and Middle-Eastern repertoires, and reached the semi-finals. Even if she didn't reach the final, she managed to release a single "Aalash Tgheeb" (Why are you hiding?) in Moroccan Arabic which didn't become very successful. But she realized that she would need to go further to get the career she was expecting and Arab Idol was a great venue to reach the Arab World heart.

Breakthrough

On 8 September 2011, Batma auditioned for the Arabic music competition Arab Idol. The show is the pan-Arab version of Pop Idol and a rebirth of Future TV's show Super Star. The winner of the competition should win a contract with recording label Platinum Records and Chevrolet Corvette (C6) as well as an important advertisement campaign with Pepsi.

She auditioned in Casablanca, and performed La Tfaker (by late Tunisian singer Thekra) in front of the jury composed by Lebanese pop singer Ragheb Alama, Emirati diva Ahlam and Egyptian music producer and musician Hassan Shaf'ei. They invited her to join in, which introduce her to the Arab audience. She was selected in the top 10 against contestants from Tunisia, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt.

Batma's vocal abilities amazed the members of the jury and made her among the favorites since the very first prime, where she performed Talal Maddah's "Magadir". Her performance was so strong and so intense that it made Ahlam cry out of emotion. She then excelled in various dialects and various styles from classic Egyptian songs (Umm Kulthum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Warda, Faiza Ahmed), to Arabic pop music (Samira Said, Fulla, Najwa Karam, Asala Nasri) and Gulf music (Ahlam, Mohammed Abdu, Talal Maddah).

Among her most notable performances were her rendition of Umm Kulthum's Darrat El Ayam, for which she received unanimous praises from the jury and her singing of Ahlam's Akhtar Men Awal Ahebak (in Gulf Arabic), for which Ahlam (the singer of this song and member of the jury) said : "It is an honor that you sung this for me".

On 24 March, she lost the title against the Egyptian contestant Carmen Suleiman.

During a press conference, Batma seized the chance to clarify that her try in the Middle East is due to the opportunities that can be offered there, and added that "the launch of my artistic career from the East won't affect my contribution to the promotion of Moroccan art, and won't also affect my pride of my mother tongue". Many viewers noticed that Batma didn't use her Moroccan Arabic whenever she was speaking in front of the audiences and switched to another Arabic dialect (mostly the Khaliji dialect) as most Moroccan artists usually do when they travel to the Middle East. She considers Asma Lamnawar and Hoda Saad as role models.[4]

After the show, the CEO of Saudi Platinum Records, Rashed Al-Majed, signed her to the label,[5] saying that her voice was "rare".

Performances in Arab Idol
Medleys in Saturday's results show

Discography
Bcharat Khir
Alamtani
Nawyiin Niya
Arqos
Rayora
Mashi Shoghli
Hob Seeni
Omy Daeatly
Mazyan wa3ar
Ya Hbib l9alb
Almarrib marribona
Ah ya9amar
7ob iih
7obak 3asal
Aalach ya rzali
Aayach rarib
Aktar bali ahlam bih
Aktar min awal hobak
Alh ya molana
Alyom abik
Ay thibini
Badri
Bin idiya
Btaminak
Darat layam
Fii tali alil
Hani hani
Ibta3id 3ani
In kont nasi
Kif tahwani
Ma3ad badri
Ma9adir
Maali
Manta raya9
Marsol lhob
Mno hobak
Tachakorat
Tok tji
Waa9if
Wla fakhbaro

References
  1. Hommage de Scorsese à Nass el Ghiwane on YouTube
  2. MBC.net – دنيا بطمة
  3. Dounia Batma – Studio 2M 2010 on YouTube
  4. Dounia Batma: 'King Mohamed VI Voted for me' | Cafe Clock Archived July 8, 2012, at archive.today
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 22, 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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