Hassan El Shafei

Who is Hassan El Shafei?

Hassan El Shafei is a born and bred Egyptian musician and media personality, who has taken the Middle East by storm on many artistic fronts and earning him the title of “heartthrob” among hundreds of thousands of adoring fans across the region. Having successfully worked with the biggest names in the Arab music industry as a composer and music producer, not just creating chart topping hits, but also winning accolades, recognition and respect. He cemented himself as a multi-award winning “Super Producer”. As if the aforementioned wasn’t enough, Hassan also wanted to further quench his artistic thirst, so he established his own label to create, produce and promote the underground and unconventional music scene with his own distinct flavor, aptly named “The Basement Records”. Superstardom came knocking on Hassan’s door when he was cast as one of the three main judges on MBC’s “Arab Idol” which is the regional version of the worldwide hit reality TV franchise “American Idol”. “Arab Idol” quickly became the biggest show around and furthermore it was broadcasted on the most popular and lucrative channel in the Middle East “MBC1”, and with A-list judges such as veteran Lebanese superstar Ragheb Alama and the Gulf’s leading lady of song Ahlam, a new superstar was born in the form of Hassan El Shafei to complete the trio of the region’s elite judging panel. Season 2 of “Arab Idol” ups the ante several notches with the addition of Arabic singing sensation Nancy Ajram to the panel, making sure Hassan is kept in exclusive company. MUSIC PROFILE: In the nineties, Hassan was known by his alias “The Saint”, and was responsible for the hit song “My Ecstasy” which dominated the electronic music in the year 2000. Today, the producer and arranger “Hassan El Shafei” has dropped the moniker, lending his real name to the producing credits of super hit songs such as Amr Diab's "Wayah", Angham’s "Ana Aysha Hala", Hossam Habib's "Shoft Eb Enaya", Abdel Mejid Abdallah's "Yahlamoun" and more, ensuring every song he introduces offers a new sound and ushers in a new musical genre to the Middle East.Hassan El Shafei is considered to be one of the few producers with unique talents ranging from composing and orchestrating classical pieces to programming hip funk electro beats, with a knowledge and a passion for many different genres, El Shafei has his own unique sound blending different cultures together and creating new ones. ARAB IDOL: Hassan’s addition as a judge on the first edition of “Arab Idol” under the umbrella of MBC Group has been met with unanimous praise and adoration by the media, critics and fans alike. His no nonsense direct approach to judging, extensive knowledge in the music industry and sharp wit has proved a huge success on the show and he has always been on point with all his comments in every single episode. Of course, having movie star good looks didn’t hurt either, social media chatter went into a frenzy when Hassan appeared on the screens, and almost instantaneously he became “The New Muhannad” (a reference to “Kivanc Tatlitug” star of the Turkish drama “Nour”), catapulting him from a humble number of followers on Twitter to over 150,000 and counting. Various fan pages on Facebook and numerous Twitter accounts dedicated to Hassan popped up, and collectively they amount to hundreds of thousands of fans wanting to connect with their newly found star. As the serious and straight talking judge with a fierce look on Arab Idol, Hassan is set to reprise this persona on the second installment of the hugely successful show, but this time even more so than ever before. And with the addition of a fourth judge in the shape of the delectable Nancy Ajram, the show will most certainly capture the audiences once again and reign supreme as the biggest show in the Middle East with Hassan El Shafei right in the heart of it.