Carole Samaha

Carole Samaha (Arabic: كارول سماحة; born July 25, 1972) is a Lebanese Egyptian singer, actress, and performer. She has released six studio albums. Samaha has a Master's degree in acting and directing, which she earned in 1999 from the Saint Joseph University of Beirut. In 2004, she won the Arab Music Award for best female newcomer. She has also won multiple Murex d'Or awards and was nominated for best Arabia New Act in the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008. Before starting her pop music career, Carole Samaha was a classical actress and worked extensively with Mansour Rahbani and Marwan Rahbani. Her first music single was Bi Sabah el Alf el Talet in 2000. In 2007, Carole Samaha returned to the theater to play Zenobia in the Rahbani musical with the same name. She established her own production company, Lacarma, in 2009. In 2011, Carole Samaha starred in the TV series Al Shahroura, broadcast during Ramadan, as the singer and actress Sabah. In 2013, she was a judge on The X Factor (Arabic TV series) and she was the mentor for Young Pharoz, Maraya and Les Bledards Ninja. Later that year, she created the musical show "The Lady", produced by Rotana, which premiered on August 10, 2013. Samaha was born on July 25, 1972, in Beirut to Antoine Samaha from Khenchara, Metn, a direct relative of Lebanese politician Shafik Mebarak Samaha (who left Zahlé, Lebanon for Colombia at the beginning of the 20th century) and Nouhad Hawi from Dhour El Choueir, Metn. Through the former, she is also related to Shafik Mebarak, nephew of Shakira. She has two brothers. Her parents supported different political factions, and according to Samaha that fact made her become "more open" to the different views of people, learning a great deal from that experience. On November 1, 2013, Samaha married Walid Mostafa, an Egyptian businessman, in a civil ceremony in Limassol, Cyprus, following an 18-month courtship and short engagement. On August 31, 2015, Carole Samaha gave birth to a baby girl, Tala. She is a Maronite Christian. She holds both Lebanese and Egyptian citizenships, and in 2014 she began residing in Egypt with her late husband. In July 2014, Samaha visited the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan as a goodwill ambassador for the International Network for Rights and Development, where she met Syrian refugees and distributed gifts to children.