Wait… What??! White Woman From Massachusetts Might Win Arabs Got Talent Via Gawker reports: Jennifer Grout, a white, 23-year-old classically trained singer from Cambridge, Massachusetts, might win a Got Talent competition is not really news. That she might win the Arab world’s version of the popular talent show is. Grout, who barely speaks Arabic, took the show’s judges by surprise when she showed up on stage to sing “Baeed Annak” (Away from You) by iconic Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum. But the judges were practically floored when her performance was not only capable, but actually impressive. “You don’t speak a word of Arabic, yet you sing better than some Arab singers!” judge Najwa Karam, a Lebanese singer, told Grout. “We have for so long imitated the West, and this the first time that a person who has no whatsoever link to the Arab world, an American girl who does not speak Arabic, sings Arabic songs!” Thus Grout became the first non-Arab to advance to the show’s finals. Born to musicians, Grout was trained to sing in a variety of languages under the tutelage of McGill University voice teacher Thérèse Sevadjian. She first fell in love with Arab music three years ago, when she happened across an article about Lebanese diva Fairouz. Learning how to play the oud, Grout began performing Arabic songs in Montreal, and later moved to Morocco in order to be closer to her music scene. She sounds amazing. Should she be allowed to do this, though? Isn’t this cultural appropriation?
The rest is here:
Culture Vulture?? 23-Year-Old White Woman From Massachusetts Might Win Arabs Got Talent
