Casablanca – American singer Jennifer Grout, now one of the Arab World’s most popular sensations, stunned her Arab fans in her recent performance on the TV show “Shaklak Mich Gharib,” broadcast on Lebanon’s MBC 4.
The TV show is based on the Spanish reality television franchise Tu cara me suena (Your Face Sounds Familiar). In it, contestants impersonate iconic singers. The top performer in each episode receives a cash prize destined for charity, and is also designated “Series Champion” by the jury.
Jennifer Grout’s performance on the 7th episode of the TV show was mind-blowing according to all members of the jury. “Her voice is mesmerizing, and I really don’t know how she can sing like that,” Mohammed Sami, a jury member, commented on Jennifer’s performance.
“You look so cute and so beautiful tonight,” Lebanese diva Haifaa Wehbe, another jury member, complimented Jennifer. “This is one of your best performances,” she added.
But to the third jury member, Egyptian star Hakim, there was something else about Jennifer that astounded him as much as her performance. “I frankly doubt she’s American,” said Hakim, wowed by Jennifer’s command of Arabic. “I really need to see your passport,” he added.
That was not the first time Jennifer’s singing in Arabic has wowed the jury of an Arab TV show. Equally astonished were Arab’s Got Talent’s jury and audience back in 2013, when they learned that Jennifer had not yet mastered Arabic, yet fluently sang one of the most challenging songs of legendary Egyptian singer Umm Kalthum.
“You don’t speak Arabic, yet you sing better than some Arab singers!” Najwa Karam, Lebanese star and member of AGT’s jury said.“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!,” added a bedazzled Najwa Karam.
“To understand the lyrics, I look up translations on the net or ask some of my Arab friends to translate them for me,” Jennifer once explained.
After scoring higher than the other contestants in the 7th episode of Shaklak Mich Gharib, Jennifer was awarded a cash prize of $5,000, which she donated to the Moroccan artists of Jamaa Lfna and Amazigh artists in Marrakesh.
