The two Egyptian young women Dimyana Tadrus and Mirna Taha Ahmed ranked first in the Chinese song competition organised by the Chinese Cultural Centre in Cairo under the title “Egypt sings”.
The winners got a prize ticket to Beijing for a one-week cultural trip in China.
Fifty young persons took part in the auditions, but only 11 Egyptians and one North Korean qualified for the final of the competition.
In front of large number of spectators most of whom did not understand the Chinese language, each of the 12 competitors sang a Chinese song at the Opera House in Cairo. The atmosphere was festive and full of excitement. The jury, which included five Chinese members and two Egyptians, hailed what it described as the fabulous performance of the singers.
Tadrus, a 21-year-old student of Chinese language at Ain Shams University’s Faculty of Languages, expressed her extreme happiness and pride at winning “such a valuable prize”.
Tadrus said she had heard about the competition from friends who participated in it last year. She sent an online application to the Chinese Cultural Centre in Cairo, and then made it.
“Such events bridge Chinese and Egyptian cultural exchange, especially that Chinese culture is very close to the Egyptian,” she noted.
Ahmed also expressed her pride and excitement about the prize; “It is a gift from God,” she said. “I am very excited to get the opportunity to visit China which I already miss even though I was there one month ago.” She said loves China and has learnt the Chinese language in only six months. She is engaged to marry a Chinese man.
The Egyptian Nile TV joined the Chinese Cultural Centre in organising the competition which ran under the auspices of the Cairo Opera House and the Chinese-Egyptian Trade Centre.
Watani International
27 November 2018