Ragheb Alama for Adyan - You've come a long way baby.

Do you remember when Ragheb Alama was - even by the 80s ultra cheesy and kitschy standards - an uber cheesy and kitschy singer? Sure, back then everyone was kind of like this (Najwa Karam anyone?) but still Alama, and judging by the covers of his tapes (yes, tapes before the CDs!), was in a category of his own. What is amazing is the reinvention Alama went through with the years.... Gone are the days of exaggerated clothes and odd mustaches - hell, he even survived a duo with Elissa - and a major feud with LBC which was one of the major channels to market one's work and still came out unharmed. He knew when to play the leading man of a certain age as opposed to his contemporaries who kept pushing a more youthful image of themselves, this is not to say that Alama does not appear with young models in his video clips, except there is a touch of maturity which eludes other singers of his generation (by the way, to his credit his song Alby Asheq'ha was the first song to be shot in video clip format).

Alama was - or whomever is managing his image - a genius at re-positioning himself. Now he is looked upon as a respected singer (albeit what's with all the fuss in the market, he produced his own material - which in itself a praise-worthy act when Rotana dominated the market), controlled his image (married to a beautiful woman who is a talented jewelry designer and living a tranquil scandal-free family life), knew the power of a blazer and jeans (which gives a composed and serene image), and this actually brings us to the campaign above (apart from the fact that he is actually a United Nations climate change ambassador) which is for Adyan (or religions) and headlines "our differences are a right, but our agreement is even more righteous". Who would have thought the heart throb of the 80s would end up becoming such a believable figure?