{"id":7670,"date":"2022-09-15T23:02:03","date_gmt":"2022-09-15T17:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/?p=7670"},"modified":"2022-09-15T23:02:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-15T17:02:03","slug":"we-cant-believe-whats-happening-lebanons-mayyas-react-to-americas-got-talent-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/life\/2022\/09\/15\/news\/7670\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We can\u2019t believe what\u2019s happening\u2019: Lebanon\u2019s Mayyas react to \u2018America\u2019s Got Talent\u2019 win"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The group is taking home the $1 million grand prize. (Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LOS ANGELES, Broadcasting News Corporation : The wait is over \u2014 Lebanese dance crew Mayyas have won season 17 of \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent\u201d and they spoke to Arab News backstage to say they \u201ccan\u2019t believe what\u2019s happening.\u201d With the audience cheering, Mayyas jumped sky-high and took home the $1 million grand prize. \u201cWe can\u2019t believe what\u2019s happening,\u201d one member of the group said after celebrating the crew\u2019s victory on stage. \u201cWe can\u2019t believe what we\u2019ve achieved, giving so much energy, leaving our work and education, dedicating our time to training every day to be here to represent our country and it is what we were looking for.\u201d
\n\u201cWe were very stressed out by the fact that we had to (prepare the dance) in two-to-three days, but when we went up on stage and heard the cheers, the audience gave us a push and an adrenaline rush that wasn\u2019t there and we did it,\u201d another member said. The crew\u2019s choreographer, Nadim Cherfan, said: \u201cThis win gave me an opportunity to dream again. When you have a dream and you achieve it, you start to look for another dream. So I\u2019m very happy that there is something to look forward to now, something to dream of, something to fight for.\u201d \u201cIM SO PROUD, @mayyasofficial YOU DESERVE THIS!!!!\u201d tweeted \u201cAGT\u201d judge Sofia Vergara after the group were crowned winners. The dancers gifted Vergara a necklace with a symbol of the Lebanese cedar tree that she showed off in her interview with LBCI Lebanon after the episode aired. \u201cI come from Barranquilla, Columbia, and in Barranquilla we have a gigantic community of Lebanese people, like Shakira for example. So we grew up eating Lebanese food, dancing to Lebanese music. It\u2019s a country that is very close to my heart,\u201d she told the broadcaster. \u201cI am so happy that, in moments of problems and trouble, every once in a while something so beautiful like Mayyas comes up and distracts everybody,\u201d she added. \u201cI am so happy that this is happening. I am glad. Those girls deserve the world.\u201d Meanwhile, judge Simon Cowell said: \u201cThis is big. I just think for them to represent the country in the way they did, with such talent, dignity and grace, and to do something which the whole world is going to look at, I think is huge. \u201cI could feel it in the room, this energy behind me and I thought: \u2018No one is going to beat them,\u2019\u201d he added. \u201cThese people have the most extraordinary talent and they are such nice people. I wasn\u2019t surprised. I can\u2019t tell you how happy I was when I heard that name.\u201d Cowell believes that \u201cworld domination\u201d is what\u2019s next for Mayyas. For their winning performance in Tuesday\u2019s final, the group danced to Arabic beats wearing white outfits and using burlesque feather fans and sparkling globes of light. The audience held up Lebanese flags in the hall as they cheered for the crew. The dancers received a standing ovation from all four judges \u2014 Vergara, Cowell, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel. \u201cFabulous. Another level,\u201d said Vergara, who awarded Mayyas the golden buzzer after their first audition in June. \u201cThis is what a million dollars looks like,\u201d said Klum. \u201cYou brought your A-game every time you came, and tonight it was A-plus.\u201d Mandel said: \u201cThis is my favorite act ever on \u2018AGT.\u2019\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s so great for you. It\u2019s great for women, female empowerment, your culture…\u201d he added. The group have received strong backing from their Lebanese fans throughout the competition. The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International launched an advertising campaign in the US with the slogan \u201cKermalak Ya Lebnen\u201d \u2014 which translates to \u2018For You Lebanon\u2019 \u2014 to promote and support Mayyas. LBCI backed the group with adverts on its TV and social media channels, and also worked with local and Arab media outlets in the US to support the campaign. \u201cLebanese people around the world have shown us huge support,\u201d Cherfan previously told Arab News. \u201cWe\u2019ve been getting tons of messages. Everybody is backing Mayyas. Everybody is rooting for Mayyas. So I\u2019m really thankful for the Lebanese diaspora that is being really supportive for Mayyas. Numerous celebrities also helped raise the group’s profile. \u201cMay you return with the title,\u201d Lebanese singer Maya Diab wrote on her Instagram Stories after their final performance. \u201cYou raised the name of Lebanon just by showcasing art in this beautiful way that made the world talk about it. We love you and we are proud of you no matter what the result is.\u201d Superstar Haifa Wehbe also supported the group ahead of the final result. \u201cMayyas wowed \u2018America\u2019s Got Talent\u2019 judges and audience with a spectacular performance. Keep voting,\u201d she said. Dubai-based Lebanese influencer Karen Wazen wrote: \u201cSpeechless. It keeps getting better,\u201d sharing a clip of their last performance.
\nMayyas have been in the winning habit for some time when it comes to TV talent shows. Cherfan, who was 14 when he fell in love with the world of dance, formed the group in order to compete in the sixth season of \u201cArabs Got Talent,\u201d where the group dazzled, wowing judge and Lebanese pop star Najwa Karam who awarded them immediate entry to the final with her golden buzzer. They were ultimately crowned champions. \u201cI chose a female crew, because I wanted to deliver a message about female empowerment, as we all know that, even today, Arab women are still called names for being dancers. I wanted to prove how elegant, refined and beautiful dancing is,\u201d Cherfan said in an Arab News interview at the time. \u201cAnd who better than these gorgeous ladies to do so?\u201d But winning one of the most prestigious talent titles in the Middle East wasn\u2019t enough. With success came self-inflicted pressure to do even better. \u201cThe golden buzzer, the standing ovation, the beautiful comments of the judges, and winning the title itself are challenges, because they are stress and responsibility \u2014 in those moments (all I am thinking is) \u2018What\u2019s next? How can I do better?\u2019\u201d Cherfan said. That same year, Mayyas competed in \u201cBritain\u2019s Got Talent: The Champions,\u201d a spin-off of \u201cBritain\u2019s Got Talent,\u201d in which the group were the only act from the Middle East to participate. The response from the judges and audience was overwhelming. \u201cAbsolutely genius \u2014 brilliant, inventive\u2026 (I\u2019ve) never seen a dance like this ever on one of these shows,\u201d said judge Simon Cowell at the time. NEWS COLLECTED FROM ARAB NEWS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES, Broadcasting News Corporation : The wait is over \u2014 Lebanese dance crew Mayyas have won season 17 of \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent\u201d and they spoke to Arab News backstage to say they \u201ccan\u2019t believe what\u2019s happening.\u201d With the audience cheering, Mayyas jumped sky-high and took home the $1 million grand prize. \u201cWe can\u2019t believe …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7670"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7672,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670\/revisions\/7672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}