Update: Lana Del Rey will also be performing at the Byblos Festival on July 10th even though it wasn’t officially declared yet. [Source]

For all the Anthony Touma fans, The Voice Tour 2013 is coming to the Jounieh International Festival 2013 on Tuesday July 9 at the Fouad Chehab Stadium as stated by L’Orient LeJour. I didn’t see a mention of the concert on the Jounieh Festival website though.

I for myself am still upset I will be missing Lana del Rey’s performance at the Sky Bar in Beirut on May 30. Speaking of partying, I’ve been to White, Pier7 and Al Mandaloun these past two days and I can assure you the summer has kicked off to a great start!

Picture taken by myself [@LeNajib]

As I posted two days, the highest and coolest rooftop in town, The Roof at Four Seasons Beirut, has kicked off its summer season this weekend. The Roof is located on the hotel’s 26th floor and is a great place to chill out after work or on the weekends.

For those of you who still don’t know where it’s located, it’s on one of the two tall building overlooking Zaitunay Bay at the best possible spot in Beirut. I circled it in red in the picture below.

Original picture via Zaitunay.com

Anyway, Four Seasons Beirut were kind enough to let me give away two invites to The Roof for BlogBaladi‘s readers. Each winner will get to bring some one along and enjoy the unique experience The Roof has to offer. You will get to try signature drinks as well as a selection of Asian tapas and watch the sunset from the best possible spot or just enjoy a chill-out night.

Lebanese singer Lara Rain performs there every Thursday and Saturday starting 9 pm for those of you who like live entertainment.

If you want to win one of these two awesome invitations to one of Lebanon’s most luxurious 5-star hotels, you just have to leave a comment on this post with a proper email address. Competition ends on Tuesday May 7th at 6 pm. I will pick two names randomly (Using random.org) and post the names of the winners at the end of the day.

If you have any questions regarding The Roof or Four Seasons Beirut, you can follow them on [Twitter] or on [Facebook]. They are very friendly and fun to talk to.

I will post the names of the winners and more pictures of the Roof on our Facebook page. You can check them out and like the page [Here].

NB: You need to put your proper email in the email field while commenting since winner will be contacted by email. You can only comment once, anyone caught commenting more than once will get disqualified.

The Roof, Four Seasons Beirut

The Roof is currently my favorite rooftop in Beirut. It’s the highest rooftop in town, located at the best possible location overlooking the Zaitunay Bay and the St. Georges Club and offering a great view. It’s a great place to go to after work or in the weekend, have drinks or cocktails, enjoy an amazing view and just relax for an hour or two.

Picture taken from FSB Facebook Page

In case you missed my first visit to The Roof, check it out [Here].

Dubai Marina – Picture taken from Chennibus.com

More and more people prefer going to Dubai rather than coming to Beirut. We’ve lost our competitive advantage and we are falling behind as a top destination for tourists, even the Arab ones.

Before I left for my trip to Lebanon this December, my 84-year-old neighbor told me about the fantastic nightlife in Beirut. She had visited the city after World War II, while her husband was stationed in Europe. She told me about Beirut’s unique blend of European sophistication and liberal leanings in an Arab milieu. Just about 150 miles from Cyprus on the Mediterranean, Beirut served as a gateway to the Middle East.

Flash forward to today. A generation of Lebanese disenfranchised by 15 years of civil war, a technical state of war with Israel, the presence of the Hezbollah in Lebanon and the war in Syria have contributed to the decline of Beirut as a safe, reliable point of entry into the Middle East. As a result, the soul of Beirut’s Western-leaning temperament was mimicked in Disney-esque style by the city of Dubai. And it’s a crying shame.

It’s sad because Dubai is now viewed as the preeminent, culturally westernized city in the region. Dubai, as an urban personification of the West, is the spoiled little boy who has to have the biggest piece of candy. It’s a place with Texas-inspired adoration for the new, big and sparkly; a town with a New Yorker’s greed to have more. Cops drive in Lamborghinis. Visitors party at nightclubs imported from Las Vegas, Amsterdam and… Beirut. [Link]

Where Fashion Chic Meets Cosmopolitan Flair Blvd 44 Seeks To Provide A Plush Rendezvous For The City’s Elite. In 2012 Blvd 44 Established Itself As A Landmark Among Montreal’s Party Venues. This Year Its creators Are Bringing Its Unique Flavors To The Heart Of Beirut. The Stage Is Finally Set With International Media Organisations Touting Beirut City As A Premier Entertainment Destination. [Facebook]

Spotted in Antelias

This used to be the best network place in town long long time ago. They should turn it into a super night club, I think that’s the only business where the name doesn’t really matter.

Taken from ElNashra

This is a picture of the bomb found overnight in Hay al-Sellom area in Beirut. It looks like an 8 year old wrote that note or someone is really bored.

Source

Here are 10 places where Beirut warms up, gets hot and winds down according to CNN Travel.
1. Dragonfly
2. Torino Express
3. Kayan
4. February 30
5. Bar ThreeSixty
6. Internazionale
7. Ferdinand
8. Dictateur
9. Behind the Green Door
10. SKYBAR

It’s good to see some of my favorite bars on that list, specially Kayan which I’ve been going to for the past 7 years if not more.

Thank you Ralph

After I posted about the Speed Dating event, and heard that they serve Pork Ribs at their 30$ Open Wine BBQ, I decided to give The Mansion a try on a Saturday night.

Before calling to book, I checked out their Facebook page for pictures and I honestly couldn’t figure out how the places looks like or how big it is. It didn’t make a big difference to me as I had heard it’s a cool place but I think they should add some clear pictures on The Mansion’s Facebook page.

The Mansion is located in the middle of Gemmayze on Mar Antonios Street. It’s an old renovated house situated in an isolated area from the vibrant Gouraud street. Once you go in, there’s a large room with a bar on the left, high tables and chairs, cool chandeliers dangling from the roof and Botero paintings on the wall. There are other rooms more suited for relaxing and dining but you will be missing out on a lot of fun.

Fat Monalisa

Even though we got there early, the place was already half full but tables were comfortably distanced from each other and from the bar. Once we sat down, we were offered Champagne glasses for some reason. I thought it was a welcome drink or something but it turned out to be “Champagne Saturday” where everyone gets Champagne every time the bell rings.

We ordered drinks and Nachos first, then The Mansion burger, a Mozzarella sandwich and a Breast N Cheese platter as main dishes. Everything tasted great and the service was impeccable. I don’t want to be exaggerating here but the girl (Rachel) in charge of our table was just great and made the whole experience even better. She’d check on us every 5-10 minutes to make sure our drinks are as requested or if we needed a refill, whether our food is delivered on time, or if we needed anything at all. I will suggest to the Mansion people that they name her employee of the month and add a funny painting of her similar to the ones they have displayed.

Moving on to the music, the DJ created a nice ambiance, far from trance and cheap commercial songs, and included some awesome songs from the 90s like Scatman or Cotton Eyed Joe. There weren’t a lot of people dancing when we left (Around 12:30) but the place was packed and everybody seemed to be having a good time. More importantly, no one was smoking inside.

Price-wise, the bill was reasonable and we ended up paying around 40$ per person.

To sum it up, I had a great time at The Mansion and I will be visiting back soon to try the Pork Ribs.

The Social Media Awards are happening for the first time in Lebanon and I thought it would be fun to share my nominations for the various categories listed. Before that, here’s how the selection process will occur:

Stage 1: Online Nominations
Members of the online community nominate candidates for different categories via our website www.SMABeirut.com. Users can nominate themselves, friends or an organization on business based on the criteria of each category. Their submission is accompanied by relevant material such as Facebook links, Twitter accounts, blogs and other platforms to support their candidates.

Stage 2: Judges Selection
Based on the nominations received, our team of experienced and celebrity judges from different backgrounds will be narrowing down the nominations in each category to seven (7) nominees within two weeks of closure of nominations. The whole process will be carried out in pure transparency and an announcement event will be held for the press and online community.

Stage 3: Final Vote
Members of the online community are asked to vote for their preference in each category over a period of one month. During this period, nominees will be able to campaign for obtaining votes.

Stage 4: Awards Ceremony
An awards ceremony will be held for over 750 invitees from digital agencies, VIPs and online influencers with entertainment, key guest appearances, and VIP guests bringing Oscar-like award glamour to social media. [SMABeirut]

I took a look at the judges’ list and the ones they chose are more than qualified for this job, with 1 or 2 exceptions which I will not name. One thing that I would have done differently is narrow down the nominations to 4, as I think 7 is too much.

Anyway back to the nominations, here it goes:

Best Blog of the Year
Beirut Spring: I’ve always been astounded by the insights Mustapha provides on the Lebanese society and Lebanon in general despite being abroad. He is concise, convincing, methodical and is among the very few bloggers that I agree with almost always. Oh and he never misses a chance to throw in a new term in every post and make me look for it online.

Best News Blog
Hummus Nation – The good thing about Hummus Nation is that his news are always reliable because he makes them up.

Best Lifestyle Blog
L’armoire De Lana – Lana has been pulling an impressive job ever since she launched her fashion blog. She’s posting daily, tweeting all day long, uploading pictures all the time. She’s doing it right and she totally deserves it.

Best Technology Blog
Tech-Ticker – A website founded by a group of Lebanese Technology enthusiasts covering the latest tech news and reviewing the most recent tech products.

Best Personal Blog
Gino’s Blog – Gino is truly commited to his blog and it shows through his posts. His views on certain topics are as far as they come from the conservative “Lebanese” thinking yet he manages to convince his readers most of the time. Neuromarketing at its best.

Most Engaging Media Personality
Magazine: RagMag’s Editor in Chief Fida Chaaban.
She devotes a lot of times to social media and interacting with readers and that’s not something easy to pull. In fact I don’t think I know any other media personality as devoted as her.

Best Performer
Nemr Abou Nassar: He was funnier when he started and I didn’t like his latest shows but he’s doing a great job online and deserves that award. The problem is here very few performers in Lebanon are active online to begin with.

Best Vocal Artist (Non-Arabic)
Tania Kassis

Most Creative Instagram Account
Mark

Most Viral YouTube Video
I would have loved to say Buzz but it turned out to be a copycat from an old US commercial. I’ll go with LebaneseBrew’s Try Something Brave.

Most Engaging Tweep
TrellaLB

Most Engaging Celebrity on Twitter
Celebrities in Lebanon have no idea how to use Twitter.

Most Engaging Media Personality on Twitter
TV/Journalist: Shada Omar.
Despite having almost 100,000 followers on Twitter, Shada dedicates time to almost everyone that interacts with her and is always interesting to talk to.

Most Engaging Diplomat on Twitter
HMA Tom Fletcher – If you wanna know why, read [this].

Best Business on Twitter
RagMag

Best Organization/NGO on Twitter
Donne Sang Compter

Best Pub/Bar
February30 and The Angry Monkey. The Angry Monkey’s last tweetup was the best I’ve been to in months and the place was packed. Bravo Jessy!

Best Restaurant, Café or Bakery
Roadster Diner and Zaatar W Zeit.

Best Hotel
Phoenicia Beirut.

Best Commercial District Account
LeMall

Best NGO/Community
Donner Sang Compter

Best Startup
Dermandar.

Time Out has posted the official list of winners from the Time Out NightLife Awards 2012 ceremony. You can check them out [Here].

EM Chill is organizing a 100% Lebanese alcohol night on November 28th, to support our local brands while listening to local tunes all night. All drinks will be priced at 4,000 LL only.

I think they should offer discounts on food items as well, because if there’s Arak at only 4000 Lebanese Liras the drink, people will get wasted before the party kicks in!

Check EM Chill’s Facebook Page [Here] for more info.

Via Beirut.com

Picture taken from Beiruting.com

The Time Out Nightlife Awards 2012 event took place this Monday at Music Hall in DownTown Beirut. The awards included Beirut’s best DJs, clubs, promoters, gigs, bars and concerts over the past 12 months.

I tried to compile the full (unofficial) list of winners as tweeted by TimeOut and Ziad Kamel, Founder/CEO of The Alleyway Group.

GRAND PRIX AWARDS

Best Club of the Year : BO18
Best Bar of the Year : The Angry Monkey
Outstanding Contribution Award : Nagi Baz (Buzz Productions)

NIGHTLIFE AWARDS

Best New Bar : The Angry Monkey
Best Bar Design : Dictateur (Critics Choice: Feb 30th)
Best New Club : Pier 7 (Critics Choice Award: Mad)
Best Live Music Venue : Mandaloun (Critics Choice: Music Hall)
Best Outdoor Venue : White (Critics Choice Award: Sky Bar)
Best Local DJ : Djette (Critics choice: DJ Jade)
Best Local Cover Act : JLP Band (Critics Choice: Who Killed Bruce Lee)
Best Local Act: The Wanton Bishops (Critics choice: Lazy Lung)
Best Lounge Bar : Iris (Critics Choice Award: Le Capitole)
Best Bar Food: The Angry Monkey
Best Bartender : Marcel Haddad from Bar 360 (Critics choice: Varia Dellian-Momo’s)
Best Live Music Concert (3,000+ capacity) : Snow Patrol at Byblos International Festival (Critics choice: Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Best Music Festival : Fête De La Musique

[YouTube]

Anishah Smoking Hookah at Falimanki’s fairytale courtyard, Beirut, Lebanon

Anishah talks about her visit to Lebanon and how she found Beirut unlike any other city she’s ever visited. Read more [Here]

Until now, Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro at carnival was my favourite world city for glamourous girls (and ladyboys), edgy neighbourhoods, funky districts, pristine beaches and cosmopolitan ambiance. I loved Marrakech’s contrasting eclectic mix of sensuality, tradition and nouveau. Las Vegas was incredible for it’s pure unadulterated guilt-free fun.
Beirut, has just blown Rio, Marrakech, Monaco, Miami and Vegas out of the water, for a city with a Middle Eastern heart!

NRJ Lebanon posted the below message yesterday on their [Facebook page]:

Due to unforeseeable circumstances, regrettably Sean Paul will not be performing as planned on Aug 25 at the Edde Sands Beach Resort. Sean Paul sends his deepest apologies to his fans and will look to reschedule his trip to Lebanon in the future. GET YOUR TICKET REFUNDED STARTING WEDNESDAY 29TH FROM ANY VIRGIN BRANCH

I heard rumors that RHCP might cancel their upcoming concert in Lebanon but nothing’s confirmed yet. The Red Hot Chili Peppers will be performing on September 6th at Beirut Waterfront. [Event]

The concert I am looking forward to attend is Keane on October 13 at the Forum de Beyrouth. To know more about the concert and buy tickets, click [Here].