Middle East Gala Ceremony 2011

Show

Elissa

Headline Act

Born in Deir al-Ahmar and raised amidst the spectacular natural scenery of the Bekaa valley, Elissa studied Political Science at the Lebanese University.

Now recognised as the Arab World’s biggest female solo artist, Elissa will be delighting guests with her string of famous hits. The Lebanese singing sensation propelled onto the music scene in 1999 and has since gone on to win three World Music Awards as well as the internationally renowned Big Apple Music Award for ‘Best selling female artist in the Middle East’ in 2010. A number of her songs have also been featured in major advertising campaigns, most notably for Pepsi, Dior and Ray-Ban.

Wonho Chung

Host

Wonho Chung was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. His comedy career began in 2007, when he toured with Showtime Arabia's Axis of Evil comedy tour. His first TV appearance was in ShowComedy’s follow-up mini-series, a nine episode reality documentary.

Wonho co-hosted Showtime's "Friday Night Live", and starred alongside international comedians in "Friday Night Live – New World Order" (Friday Night Live 2).

Wonho is also a trained vocalist. He currently resides in Dubai and is presenting a weekly infotainment show called "Showmemore" which is presented in Arabic and highlights the latest offering in TV, film and celebrity interviews.

Rebecca Rifai

Co Host

After landing her first professional presenting job as a field presenter for a radio station, Rebecca went on to do a 13-week tour around Australia as a stage presenter.

She then went on entertain thousands of spectators at The Commonwealth Games and the Vodafone Beach Volleyball Tour.

Shortly after, she moved to Dubai to work on her own entertainment show on Virgin Radio as ‘Bec Rifai’, as well as the ‘Hollywood Hotsheet’ on the breakfast show. In Dubai she has presented at prestigious events for clients such as Panasonic and Qatar Airways.

Simone Heng

Guest Presenter

Born in Singapore to Chinese/Portuguese parents and raised in Western Australia, Simone Heng personifies the term global citizen. She began her career as a Video Jockey with cable network Channel V International and is best known as the first "face" of HBO Asia, charming 300 million viewers from Beijing to Bangladesh with her sharp delivery of the latest movie and entertainment news from 2006 to 2008.

Shortly after arriving in the UAE, Simone was snapped up by Dubai's leading English TV station Dubai One, to host an expatriate lifestyle guide entitled Dubai 101. To kick off 2010, Simone has been named one of Ahlan! Magazine’s Hot 100 people for her work on both Dubai’s number one English radio and TV station.

Miranda Davidson

Guest Presenter

From Minneapolis, Miranda has been in the entertainment industry since she a young age, and has since been privileged to learn from great acting coaches who have trained Halley Berry Chris Rock and Penelope Cruz.

Today Miranda can be seen on TV or in person hosting celebrity events and conducting red carpet interviews with A-list celebrities such as Paris Hilton, George Lopez, Brian McKnight and Pitbull, to name a few. She has been featured as a celebrity guest and acting expert on 104.3 Radio One with DJ Bliss, 103.8 Dubai Eye, City 7 That Woman's Show, Fashion TV and was featured in Emirates Woman Magazine.