Iftah Ya Simsim
Iftah Ya Simsim (; meaning "Open Sesame") is the first international co-production of the American children's television series "Sesame Street" created in the Arab world. It premiered in Kuwait on September 14, 1979 and was broadcast in 22 Arabic-speaking countries, running until April 6, 1990. The program continued to be well-known decades after it went off the air. In 1978, educators, mass media officers, and social planners agreed to adopt "Sesame Street" as a feasible and economical solution for the low attendance in preschools and illiteracy that plagued the region. They approached the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), the producers of the American show, and purchased the rights to create an Arab version for US$2.5 million.
Ibtisam Lutfi
Ibtisam Lutfi (, born 1950) is a blind Saudi singer. She was born Khayriyyah Qurban () in Ta'if in Saudi Arabia, and is one of the first female singers of that country. She began her career singing at wedding feasts in the city of Jeddah in the 1960s, and over the next two decades became famous in her native country as well as in Egypt. She retired from singing in the mid-1980s due to her mother's death. In a phone call with Al Arabiya channel in November 2013, she confirmed that she would be returning to her singing career.