The X Factor saw The 5 give a flawless performance and Hamza Hawsawi promising an Arabic number

“I really hope that the rumours I’m hearing about you guys getting arrogant and letting all the attention get to your heads are simply not true,” said Ragheb Alama, staring down the five young men who make up the Middle East’s favourite new Arab boy band The 5. His pointed comments came after their performance of the Rami Ayash hit Khalini Ma’ak on Saturday night’s live episode of The X Factor.

Alama, along with fellow Lebanese judge and singer Elissa, admitted he was impressed by the group’s improvement on the reality show, as well as their united front on stage.

But Elissa said: “We want to warn you early on – regardless of all the fame you are already getting and the craziness of what is happening on social media – that ego, vanity, arrogance can destroy everything and will take away any chance at success.”

The 5 – Egyptian Ahmed Hassan, Moroccan Adil Echbiy, Lebanese Kazem Chamas and the Algerian duo Said Karmouz and BMD (Mohamed Bouhezza) – have begun to hit their stride and the fan adoration has not let up. If anything, it is reaching unprecedented proportions in the region and the boys are well aware of it: they actively repost fan pictures and comments on their social media accounts, which probably takes a lot of time out of rehearsal. Still, their most recent performance was one of their best yet, and included, for the first time, choreographed dance moves – simple and subtle, but successful in presenting them as a united front.

Original article by Hala Khalaf

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The X Factor saw The 5 give a flawless performance and Hamza Hawsawi promising an Arabic number