As all-female Lebanese dance group Mayyas prepare for their appearance in the semi-finals of “America’s Got Talent” next week, Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International has launched an advertising campaign with the slogan Kermalak Ya Lebnen — which translates as For You Lebanon — to promote and support them.
During their televised audition for the US competitive reality show in June, the dancers so impressed actor Sofia Vergara, one of the judges along with Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel, that she used her golden buzzer, which granted them automatic qualification for the contest’s live shows. On Sept. 6 they will compete for a place in the grand final, which will be broadcast on Sept. 13.
The name Mayyas means the “proud walk of a lioness,” one of the dancers explained. Female Arab dancers aren’t “fully supported yet” in the region and so appearing on the “America’s Got Talent” stage is “our only chance to prove to the world what Arab women can do, the art we can create, the fights we fight,” she added.
The judges were mesmerized by the group’s performance during their audition, with Cowell describing it as “the best dance act we’re likely to have ever seen.”
Now LBCI is backing Mayyas with adverts on its TV and social media channels, and working with local and Arab media outlets in the US to support the campaign.
Mayyas was founded in Beirut by Nadim Cherfan, the group’s choreographer, who has been teaching dance since he was 20 years old.
“Mayyas was created for ‘Arab’s Got Talent,’ once I made the decision (to apply for) season six,”
The group entered and won the contest that year, then went on to participate in “Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions,” a spin-off of the UK version of the show that featured winners and other notable acts from across the global Got Talent franchise. Mayyas were the first and only act from the Middle East to appear, earning overwhelming praise from the judges and audiences.
When the “America’s Got Talent” polls open for next week’s semi final, fans of the group can visit agt.vote.nbc.com to vote online for them. Voting is only open to people ages 13 and over who live in the US or Puerto Rico.
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