Pop group Now United shines a spotlight on Middle Eastern talent and sparks a social media frenzy

Gulf News

Lebanese singer Nour Ardakani is the first Middle Eastern member of the global pop group ‘Now United,’ and it’s natural to assume that she played a tour guide for her bandmates as they touched down in Abu Dhabi for the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards last weekend. But she lets us in on a secret as we sit down for a virtual joint interview with the members of ‘Now United.’  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/music/global-pop-group-now-united-puts-the-spotlight-on-middle-eastern-talent-social-media-frenzy-and-more-1.1695046556672  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #music #NowUnited

Transcript

00:00All we want to do is make music, perform, sing, make people happy and just have this

00:07beautiful experience together and show the world that it doesn't matter where we're from,

00:11we can always come together.

00:15You guys are performing at the Abu Dhabi Kids' Choice Awards. How does it feel to return? I

00:21know that you had filmed Lean On Me here at the Emirates Palace, etc. So is there nostalgia there?

00:27Are you just excited to meet your fans?

00:29I was already on the plane and I saw all the videos of the Abu Dhabi, where did we film?

00:35Louvre.

00:36Louvre, all the music videos we did and I was like, wow, so many memories here,

00:42so many beautiful things we did. So, yeah, so nostalgic.

00:46Is Noor playing the tourist guide since she knows this region like the back of her hand?

00:51Honestly, I feel like at this point, they know the UAE just as much as I do because we've known

00:57for so long. So, everyone's just like, we're here, we're going there, we love this place,

01:02we love the food and honestly, it makes me happy especially because I'm the Middle East

01:07representative. So, it just like warms my heart that they love this region as much as I do, of

01:13course.

01:13Do you truly believe that your music has somehow brought people from different countries together?

01:18Oh, yes.

01:19Yeah, a thousand percent.

01:21We know that our fans are, you know, connecting with each other because of,

01:25you know, the group on social media, first of all, because like social media is, you know,

01:29making everybody, you know, connect with each other and our fans are from different countries,

01:33first of all. So, we have fans from Brazil, we have fans from the UAE, we have fans from

01:37everywhere and so, basically, like our fans are just connecting and they make friendship,

01:41actually. Like, we have fans that tell us every day, like, I met my best friend through Dianette.

01:46Yeah, it's cool hearing how they have common ground just because of what we did. It's insane.

01:54Do you guys have good days, bad days or is there anybody in your group who's like the

01:58eternal joker, the other one is the realist and, you know, the guy who's the party pooper?

02:04What's the dynamics like between you all?

02:06I think no matter what career path you choose, there are good days and bad days but I think

02:13specifically in our career path and what we are doing, I think we experience, like,

02:18very highs and very lows but it's great that we have each other because we're all experiencing

02:24the same thing together and we always go to each other for support if we're ever going through it

02:30and if we're having a high, we're all having highs together and we're all, like, it's crazy when

02:36everyone's really energetic, it's like a circuit. The kind of that we have is not just friendship,

02:43like, we're literally family with each other. We're all brothers and sisters so, like,

02:47you can't imagine the vibe that is, like, you know, surrounding us.

02:50It's like family already.

02:52Sabina and Simran came back, haven't been in the group for a while now and

02:56as soon as they come back, it's like nothing's changed.

02:58Yeah, exactly.

02:59I think it's the bond that we all have together that makes Now United so special.

03:06There must be competition, right, between you all? How do you guys balance it out?

03:10Because I'm thinking an 18-member team is a tough one too. We are dealing with egos,

03:15we're dealing with talent. How does it work? Like, how do you make an 18-member team work?

03:21From the beginning, I think in the beginning everyone, like, kind of saw, like, where,

03:26what position, what are you doing? Like, I'm more of a dancer than a singer and in the beginning

03:30was, like, a little harder but I feel like everyone has, like, equal, like, position even

03:34though I don't have, like, a lot of singing parts, I still have the same, like, we're still, like,

03:41balanced. It's really balanced. We're still on the same, like, level and, like, I don't feel,

03:46like, jealousy or anything. I'm, like, happy if, like, Sabina has a song and, like, now everyone

03:52has, like, their own song which I'm really excited about. It's so cool to see. Yeah, yeah.

03:57And I think another thing on top of that is how we all, I feel like we're all

04:02mutually committed to it just as much as everyone else. So it makes it so easy to

04:08bounce things off of each other because we all understand what level we're at when it comes to

04:13what we want, what we want for each other even. So it makes it so much because we all want the

04:18best for each other. Yeah. And so, like, there's never a moment that I feel, like, spiteful about.

04:24It's very not about competition. Yeah. Really not. Like, there's none of that.

04:28Maybe, like, maybe.

04:42Guys, you need to tell me about your experience of filming in Korea because there's a huge

04:47contingent of K-pop fans as well. What was that like? You know, because I think the best part

04:53about being this traveling group is perhaps you get to see different countries, experience their

04:58culture, and food perhaps. Yeah, that's one of the best parts, like, getting to know all these

05:05different kinds of foods. Like, before Nine-Nine, I didn't know Korean food or I didn't eat a lot

05:10of, like, Indian food but there's so many, like, different flavors each country has and it's

05:15so fun to try it all. Like, that's one of my favorite parts. Use it as well. Yeah. Like,

05:19I didn't know about, like, Brazilian funk until I joined Nine-Nine. Yeah, it's so true.

05:24I wasn't, like, a big fan of and just being in Nine-Nine, like, knowing more K-pop groups and

05:29more Brazilian funk music. Yeah. The media for each country is, like, so separate and you don't

05:35realize how separate it is until you're in it and you meet people from it and it's, like,

05:40everybody you talk to knows about this thing. You're like, I've never heard of this.

05:44You're like, this is great. How have I never heard of this?

05:48Seriously. How easy is it to navigate fame at such a young age? I was looking at your Instagram

05:53alone. You guys have seven million followers nearly and I'm like, how do you guys handle

05:59that kind of fame that comes at such a young age? I basically just got in the group and all of a

06:04sudden there was, like, thousands of people, like, following me on my social media and everything

06:11and it's kind of, like, scary at first, honestly, like, because we don't know what people think

06:17about us or about what we're doing and everything, so at first I was very scared because I was like,

06:23okay, now people are, like, seeing me, you know, but I feel, like, very, very, like,

06:30calm and blessed because the United, like, our fans, they're, like, very nice to us, like,

06:36especially to me, I felt really, really welcomed, like, since the first day, since I was auditioning,

06:43people are really, really lovely and everything, but I'm not gonna lie, it's a lot of people,

06:50a lot of minds, a lot of opinions, so it makes kind of, it makes it kind of scary in the beginning

06:56because, you know, it's a new thing. Yeah, it's a new thing and, like, you never know what, like,

07:04no, you can't, like, make everybody likes you, so you just have to deal with it, like, you know what I mean?

07:11We're in a separate position than most people because we have each other to, yeah, to bounce

07:16things off of and we always have each other as, like, a rock, like, a foundation because

07:22the situation that we're in is so separate and special from, I feel like, a lot of, a lot of

07:27other people, artists and other people in the industry and so, I don't know, I'm super blessed to have you guys.

07:31Yeah.

07:38And everybody else feels the same way, so.

07:42That's good. What is the biggest misconception about you guys that you want to correct?

07:46I think the Uniders know us really well and especially because we've had them in our lives

07:53for, I mean, for some of the older members for five or six years, if not more, and I think at this

08:00point, they kind of know the essence of our group and all we want to do is make music, perform, sing,

08:07maybe make people happy and just have this beautiful experience together and show the

08:12world that it doesn't matter where we're from, we can always come together and

08:18spread a positive message and that's all we are about and that's it, so.

08:24Yes.

08:24Yeah.

08:28How are you guys prepping for tomorrow? Do you guys have a process with you?

08:31Before going on stage, we all get so excited.

08:34Like, adrenaline. Like, before tour, I used to do this thing with Sina where we'd like,

08:39scream into each other's faces and like, we need to

08:41I don't know.

08:43Something is totally crazy so we all get ourselves hyped up for the performance.

08:47Are you guys nervous at all or this is something you can do? It's like,

08:51you wake up and you do this. This is what I do for a living.

08:53We've been touring many countries and you know, with a lot of people watching us so

09:00I feel like now we're kind of used to it. Like, especially after Brazil,

09:05after the tour that we had, like, I don't know. But of course, we're nervous. I mean, honestly.

09:10Yeah, I know. I agree 100% we've done this but at the same time,

09:14it's like the first time we perform here in Abu Dhabi so of course, we wanna, you know,

09:18give our best, our best work, you know? Give our best.

09:23It's our first awards also.

09:25Yeah, exactly. So, it's definitely more excitement I think than like, nervousness or anxiousness.

09:31Which is the toughest city that you guys performed? Which was the audience that you thought

09:35was so difficult to win over? You didn't get a vibe from them but

09:39finally, maybe they relented. Any such, can you think of a city that you went to and you found

09:44found it difficult to win them over?

09:49We had a performance that was kind of... I feel like because usually when we perform,

09:54we perform for our fans, the United people there. But there was one performance for like,

10:00a bunch of people that didn't know us in Portugal.

10:02It was in Portugal, yeah.

10:04The big flags we had.

10:05Oh, the Globos do Oro.

10:08Yeah, yeah, yeah.

10:09Didn't know us at the, like, the crowd were just staring.

10:13Just the different vibes.

10:15Oh, like, elderly.

10:16Yeah, elderly vibe.

10:17Yeah, yeah.

10:20They're like, so serious.

10:24But I have to say something. I have to say something. Even though the United weren't in

10:28the room, they were outside supporting us.

10:31Oh, yeah.

10:32Going in, we were, we had so much like, amazing and positive energy. We were like, well,

10:37it's fine. It's all good. Like, we'll go out and then they're gonna be outside supporting us.

10:42It kind of was like, we've got this.

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