Nagui
Nagui Fam (born 14 November 1961) is an Egyptian-born French TV and radio personality of Egyptian and Italian descent. In his professional life, he goes by his first name Nagui[1].
Biography
Nagui was born in Alexandria. His family left Egypt in 1967 and Nagui has never returned. His Greek Orthodox Egyptian father was a university professor of French literature, and his mother was a professor of classical studies. After a period in Aix-en-Provence and in North America the family settled in Cannes in the French département of Alpes-Maritimes.
During the 1980s he escaped his commercial studies at HEC by participating in pirate radio (such as Radio Vintimille), and created, in 2004, a radio of his own: Loisirs AM. In 1988, he was hired by the French radio network RTL.
His television career began in 1987 on M6, and switched to TF1 in 1989. He became well known at the beginning of the 1990s with his game show Que le meilleur gagne (May the Best One Win) on La Cinq, which he carried over to France 2, which he joined in May 1992. His fame has been marked by frenetic humour in the part-parody N'oubliez pas votre brosse à dents (Don't Forget Your Toothbrush) or by a much more laid-back tone in the more serious Que le meilleur gagne. The former has received some harsh criticism, notably for using a pistol-shaped microphone to question the show's contestants. L'Appel de la couette (Invitation to the Duvet) has received similar criticisms form TV critics as it welcomes celebrity guests in their pyjamas, reclining in bed.
It is in the year 1993 that he founded his own production house, Air Productions, situated at the Plaine Saint-Denis, and created a benchmark music show Taratata where artists performed "live". This show continues to be broadcasted on both channels : France4 and France2.
In 1996, he found himself caught up in the media turmoil swirling around host/producers at France 2. He was criticized for lucrative and advantageous clauses in contracts for his broadcasts. He then decided to host programs on the private channel TF1, while remaining a producer on the public channel, including Taratata.
In 1999 he attempted to take on the difficult job of succeeding Philippe Gildas and Antoine de Caunes on the Canal+ show, Nulle part ailleurs (Nowhere Else), a role that had already defeated Guillaume Durand.
In 2003 he returned to France 2 to present a game show, Le Coffre (The Vault), then the revival of Intervilles (Intercity) during summer 2004.
As of 2006 he is hosting a daily game show called Tout le monde veut prendre sa place, meaning in French "Everybody wants to take his/her place" (the place being that of the current champion on the show), on France 2. The game concept has been bought by Michael Davies, the Power of Ten producer.
In addition, since mid December 2007, he is hosting, in the access prime time, a daily musical game show: N'oubliez pas les paroles, which is the French version of Don't Forget the Lyrics!
On radio, after co-hosting from 07:00 to 10:00 the morning show on Europe 2 (later became Virgin Radio) with Manu from September 2006 to June 2008, he is currently hosting on Europe 1 a show called Décrochez le Soleil from 09:30 to 11:00. ( Give yourself ...the Sun )[2].
In April 2010, a national survey carried out by strategies.fr has placed him as the nation N°1 TV host, which is confirmed by his ratings.
References
- ^ "Nagui : "je me sens très proche du service public"". Paris Match. July 1, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
- ^ Nagui page on Europe 1