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Alumni News
performing world when she moved to
the Ras Beirut campus in her secondary
years. Somehow she managed to partici-
pate in performances, activities (includ-
ing the volley ball team) and still make
the honor list.
Her talent had not gone unnoticed by
IC teachers. She recalls one music teacher,
Lydia Sabra, who introduced her to sing-
ing lessons. Yamout was hooked. She
loved it. In her final year, she was initiated
to the world of theater by acting teacher,
Riad Chirazi (also head of activities and
community service).
“My teachers believed in me,” she said.
“And that lifted me up. It pushed my am-
bitions. It made me who I am. I am truly
grateful to them.”
It was during her years at IC that she
discovered her music composition skills.
An avid piano player, she was fiddling
with the piano when a tune popped
into her head. Words followed suit. Be-
fore she knew it, she was composing her
own music and performing them in the
school’s Composer Night concerts. (She
just recorded one of her compositions as
a single).
By the time she graduated in 2005,
Yamout had not only performed in most
of the schools’ shows and created over 30
compositions, but was voted Miss Torch
2005.
Yamout went on to study biology at
AUB but switched majors at the end of
her first year.
“At the end of the semester I hadn’t
touched the piano,” she said. “There just
wasn’t time. My studies were very demand-
ing and I didn’t want to stop my music.
This is part of my life. This is what gives
me life. I can’t let go of that part of me.”
She began her studies in business mar-
keting instead which allowed her more
time for her music.
Meanwhile, Star Academy was look-
ing for talent for its reality based show. It
was Yamout’s mother who woke up her
daughter at six in the morning and sent
her off to the auditions.
“I wouldn’t have done it on my
own,” recalled Yamout laughing. “I
don’t like getting up so early.”
And she still didn’t take it seri-
ously. When asked to say or do
something which would make the
judges remember her and chose
her out of 2,000 people, Yamout
pulled a funny face.
“They can’t forget that,” she
laughed. “But I was actually very
embarrassed.”
Shorty after, a call came sum-
moning her to pack her bags in 24
hours.
With her mother’s encourage-
ment, she took a year off from uni-
versity and went to live on the set
of Star Academy.
Soon after the show ended, she
was invited to fly to London and
record a duet with Chris de Burgh
who spotted her in the show.
Yamout and de Burgh recorded
two duets, with Yamout singing
the lead in Arabic. Back in Leba-
non, Yamout was offered an act-
ing job for an LBC Arabic series,
“Geeran” (neighbors).
She now finds herself juggling be-
tween music, acting and university.
“I have a long way to go yet, a lot
of things to improve in my music,”
she said. “At the moment I’m just
going with the flow.
My education comes
first and foremost
before
anything.
Music and acting
are hobbies. I never
consider them as a
career. I don’t de-
pend on them. I just
love doing them.”