George Chalhoub, Artist and President of the Judging Committee Speech

Good evening everyone,..

First of all, we would like to thank you for inviting us to judge this special event, in which 3 high schools are competing. We understand that presenting in classical Arabic is not an easy task, especially since we have gone through this experience for years, presenting modern programs in classical Arabic. It has always been a concern for me that classical Arabic is limited to historical or literary works that are suitable for them.

The performers who presented the scenes from William Shakespeare's plays were truly remarkable and deserve all our appreciation. It was a bold move on their part to take on such a challenging task, as it is not easy to perform Shakespeare. They were brave and talented, and we commend them for their excellent performances.

The language performance was good and the bravery was evident.

The judging committee has met and discussed, and came to a unanimous decision that the ranking of the three teams is as follows:

• "Mar Antonios Secondary School" has ranked third in the competition.
• "Second place goes to Najib Baik Salha Official Secondary School."
• "Qarnayel Official Secondary School" came in first place.

We hope that this competition will continue to be held and that the spirit of competition will remain alive. We also encourage Lebanese youth to engage with the depth of heritage and culture.

Thank you.