The night of January 19th at the voguish Dusit Thani LakeView Hotel, located in the Fifth Settlement of the New Cairo district - marked our 9th DG Festival, where all the celebrities gathered to celebrate the most anticipated and extravagant event of the season.

It was a spectacular night of elegance, sophistication and music, inspiring a sense of community and desperately needed change from all the existing anxiety…The DG Festival is dubbed and recognized as a legitimate event which through integral voting supports, determines and hence awards the years most talented productions, by truly inspiring them to reveal and boost their success and influence on younger generations.  The night was all about distinction commending the years most eminent and flourishing achievements. We covered it all, the star-studded showbiz event that wouldn’t be complete without loads of red carpet glamour and jaw-dropping jewels: It was a night where everyone shined and the bold and beautiful unrelentingly continue to rise. As a tradition, the pioneering winners of the industry attended, all eager to receive their awards. DG honored and awarded living legends Hany Shaker and Youssra for their success story as their names continue to be recognized with eminence among renowned prodigies. Subsequent to accepting his award the eminent and infinitely missed Hany Shaker performed a prayer that touched a chord deep in the hearts of the entire audience.

The credible work of Mohamed & Magda Dagher, Marwan Hanna and the fabulous Omar Khairat earned them all appreciation awards. Along with the ever extravagant event host Posy Shalaby who also won an appreciation award. Each Mega icons wowed the audience with an implausible array of the evening’s talented performances, and a divergent medley of distinguished personalities. The beautiful Elham Shahin spoke strong words of courage and endurance when she graced the stage to receive her appreciation award. The pioneering Yasmine Abdel Aziz took home a plaque with the title of best comedian actress. While the lovable Mohamed Henedi won the exact title in the male category for 2012. And the oh-so-lovely Ahmed Ezz, and Menna Shalaby were praised for their worthiness throughout 2012 with the highest voting, comfortably placing them both in the lead, as cinema’s best male/female actor for this year. The remarkable Mohamed Eman and attractive Yousra Louzi were both named best youth actor/actress for their work throughout 2012.

Amal Fahmy took centre stage subsequent to receiving her appreciation award, and gave a deeply articulate and heartfelt speech. Well established director Sandra Nashaat was voted this year’s best director, and Wael Abdallah won an award for his unrivaled script. While “Al Maslaha” won the best film award for the year. The best male radio announcer award went to Osama Mounir and beautiful Nadine Farag won the same award for the female category. Another big winner was sports director Mohamed Sami in addition to everyone’s favorite the distinguished sport presenter Ahmed Shobier. Amr Adib and Lamis Hadidi couldn’t attend the event due to the fact that both had programs airing at the time of the event receiving special awards for their substantial magnitude within the media through out 2012. Striving Squash epic, Ramy Ashour won his award as ‘Athlete of the year".

The extremely dynamic and distinguished, Ahmed El Sakka deservedly earned his title for best actor, and the best actress award went to the impressive leading lady, Ghada Abdel Razek.

Increasingly popular and enthusiastic Ayten Amer was awarded best youth actress, and Ramez Amir took home the same award in the male category in television for 2012. Samir Ghanem was names 2012 comedian of the year.

“Taraf Talet” series was presented with a ‘Best group performance’ award. Fadia Abdel Ghani, and Amir Karrara both won awards for their extensive roles in the series. The special honoring of Mohamed Adaweya was followed by a remarkable, tender performance of the “Taraf Talet” series soundtrack. The charming Rogina, compelling Abeer Sabri and appealing Tarek Lotfi all won awards for their roles in “Maa Sabk Elesraar”. Mahmoud El Gendi and Sawsan Badr took home the best performance award for 2012. While the outstanding performances and timely roles of Salwa Khattab won an award for her role in “Vertigo”, Ahmed Falawkas for his role in “Bab Elkhalk”, Dina Fouad for her role in “Khotoot Hamra”, Nedal El Shafei for his role in “Nagi Attallah”, and Ibrahim Hegazy for his role in “Daerat Aldoaa” and finally the charismatic Ragaa El Geddawi for her fantastic role in “Sharbaat Loz”. The absolutely gorgeous Asala was deservedly voted Best singer and Best Album for 2012, while the esteemed Mohamed Hamaki was named best singer for the year, along with his catchy tune “Min Albi Baghani” winning an award for best song of the year. Promising singing sensation Lian Bazlamit was voted best rising female singer, along with Karim Mohsen as best youth singer. ‘Lazem Nekoun Ma3 Ba3d” is the winning best single song of the year.

won the award for Best Rising Female Singer and charming Ahmed Ezzat was awarded the plaque for best rising male singer. Walid Mansour was presented an award for his role in organizing events, while Emad Kassem won his award for his everlasting dedication to Dear Guest and immense pictorial expertise. Tooma’s outstanding talent earned him an award for best music arranger, while pioneering Nader Abdallah won his award for best poet, along with Walid Saad, winner of the best composer award. Each year the event gets bigger and better, and this year the highly anticipated award night saw the predominance of celebrities who graced the red carpet. It was a festive and lighthearted event that reminds us of the artistic abilities that bring us together every year, and to that we take solace in knowing god willing -- we’ll meet yet again. So the 2012 DG festival might be over, but you can check out all the highlights, live performances, OMG moments and more on Dear Guest TV. Looking forward to many more celebrations of distinctiveness, grace and ambition…

DG also awarded a number of companies with Business Awards, TV channels and Programs according to the survey results. Listed below are this year’s commendable winners:

TV and RADIO
Ramez Taalab el Sahraa: Best Comic Program
Al Qahera AlYoum: Best Talk Show Program
Sabaya AlKhier: Best Program
Maa Sabk ElEsrar: Best Series
Mazzika: Best Music Channel
Al Nahar Drama: Best Series Channel
Al Nahar: Best General Channel
Al Nahar Sport: Appreciation Award

Mega Fm: Best Radio Channel
Modern Sport: Best Sports Channel
Etisalat: Best TV Ad
Al Kora Wa Shobier: Best Sports Program
Ahla Al Negoum: Best Entertainment Program

Business Awards
Hyundai: Best Selling Car
Egypt Air: Performance Development
Wadi Degla: Appreciation Award
Etisalat: Best Mobile Operator
Adidas: Best Sports Wear
Coca Cola: Best Drink
Al Youm Al Sabea: Best News Website
Dusit Lake View Hotel: Quality Performance Award
EgyGo: Appreciation Award