It has millions of people glued to their television sets, voting in the most authoritarian societies of the Arab world, yet it has nothing to do with politics. Sunday will witness the finals of Superstar, the hit Arabic version of Pop Idol. Produced by the Leba-nese satellite channel Future TV, the two-hour show pulls in more than 30million viewers.
About 100 contestants were recruited from Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Jordan and from among expatriate Arabs in the United States and Australia. A team of four judges cut that to 21 and viewers reduced them to a final 12. The finalists have spent the past three months in Beirut, in the final stages of the competition. The winner goes home with a professional record deal. The only condition is that contestants must sing in Arabic.
Arabic reality television has been around for several years, but has not always been easy to produce. In 2004, a show called al-Ra’is, a direct copy of Big Brother, but set in a house in Bahrain, lasted less than a week after a quick kiss between a young Saudi man and a Tunisian woman caused an outcry that forced its cancellation.
When the first season of Superstar was broadcast three years ago, there was a small riot in Beirut when a Lebanese singer was voted off in the final stages.
For others, reality television has been a breath of fresh air. ‘Arabs are not used to voting. It’s an alien concept and is putting a new perspective on the way people think,†said Nasser Fakih, the show’s director. ‘I had one Saudi send me an e-mail asking: ‘Why can’t we have a Superstar show to vote for our favourite politicians?’â€
The two remaining finalists go forward to this Sunday’s final. —