Winner of Arab Idol 2012: The 17-year old Egyptian Carmen Sulaiman. (Source: MBC.net)
Last week, millions in the region enjoyed watching the finale of ‘Arab Idol 2012’. The Egyptian singer Carmen Sulaiman was the great winner, leaving behind her the Moroccan Dounia Batma.
Arab Idol is a show similar to the American and European versions, and has gained an immense popularity in the Arab world over the past months. Arab Idol is more or less a revival of ‘Super Star’, an Arabic show which started airing in 2003 and went on for five seasons.
The Arab Idol studios are located in Beirut and the show was broadcasted by MBC 1, a pan-Arab TV station. Auditions were held all over the Arab world, and, interestingly, one took place in London (UK) as well. The contestants selected for the final were five men and five women from Egypt, Tunesia, Jordan, Morocco, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. The songs they chose to perform in the live shows ranged from Moroccan traditional music to Iraqi pop songs, and from Fairouz to Umm Kulthum.
The first season of Arab Idol was hosted by the Kuwaiti actor Abdallah Tulehi and the Lebanese model Annabella Hilal. The winner of Arab Idol was decided by millions of voters sending text messages on March 24. Voting behavior occurred greatly along national lines, which led some observers to refer to the contest as ‘a battle of nations’.
For example, in a major expression of support for the national candidate, Moroccan telecom company Maroc Telecom decided not to charge for any text messages with votes for the Moroccan candidate Dounia Batma. It was also reported that King Mohammed VI himself casted a vote for Dounia. The 20-year old Dounia Batma, who finished second in the contest, is the niece of Laarbi Batma, the leader of the Moroccan band ‘Nass El Ghiwane’. Although she didn’t win the competetion, Dounia released her own single called Alach Tghib (Why are you hiding?).
The first season of Arab Idol was hosted by the Kuwaiti actor Abdallah Tulehi and the Lebanese model Annabella Hilal. The winner of Arab Idol was decided by millions of voters sending text messages on March 24. Voting behavior occurred greatly along national lines, which led some observers to refer to the contest as ‘a battle of nations’.
For example, in a major expression of support for the national candidate, Moroccan telecom company Maroc Telecom decided not to charge for any text messages with votes for the Moroccan candidate Dounia Batma. It was also reported that King Mohammed VI himself casted a vote for Dounia. The 20-year old Dounia Batma, who finished second in the contest, is the niece of Laarbi Batma, the leader of the Moroccan band ‘Nass El Ghiwane’. Although she didn’t win the competetion, Dounia released her own single called Alach Tghib (Why are you hiding?).
Moreover, the record label of the Saudi Arabian artist Rashid Al Majed gave Dounia a Mercedes and a house in Dubai, where her new album will be coming out soon.
The 17-year old winner of Arab Idol, Carmen Sulaiman, must have felt like one lucky girl that night: not only did she win a contract with Platinum Records, but she also signed a contract with Pepsi to present a series of commercials. Finally, she won a Chevrolet Corvette. However, rumor goes that Sulaiman will be forced to sell her Corvette, because she would not be able to import it to Egypt due to exorbitant customs fees.
The 17-year old winner of Arab Idol, Carmen Sulaiman, must have felt like one lucky girl that night: not only did she win a contract with Platinum Records, but she also signed a contract with Pepsi to present a series of commercials. Finally, she won a Chevrolet Corvette. However, rumor goes that Sulaiman will be forced to sell her Corvette, because she would not be able to import it to Egypt due to exorbitant customs fees.
You can watch the two finalists perform on Youtube.
No comments:
Post a Comment