''Arab Idol'' is an

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

television show, based on the popular British show ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and pa ...

'' created by

Simon Fuller Simon Robert Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer. He is the creator of the Idols (franchise), ''Idols'' TV format, including the British series ''Pop Idol'' and the American ser ...

19 Entertainment 19 Entertainment Inc. is a producer of entertainment properties for television with a focus on music owned by Sony Pictures Television through its nonfiction division. Founded by Simon Fuller in London in 1985, the company co-produced '' Pop Ido ...

and developed by

Fremantle Media Fremantle Limited (), formerly FremantleMedia, is a British Multinational corporation, multinational television production company, production and distribution (marketing), distribution company based in London. The company was founded as Pear ...

and recorded in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. The first season premiered on 9 December 2011. The show was broadcast worldwide on

MBC 1 MBC 1 may refer to: * MBC 1 (Mauritian TV channel), a TV channel in Mauritius by the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation * MBC 1 (Middle East and North Africa), a television channel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates {{Letter-NumberC ...

and simultaneously aired on

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadc ...

. The second season debuted on 8 March 2013, the third season on 5 September 2014, and the fourth season on 4 November 2016 on MBC.

Background

''Arab Idol'' is the successor to a previous pan-Arab rendition of the

Idol series ''Idol'' (also known as ''SuperStar'' in some countries) is a reality television singing competition format created by British television producer Simon Fuller and developed by Fremantle. The format began in 2001 with the British television se ...

called ''

SuperStar A superstar is someone who has great popular appeal and is widely known, prominent, or successful in their field. Celebrities referred to as "superstars" may include individuals who work as actors, musicians, athletes, and other media-based profe ...

'', which aired on the Lebanese Future TV for 10 seasons, beginning in 2003.

expressed the desire to revive the show in a revamped version. The concept is still the same: ten young contestants from all over the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

are selected after many auditions, and perform songs on stage in front of a live audience and the judges on the main weekly show every Friday. Then there is a 24-hour time period during which the viewers can vote for their favourites by

SMS Short Message Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile phones exchange short text messages, t ...

. The contestant who receives the fewest votes is eliminated during the following show. This elimination process continues weekly, until a winner is crowned on the show's finale. The winner receives various prizes, including but not limited to a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with Platinum Records (recording label affiliated with MBC) for a debut album, and a

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953. Throughout eight generations, indicated sequentially as C1 to C8, the Corvette is not ...

. The show was unveiled to the public on 21 July 2011 when

began airing the first advertisement. The name was changed from ''Super Star'' to ''Arab Idol'' and a new logo was launched.

Summary

Season 1 (2011–2012)

The first season was hosted by

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

i actor Abdallah Tulehi and Lebanese model

Annabella Hilal Annabella Samir Hilal (born in Achrafieh, Beirut) is a Lebanese TV host, model and beauty pageant titleholder who appointed as Miss World Lebanon 2006 after placed 1st Runner-up and then represented her country at Miss World 2006 in Poland w ...

. The judging panel consisted of *

Ragheb Alama Ragheb Alama ( born 7 June 1962) is a Lebanon, Lebanese music artist and television personality. Alama began his career in the 1980s when he appeared as a contestant on the talent show broadcast Studio El Fan, on which he received the Platinum Aw ...

- Singer and composer * Ahlam - Singer and composer * Hassan El Shafei - Music producer, record producer and vocalist On finale night, 24 March 2012, Carmen Suleiman from

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

was crowned the winner of the first season of Arab Idol in a tough competition against Dounia Batma from

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Season 2 (2013)

The second season was hosted by

ian singer and actor Ahmed Fahmi and Lebanese model

. The judging panel consisted of: *

- Singer and composer * Ahlam - Singer and composer * Hassan El Shafei - Music producer, record producer and vocalist *

Nancy Ajram Nancy Nabil Ajram (, ; born May 16, 1983) is a Lebanese singer, television personality, and businesswoman, dubbed by Spotify as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Arab Pop". With the support of her father, she began performing ...

- Singer The second season premiered on 8 March 2013. On finale night, 22 June 2013, Mohammed Assaf from

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

was crowned the winner of the second season of ''Arab Idol'' in a tough competition against Farah Youssef from Syria and Ahmad Gamal from Egypt.

Season 3 (2014)

The third season premiered on 5 September 2014. Auditions were held in

, Bahrain, Kuwait, Algeria, Cairo, Alexandria, Dubai, Morocco, Palestine, the Kurdish city of

Erbil Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate. Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...

and on the European continent, notably in Paris and Berlin.

Emirates Airlines Emirates is one of the two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Etihad Airways). Based in Al Garhoud, Garhoud, Dubai, the airline is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, which is owned by the government of Dubai's Invest ...

was a major sponsor of season 3. Three of the four judges returned with Ragheb Alama being replaced, after two consecutive seasons, by another well-known Lebanese singer,

Wael Kfoury Michel Émile Kfoury (; born 14 September 1974), known by his stage name Wael Kfoury (), is a Lebanese singer, musician, songwriter, and actor. Career Wael studied solfège at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik. Commercial deals Kfoury signed ...

, who was recently a judge on the pan-Arabian version of The X Factor. The judging panel comprised: *

- Singer and composer * Ahlam - Singer and composer * Hassan El Shafei - Music producer, record producer and vocalist *

- Singer Season 3 was notable because of the presence of non-Arabic-speaking contestants at the auditions including a Japanese and two Indian contestants. The Japanese Koyasu made it through to the group challenge, though she did not proceed any further and was eliminated before the Final 26. On finale night, 13 December 2014, Hazem Shareef from

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

was crowned the winner of the third season of ''Arab Idol'' in a tough competition against Haitham Khalaily from

and Majed Madani from

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Season 4 (2016–2017)

The fourth season premiered on November 4, 2016. Auditions were held in

, Bahrain, Kuwait, Algeria, Cairo, Alexandria, Dubai, Morocco, Palestine, the Iraqi-Kurdish city of Irbil and Turkey. The judging panel comprises: *

- Singer and composer * Ahlam - Singer and composer * Hassan El Shafei - Music producer, record producer and vocalist *

- Singer On finale night, 25 February 2017, Yacoub Shaheen from

was crowned the winner of the ''fourth'' season of ''Arab Idol'' in a tough competition against Ameer Dandan also from Palestine and Ammar Mohammed from

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. For the first time in ''Arab Idol'' history, two of the last three contestants were

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

References

External links

Arab Idol
official page on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

{{Idol series Television series by Fremantle (company) Idols (franchise) 2011 Lebanese television series debuts 2010s Lebanese television series Non-British television series based on British television series Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International original programming