Arab Idol

Arab Idol Arabic: أراب آيدول‎, also called Arab Idol : Mahboub El Arab (Arabic: أراب آيدول : محبوب العرب‎), is an Arabic television show based on the popular British show Pop Idol created by Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment and developed by Fremantle Media. The first season premiered on December 9, 2011. The show was broadcast worldwide on MBC 1 and simultaneously aired on LBC. The second season debuted on 8 March 2013 and the third season on 5 September 2014 on MBC. The live shows are recorded in Beirut, Lebanon.

Background

Arab Idol is the successor of a previous pan-Arab rendition of the Idol series called Super Star, and that aired on Future TV for 5 seasons, beginning in 2003. MBC 1 expressed desire to revive the show in a revamped version. The concept is still the same: ten young contestants from all over the Arab world are selected after many auditions, and should perform a song on stage in front of the public 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 favorites by SMS. The one who receives the least amount of votes is eliminated during the results show, and this every week, until there is one left. The winner receives various prizes, including but not limited to a recording contract with Platinum Records (recording label affiliated with MBC) for a debut album, and a Chevrolet Corvette. The show was unveiled to the public on July 21, 2011 when MBC 1 began airing the first advertisement. The name was changed from Super Star to Arab Idol and a new logo was launched.

Mohammed Assaf

Mohammad Assaf (Arabic: محمد عساف‎; born 1 September 1989) is a Palestinian pop singer well known for being the winner of the second season of Arab Idol, broadcast by the MBC network. He was given the nickname Asaroukh ("The Rocket") by Lebanese singer and Arab Idol judge Ragheb Alama. In 2013, Assaf was named a goodwill ambassador for peace by The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). He was also named ambassador of culture and arts by the Palestinian government and was offered a position with "diplomatic standing" by the Palestinian president Mahmood Abbas.

Assaf was acclaimed by the jury and the public. His voice and appearance have drawn comparisons to Egyptian singer Abdel Halim Hafez, which has garnered Assaf both fame and controversy. Fans merged part of Hafez's name with Assaf's, as in Assaf Hilm Falastine ("Assaf Palestine’s Dream"). His victory received world-wide coverage from the media and was welcomed with joy by Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world.

Assaf

Assaf may refer to:

People

Other uses

See also

Arabs

Arabs (/ˈærəbz/; Arabic: عرب‎, ‘arab) are a major panethnic group whose native language is Arabic, comprising the majority of the Arab world. They primarily inhabit Western Asia, North Africa, and parts of the Horn of Africa. Before the spread of Islam, Arab referred to any of the largely nomadic Semitic tribes inhabiting the northern and central Arabian Peninsula. In modern usage Arab refers to a heterogeneous collection of Arabic-speaking peoples in the Middle East and North Africa. The ties that bind Arabs are linguistic, cultural, and political, and to a lesser extent genetic, with Arabized Arabs displaying genetic admixture from the Arabian peninsula as well as indigenous elements. As such, Arab identity is based on one or more of genealogical, linguistic or cultural grounds, although with competing identities often taking a more prominent role, based on considerations including regional, national, clan, kin, sect, and tribe affiliations and relationships. Not all people who could be considered Arab identify as such. If the Arab panethnicity is regarded as a single population, then it constitutes the world's second largest group of people after the Han Chinese.

MBC MASR

MBC MASR is an Egyptian free-to-air commercial television channel. It is owned by the Dubai-based MBC Group and is affiliated with the Middle East Broadcasting Corporation network.

MBC MASR was launched during an official ceremony in Cairo on 16 October 2012, and began broadcasting on 9 November 2012. The channel serves Egyptian viewers. The channel also features several new Egyptian dramas such as Al Kabeer, Raqam Majhool, Keid Al Nesa and Ferqat Naji Atallah.

In 2014, MBC MASR announced an agreement with comedian Bassem Youssef that it would pick up his news satire show El Bernameg; Youssef had been looking for a new home for his program ever since Capital Broadcast Center dropped the show in November 2013.

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