''Arab Idol'' is an

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

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 par ...

'' created by

Simon Fuller Simon Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer renowned for nurturing and inspiring world class entertainment talent. He is the creator of the ''Idols'' TV format, including the UK s ...

19 Entertainment 19 Entertainment is a producer of entertainment properties for television with a focus on music. Founded by Simon Fuller in London in 1985, the company co-produced ''Pop Idol'' in the United Kingdom with Thames Television in 2001. The ''Idol serie ...

and developed by

Fremantle Media Fremantle (; formerly FremantleMedia) is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. Fremantle takes its name from Fremantle International, acquired by predecessor company All American Television in ...

and recorded in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. 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 * MBC1 (Middle Eastern and North African TV channel) MBC 1 is a free-to-air pan-Arab general television channel. Satel ...

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 broadca ...

. 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 of 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 '' Super Star'', which aired on the Lebanese

Future TV Future Television ( ar, تلفزيون المستقبل, ''Televiziyon al-Mustaqbal'') was a Lebanese free-to-air television station founded in 1993 by the Future Movement leader Rafik Hariri, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon. Future TV was als ...

for 5 seasons, beginning in 2003.

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 The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

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/Messaging 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 devices exchange short text ...

. The contestant who receives the fewest votes is eliminated during the results 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 artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

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

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a two-door, two-passenger luxury sports car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet since 1953. With eight design generations, noted sequentially from C1 to C8, the Corvette is noted for its performance and distinctive ...

. 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 (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

i actor Abdallah Tulehi and Lebanese model

Annabella Hilal Annabella Samir Hilal (born in Achrafieh, Beirut) is a Lebanese model and TV presenter. Biography Hilal was born into an Eastern Orthodox Christian family, and (aside from Arabic), is fluent in English and French. Hilal studied at the "Co ...

. The judging panel consisted of *

Ragheb Alama Ragheb Alama ( ar, راغب علامة born 7 June 1962) is a Lebanese singer, dancer, composer, television personality, and philanthropist. Alama began his career in the 1980s when he appeared as a contestant on the talent show broadcast Studio ...

- Singer and composer * Ahlam - Singer and composer *

Hassan El Shafei Hassan El Shafei ( ar, حسن الشافعي; born 9 October 1982) is an Egyptian record producer and media personality, el-Shafei was distinguished by his modern style in choosing music. He also cooperated with important names in the music worl ...

- Music producer, record producer and vocalist On finale night, 24 March 2012,

Carmen Suleiman Carmen Essam Soliman ( ar, كارمن عصام سليمان ; born on 7 October 1994), better known by her stage name Carmen Suleiman ( ar, كارمن سليمان ), is an Egyptian singer. Soliman won the first season of Arab Idol song conte ...

from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

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

Dounia Batma Dounia Batma ( ar, دنيا بطمة) (born 23 April 1991) is a Moroccan singer and actress who rose to popularity around the world as the runner-up of the first season of ''Arab Idol'' (the Arabic version of Pop Idol) on MBC. She lost the tit ...

from

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Season 2 (2013)

The second season was hosted by

ian singer and acto
Ahmed Fahmi
and Lebanese model

. The judging panel consisted of: *

- Singer and composer * Ahlam - Singer and composer *

- Music producer, record producer and vocalist *

Nancy Ajram Nancy Nabil Ajram ( ar, نانسي نبيل عجرم, born May 16, 1983) is a Lebanese singer, television personality and businesswoman. Dubbed by Spotify as the " Queen of Arab Pop". With the support of her father, she began performing as ...

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

Mohammed Assaf Mohammad Jaber Abdul Rahman Assaf ( ar, محمد جبر عبدالرحمن عساف; born 1 September 1989)

from

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

was crowned the winner of the second season of ''Arab Idol'' in a tough competition against

Farah Youssef Farrah Yousef ( ar, فرح يوسف) (born July 20, 1989) is a Syrian singer who was the first runner-up on the second season of the television program ''Arab Idol'' in 2013.

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 Iraqi-Kurdish city of

Erbil Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000. Hu ...

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

Emirates Airlines Emirates ( ar, طَيَران الإمارات DMG: ''Ṭayarān Al-Imārāt'') is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Etihad). Based in Garhoud, Dubai, the airline is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, which ...

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 ( ar, ميشال اميل كفوري; born September 14, 1974), known by his stage name Wael Kfoury (), is a Lebanese singer, Wael Kfoury is called the king of romance and the common nightingale and perfect . Wael has many son ...

, 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 *

- 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 ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

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 Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

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 *

- Music producer, record producer and vocalist *

- Singer On finale night, 25 February 2017,

Yacoub Shaheen Yacoub Shaheen ( ar, يعقوب شاهين; born 27 February 1994) is a Palestinian singer from the West Bank city of Bethlehem. He is a Syriac Christian. Shaheen won the TV program ''Arab Idol'', a program with approximately 120 million viewe ...

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 (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

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

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

References

External links

Arab Idol
official page on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

{{Idol series Television series by Fremantle (company) Lebanese television series 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