National Post (National Edition)
‘Now they just call me Justin Trudeau’
An Afghan wedding singer who shares an uncanny resemblance to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hopes his looks will propel him to fame.
Abdul Salam Maftoon had never heard of Trudeau until he entered an Afghan TV talent show and a judge remarked on the likeness.
The 29-year-old from remote Badakhshan has since powered through early heats of the show, Afghan Star.
“People have forgotten my name and now they just call me Justin Trudeau,” Maftoon told Agence France-presse.
“I didn’t know anything about Justin Trudeau until I saw the photos on social media.”
Muftoon has reached the final eight of the knock-out singing talent show, buoyed by his looks as well as his repertoire of romantic folk songs. He has two months until the contest reaches its finale.
Afghan Star premièred in 2005, four years after the fall of the Taliban. The extremist group has threatened the show, calling it un-islamic.
One of the show’s judges, Afghan-canadian musician Qais Ulfat, told the BBC that he first noticed the resemblance when training up contestants.
“I noticed he looked a lot like my prime minister,” he said. “So I started giggling around with the host.”
“Since then he’s gone viral. Everyone’s talking about him on social media.”
He added, “This guy could be the next Justin Bieber.”
A win would boost his singing career, Maftoon hopes, and better provide for his wife and four children. He also hopes he will meet Trudeau. “I want to meet him, if he wants to, because he is a global personality and I am a poor man from a remote part of Afghanistan,” he said. “We will see what happens.”