Voices of hope
The smash hit talent show Arab Idol has brought unity into sharp focus.
IT took Mohammad Assaf two days to get from his home in Khan Younis, Gaza in Palestine, to Egypt for the Arab Idol auditions. The 23-year-old Palestinian literally had to beg Hamas officers and bribe the border guards to let him pass through the border to attend the auditions, according to a report on online media monitoring network,
The Middle East Monitor.
When he finally stepped into the hotel in Cairo where the auditions were being held, he realised he was a little too late. There were no more audition tickets left.
Disappointed but not willing to give up just yet, Assaf burst into song right in the hall where the other hopefuls were waiting.
Upon hearing him sing, Ramadan Adeeb Abu Nahel, another Palestinian youth at the auditions, decided to give his ticket up to Assaf telling him, “I know I won’t reach the finals, but you will.”
Ramadan Adeed made the right call.
Assaf – the first contestant on the show from Gaza – has made it to the finals of the second season of the reality singing show, a version of the original British show Pop Idol created by Simon Fuller.
In Palestine, Assaf has become somewhat of a national hero. Each week, millions of Palestinians switch on their televisions or log on to YouTube to watch the handsome, dark-haired youth with a megawatt smile (who is a college student moonlighting as a wedding singer in his hometown) belt out songs – mainly patriotic folk songs and romantic ballads – on the reality show which began broadcasting from Beirut, Lebanon, in March.
His strong, rich vocals along with his gutsy determination (evident by his struggle to get to the auditions) has inspired not only ordinary Palestinians – who apparently convene at restaurants and coffeehouses to watch the show – but also the judges of the show.
“You are the authentic Palestinian voice. Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!” commented judge Ragheb Alama, a prominent Lebanese singer, after one performance. The judges then surprised the young performer by asking him to release his new song,
Ya Rayt Riyyi Khabiha, as a duet with him.
Assaf also reportedly received a telephone call from Mammoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, who expressed support and encouraged the youth to keep at it.
But it isn’t just Assaf’s voice and swagger that have captivated millions. It’s the spirit he embodies in all his performances. His Facebook page ( www.facebook. com/Mohammad AssafArabIdol2013) is filled with comments from fans – largely Palestinians from all corners of the world – proclaiming their support and adulation for the young singer.
“Palestine and the world is so proud of you. God protect you,” said one fan, Jamal Hilmi, on the fan page.
Majida Abu Almeaza, a 45-yearold mother of five from Gaza, said that Assaf is showing the world that Palestinians are “humans who have a deep and beautiful culture”.
The Arab incarnation of the hugely popular Idol franchise, into its second season now, has given the non-Arab world an alternative view of the region which has been unfortunately blurred by stereotype for decades due to politics in the region: the sectarian strife in Syria, the West Bank and Gaza division and the ongoing dispute between Iraq and Kurdistan over land and oil.
On the Idol stage, however, you see none of this. It’s entertainment, first and foremost. And plenty of melodrama, a hallmark of what the show is about in the first place.
If the series is past its glory days in the United States – what with the ever-revolving line-up of judges and the all-too formulaic nature of the show – in the Middle East, Arab Idol is bursting with a robust energy.
The show is forcing the world, particularly the Western world, to view unseen perspectives of the Middle East: music (which dates back to the ancient civilizations, to even pre-Islamic times), culture, youth and fun.
The show features four judges and 12 finalists from countries in the Middle East. Contestants sing live each week and viewers get to vote for their favourite singers after listening to feedback from the judges.
The four judges – Alama (who is known as the Lebanese Elvis) who heads the judging panel, the two glamourous female judges, Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram and Ahlam Ali Al Shamsi, a singer from the United Arab Emirates, as well as Egyptian composer Hassan Al Shafei – are feisty and fun. The two women are as glamorous as their counterparts in Hollywood and are quite unlike the view of Arab women (veiled and oppressed) that is held by the Western world.
And the contestants, youth from all corners of the Arab world, such as Morocco, Tunisia, Suadi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Egypt, are no different from their counterparts on the British or American versions of Idol.
The show is down to the final stages now and competition is rife. While Assaf may be the crowd favourite, he faces stiff competition.
Syrian songstress Farah Youssef is said to be his main adversary. Like Assaf, she too faced enormous challenges to get to the competition - her bus from Syria to Cairo was ambushed. And like Assaf, she is bursting with talent and symbolizes hope for her nation. Other finalists are Faris Al Madani from Saudi Arabia, AbdelKarim Hmdan from Syria (a student of opera who, during one performance, made the studio audience break down in tears), Ahmed Jamal from Egypt, Ziad Khoury from Lebanon, and Yosra Saouf and Salma Rachid from Morocco. The hopefuls will vie for the Arab
Idol title in the finale which will air on June 21.