Could Arab Idol, whose judges included Hassan El Shafei, Ahlam, Nancy Ajram and Wael Kfoury, become the biggest Idol franchise after Amereican Idol goes? MBC
Could Arab Idol, whose judges included Hassan El Shafei, Ahlam, Nancy Ajram and Wael Kfoury, become the biggest Idol franchise after Amereican Idol goes? MBC

Arab Idol could take the crown as US bubble pops



Falling ratings have brought an end to the trailblazing music talent show in the US, but there are still hopes that Middle East version could produce some more superstars.

She is a 22-year-old call centre operator who has suffered domestic abuse, spent time in a women’s refuge and has a one-year-old child.

Reality shows revel in an emotional back story and there has been something especially heart-warming about La’Porsha Renae’s rise to American Idol favourite.

If she wins this week’s finale, she will be the last American Idol.

The show that once dominated television viewing figures in the United States is considered past its sell-by date.

Even the successful Arab Idol had a season off last year, to make way for MBC to screen some new reality shows, including The Voice Kids.

The Idol franchises – 57 spin-off shows across the globe – were inspired by British show Pop Idol.

Created in 2001 by Simon Fuller, the man behind the Spice Girls, the idea was simple and lifted from a New Zealand reality talent show called Popstars.

Fuller’s Pop Idol, though was about the search for a solo star rather than a group and it involved a public vote alongside the views of the judging panel. Its first winner, Will Young, went on to enjoy a significant music career.

The British show only ran for two series. The chemistry between the judges and their antics made the show a huge success but also became its downfall.

In 2004, Simon Cowell, now a judge on the two-year-old American Idol as well as Pop Idol, used his popularity to persuade ITV to commission his talent show, The X Factor, and Pop Idol was put on hold.

Cowell’s show still runs in the UK, although its viewing figures have also faltered.

In the United States, meanwhile, American audiences lapped up the drama at the judges’ table, with Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, and the chance to vote to save their favourite singers.

Ratings were huge and American Idol’s place in the national conversation was confirmed with the debut single of Kelly Clarkson, winner of the first season, becoming the best-selling track of 2002 in the US.

A year later, Ryan Malcolm was voted the first Canadian Idol in a show hosted by Ben Mulroney, the eldest son of former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney. The series became the most popular television show in Canada.

However, Malcolm’s career trajectory mirrored that of most of the American Idol winners – outside Clarkson and Carrie Underwood – immediate success followed by relative obscurity, suggesting Idol franchise was more about the journey than the destination.

Perhaps the lack of a mega superstar removed some of the shine from the show because by 2008, Canadian Idol was over, crippled by a halving of its viewing figures, the economic downturn and the huge success of American Idol across the border.

Meanwhile, Australian Idol started up in 2003.

It lasted just one more season than Canada – with nosediving audience figures bringing it to an end in 2009.

To be fair, its first winner, Guy Sebastian, and last, Stan Walker, have enjoyed fruitful careers in the Australian music industry.

But it is telling that Walker and Sebastian both ended up as judges on The X Factor, which in many countries came to compete with the Idol franchise.

Add The Voice into the mix – a Dutch programme that now has as many international versions as Idol and The X Factor – and it did not take a television expert to surmise that the world was in danger of suffering from talent show fatigue.

When Indian Idol failed to make huge stars of its winners despite what seemed to be ideal conditions for success, a junior version of the show took its place from 2013.

France still has its Nouvelle Star and Germany enjoys a bit of Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar of a Saturday, which made a fleeting star of Mark Medlock, a bin collector who sold 3 million records before his private life became troubled.

Then, of course, there’s Arab Idol, which succeeded Super Star in 2011 and made a star of former Palestinian refugee Mohammed Assaf in 2013.

So compelling was his story – from wedding singer in Gaza to Arab Idol winner – there was even a movie made about it.

Hany Abu Assad’s film The Idol is proof that the premise of Pop Idol – regular people being given a shot at their dreams – still holds water and has the ability to enthral audiences.

Yet for all the television show’s incredible success in the Middle East, with 120 million people watching as Assaf was crowned, there was no Arab Idol last year, although a fourth season is scheduled for this year.

It may well be as American Idol comes to a close that Arab Idol will become the biggest show in the franchise, only time will tell.

In the meantime, for Idol fans Mohammed Assaf is performing today at the Spring Summer Fashion event at City Centre Deira in Dubai.

newsdesk@thenational.ae

THE NEW BATCH'S FOCUS SECTORS

AiFlux – renewables, oil and gas

DevisionX – manufacturing

Event Gates – security and manufacturing

Farmdar – agriculture

Farmin – smart cities

Greener Crop – agriculture

Ipera.ai – space digitisation

Lune Technologies – fibre-optics

Monak – delivery

NutzenTech – environment

Nybl – machine learning

Occicor – shelf management

Olymon Solutions – smart automation

Pivony – user-generated data

PowerDev – energy big data

Sav – finance

Searover – renewables

Swftbox – delivery

Trade Capital Partners – FinTech

Valorafutbol – sports and entertainment

Workfam – employee engagement

The%20specs%20
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Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHayvn%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EChristopher%20Flinos%2C%20Ahmed%20Ismail%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efinancial%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eundisclosed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESize%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2044%20employees%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eseries%20B%20in%20the%20second%20half%20of%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHilbert%20Capital%2C%20Red%20Acre%20Ventures%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
FFP EXPLAINED

What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.

What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.

What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.

Hydrogen: Market potential

Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.

"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.

Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.

The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.

British Grand Prix free practice times in the third and final session at Silverstone on Saturday (top five):

1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:28.063 (18 laps)

2. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari) 1:28.095 (14)

3. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 1:28.137 (20)

4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) 1:28.732 (15)

5. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Renault)  1:29.480 (14)

Key developments

All times UTC 4

What is graphene?

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.

It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.

Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.

By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.

It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.

But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties. 

 

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
The Bio

Name: Lynn Davison

Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi

Children: She has one son, Casey, 28

Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK

Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Favourite Author: CJ Sansom

Favourite holiday destination: Bali

Favourite food: A Sunday roast

FIXTURES

All times UAE ( 4 GMT)

Friday
Saint-Etienne v Montpellier (10.45pm)

Saturday
Monaco v Caen (7pm)
Amiens v Bordeaux (10pm)
Angers v Toulouse (10pm)
Metz v Dijon (10pm)
Nantes v Guingamp (10pm)
Rennes v Lille (10pm)

Sunday
Nice v Strasbourg (5pm)
Troyes v Lyon (7pm)
Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (11pm)

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League final:

Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports

Game Changer

Director: Shankar 

Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

Rating: 2/5

COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Company%20profile
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Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

MATCH INFO

Manchester City 2 (Mahrez 04', Ake 84')

Leicester City 5 (Vardy 37' pen, 54', 58' pen, Maddison 77', Tielemans 88' pen)

Man of the match: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)

The low down

Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films

Director: Namrata Singh Gujral

Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark

Rating: 2/5

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Director: Jon Watts

Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon 

Rating:*****

The specs: 2018 Dodge Durango SRT

Price, base / as tested: Dh259,000

Engine: 6.4-litre V8

Power: 475hp @ 6,000rpm

Torque: 640Nm @ 4,300rpm

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Fuel consumption, combined: 7.7L / 100km

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
'Ashkal'
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FROM%20THE%20ASHES
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