11-year-old Mohammed Al Sheikh wins hearts on Arabs Got Talent

Young Palestinian contortionist Mohammed Al Sheikh and hula hoopist Marawa are voted through to the finals of Arabs Got Talent.

Mohammed Al Sheikh on Arabs Got Talent. Courtesy MBC

Eleven-year-old Mohammed Al Sheikh tried desperately to hold back his tears on Saturday night. He couldn't do it, and he certainly couldn't respond when the Arabs Got Talent hosts – the Lebanese TV presenter Raya Abirached and the Saudi rapper and musician Qusai – asked him how he felt about receiving the most audience votes and making it to the final round of the show.

Classified as a “sportsperson” on the show, the Palestinian youngster is a contortionist whose remarkable flexibility gives the illusion that “he has no bones”, said Saudi judge Naseer Al Qasabi.

Al Sheikh has always been an audience favourite, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that he is from Gaza, like the teenage band Al Takht Al Sharqi (they will perform on Saturday in the last episode of the semi-final).

But Al Sheikh's heart-wrenching story is not the reason he is advancing so rapidly on Arabs Got Talent, said Lebanese judge and MBC Group TV director Ali Jaber.

“There’s no question that the show that Mohammed presented has improved greatly since his audition,” said Jaber. “Now he has a professional edge. We just witnessed a professional artistic show with rhythm and a theme and a style with a beginning and middle and end, in a theatrical way.”

Egyptian actor Ahmed Helmy, who finally regained his notorious sense of humour after maintaining a subdued presence on the last three episodes, said: “I feel like Al Sheikh can fit in a jar. I wish I could be the entire audience, so I can vote for you, Mohammed.”

The other winner of the night was Marawa, a hula hoopist originally from Somalia. She performed with a burning hula hoop while wearing platform heels. "Marawa presented a show that absolutely, definitely has to be in the finale," said Jaber. Marawa is no stranger to fame. She holds the world record for spinning 160 hula hoops at once, she was a semi-finalist on both Britain's Got Talent and Australia's Got Talent, she graduated with a degree in circus arts and she has performed worldwide, both alone and as part of the group Marawa Majorettes.

• The last of the live semi-final rounds is on February 28 at 10pm on MBC4