The Arab Idol juggernaut has eclipsed its roots as a regional hit and grown to become an international phenomenon.
Powered by the stirring victory of last season’s winner, the Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf, Arab Idol has generated plenty of headlines around the world for providing a heart-warming human dimension to the format.
It may technically be classified as a talent show, but according to the MBC Group spokesman Mazen Hayek, Arab Idol's success lies in its good old-fashioned storytelling.
“We are always very keen on delivering the best television, bar none,” he says. “Who wins, who doesn’t, is of no importance to us. From which country or which religion or which sect is also of no importance.
“We are all about giving equal opportunities to our contestants.”
He concedes, however, that there are some exceptions who deserve special treatment, not least in the case of Assaf, whose life story and talents were so compelling that the show couldn’t help but shine the spotlight on his incredible journey.
"Mohammed Assaf was a revelation and became a household name," he says. "Before Arab Idol he was a very talented Arab singer who could have become a singer at weddings and a B-list artist.
“He didn’t have the possibility to dream big, but he had the resilience and ambition. Assaf told me when he won that he couldn’t believe it because he never dared to dream.”
This season, the show extended its auditions to Germany and France, increasing the pool of talent and the inspiring tales within it.
Hayek says the show might travel as far as the United States in future years to reach out to the large Arab population worldwide.
“There is the intention to go wherever we think there is a pool of Arab talent,” he says.
“If that means going to Los Angeles to do casting there, then we will do it. Wherever there is a concentration of Arab talent that we believe will enrich the show, we will go and get them.”
