How did the “Arab Idol” heroes turn into prominent stars in 11 years?

The “Arab Idol” program contributed to revealing many talents over the course of 11 years, and transforming those who participated in it into stars on the Arab art scene. The Saudi contestant, Hams Fikri, won the title of the first edition of the singing talent program “Saudi Idol”, which is derived from the famous program “Arab Idol”, one of the productions of the “MBC” channel group, in cooperation with the Saudi General Authority for Entertainment to support and discover Saudi singing talents, after it decided The competition in the last episode of the program is in her favor at the expense of her colleagues, Majid Al-Awaid and Abdulaziz Manea, in front of a jury that included a number of Arab lyrical figures, namely, the Emirati artist Ahlam, the Syrian artist Asala Nasri, the Saudi artist Aseel Abu Bakr, and the Iraqi artist Majed Al-Mohandes.
And the programs “Arab Idol”, which lasted for four seasons, and “Iraqi Idol”, which was shown for two seasons, and finally “Saudi Idol” provided the Arab singing scene with a large number of artistic lyrical talents that gained a place in the singing community, so “Arab Idol” was presented. In its first season, which started in 2012, the Egyptian Carmen Suleiman, the Moroccan Donia Batma, and the Jordanian Youssef Arafat starred in the second version, the Palestinian artist Muhammad Assaf won the title, and the Egyptian Ahmed Jamal came second, and in the third version, which was held in 2014, the Syrian Hazem Sharif won title, while Jordanian Haitham Khalayli came in second place.
As for the last version of the program, which was held in 2017, it was dominated by the Palestinians, Yaqoub Shaheen and Amir Dandan, who won the first and third places, and the Yemeni Ammar Al-Azzaki came in the second place… As for the “Iraq Idol” program, which was launched in 2021 and is derived from the program “Arab Idol” to specialize in Iraq, winning the title of its first season, contestant Ali Leo, and Afra Sultan winning the title of its second season after competing with Badr Basem and Ali Al-Salam, in front of a jury that included Iraqi artists Hatem Al-Iraqi, Saif Nabil, and Rahma Riyad.
Egyptian actress Carmen Suleiman talked about her career with Arab Idol, telling Asharq Al-Awsat: “(Arab Idol) shortened many steps for me and put me at the beginning of the ladder of success when I snatched the title of the first version of it. It is enough that he introduced me to the audience, and made me very popular. In Egypt and the Arab world, and laid the foundations for my success. Perhaps if I had not had a large program at the beginning, such as (Arab Idol), I would not have reached what I have reached now with these rapid steps. And she added, “This year, I celebrated the 10th anniversary of my artistic launch by releasing the song (Ya, Your Beauty), as I began to professionalize art after winning the title of the program, specifically when my first album (Akhbari) was released in 2013, in cooperation with the (Arab Idol) program.”
For his part, the Egyptian artist Ahmed Gamal, who finished second in the second version of the “Arab Idol” program, said: “I gained great experience by participating in the program.” Alama, Ahlam, and Nancy Ajram, which benefited me when I graduated from the program, and I completed the journey on my own.
And he stressed the importance of the existence of these programs, saying: “These programs must continue because they shorten many years for the contestants, and these programs are able to give the contestants a mass that helps them succeed and complete the journey, which is what happened to me, as I have a mass in the Arab countries and not in Egypt only.