'Star' lights up auds in Iraq

Talent show offers viewers an escape

By ALI JAAFAR

Beleaguered Iraqis have found an unlikely source of relief from the daily suicide bombings, insurgent attacks and disagreements over the new constitution.

"Iraq Star," a talent show based on the "Pop Idol" format, has taken viewers by storm since its preem in July on Al-Sumariyah, a free-to-air satcaster with an Iraq license that broadcasts from Beirut, Lebanon, for security reasons.

While there are no confirmed numbers for viewership, 90% of Iraq's homes receive the channel, and Al-Sumariyah CEO Jean-Claude Boulos estimates some 5 million of the country's 26 million population tune in every night at 9.

He bases this belief on the number of phone calls, emails and SMS cell phone messages he has received since the show kicked off in July -- even though viewer voting is still yet to begin.

"It's a miracle it's taken off the way it has. People have told me the streets of Baghdad are empty when it's on," Boulos says, adding that he has commissioned an independent survey to confirm viewership in a country without the traditional data-gathering agencies.

More than 2,500 young Iraqis signed up for auditions in Baghdad, braving terror attacks to get their moment in the spotlight.

Such were the security worries when the program launched that the first contestants weren't even told of the studio's location in Baghdad's Babylon Hotel. Even now, the show is not filmed in front of a studio audience.

"It's astounding that people are coming to the Baghdad studio. Even with all the problems they're facing everyday and all the blood reported on the front pages, these boys and girls are still meeting in the studio, singing and going on," Boulos says. "We're trying our best to have good security around the place. We don't want anyone to get injured."

The show's December finale will likely be held in Lebanon, with the final 12 contestants performing in front of a live televised audience for the first time.

Still the same, though, is the specter of the three judges -- the show even has its own Simon Cowell in the form of Muhammed Hadi, a music teacher at Baghdad's Institute of Arts, who has already developed a reputation for reducing contestants to tears.

"One newspaper even wrote that the three judges should write the Iraqi constitution," Boulos quips. "They don't give a damn where the contestants come from. It's only about the music."

With the initial 2,500 contestants now whittled down to 80, current front-runner is 12-year-old Bilal from Mosul.

The boy broke down to cry midway through his rendition of a self-penned song on the destruction of Iraq, reducing the three hard-nosed judges to tears.

The winner will receive an as-yet-unannounced cash prize and a recording contract with Al-Sumariyah, which will feature the winner on its shows.

Lebanon's "Super Star," which included contestants from across the Arab world, was also a huge success when it aired, with demonstrations across the region as fans showed their support for their favorite contestants.

The success of "Iraq Star" is not limited to Iraq. Boulos says the producers have received numerous messages from across the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia.

Boulos is one of the founders of Lebanon's state channel Tele-Liban, the Arab world's first TV station that bowed in 1958.