Arab Idol is the successor of a previous pan-Arab rendition of the Idol series called Super Star, which aired on the LebaneseFuture TV for 5 seasons, beginning in 2003. MBC 1 expressed desire to revive the show in a revamped version. The concept is still the same: ten young contestants from all over the Arab world are selected after many auditions, and perform songs on stage in front of a live audience and the judges on the main weekly show every Friday. Then there is a 24-hour time period during which the viewers can vote for their favourites by SMS. The contestant who receives the fewest votes is eliminated during the results show. This elimination process continues weekly, until a winner is crowned on the show's finale. The winner receives various prizes, including but not limited to a recording contract with Platinum Records for a debut album, and a Chevrolet Corvette. The show was unveiled to the public on 21 July 2011 when MBC 1 began airing the first advertisement. The name was changed from Super Star to Arab Idol and a new logo was launched.
On finale night, 24 March 2012, Carmen Suleiman from Egypt was crowned the winner of the first season of Arab Idol in a tough competition against Dounia Batma from Morocco.
Season 2 (2013)
The second season was hosted by Egyptian singer and actor Ahmed Fahmie and Lebanese model Annabella Hilal. The judging panel consisted of:
Ragheb Alama - Singer and composer
Ahlam - Singer and composer
Hassan El Shafei - Music producer, record producer and vocalist
The third season premiered on 5 September 2014. Auditions were held in Beirut, Bahrain, Kuwait, Algeria, Cairo, Alexandria, Dubai, Morocco, Palestine, the Iraqi-Kurdish city of Irbil and on the European continent, notably in Paris and Berlin. Emirates Airlines was a major sponsor of season 3. Three of the four judges returned with Ragheb Alama being replaced, after two consecutive seasons, by another well-known Lebanese singer, Wael Kfoury, who was recently a judge on the pan-Arabian version of The X Factor. The judging panel comprised:
Wael Kfoury - Singer and composer
Ahlam - Singer and composer
Hassan El Shafei - Music producer, record producer and vocalist
Nancy Ajram - Singer
Season 3 was notable because of the presence of non-Arabic-speaking contestants at the auditions including a Japanese and two Indian contestants. The Japanese Koyasu made it through to the group challenge, though she did not proceed any further and was eliminated before the Final 26. On finale night, 13 December 2014, Hazem Shareef from Syria was crowned the winner of the third season of Arab Idol in a tough competition against Haitham Khalaily from Palestine and Majed Madani from Saudi Arabia.
Season 4 (2016–2017)
The fourth season premiered on November 4, 2016. Auditions were held in Beirut, Bahrain, Kuwait, Algeria, Cairo, Alexandria, Dubai, Morocco, Palestine, the Iraqi-Kurdish city of Irbil and Turkey. The judging panel comprises:
Wael Kfoury - Singer and composer
Ahlam - Singer and composer
Hassan El Shafei - Music producer, record producer and vocalist
Nancy Ajram - Singer
On finale night, 25 February 2017 Yacoub Shaheen from Palestine was crowned the winner of the fourth season of Arab Idol in a tough competition against Ameer Dandan also from Palestine and Ammar Mohammed from Yemen. For the first time in Arab Idol history, two of the last three contestants were Palestinian.
