Arafat and Gaddafi sing the praises of Arab Pop Idols

Times snip:
By Adam Sherwin and Ian McKinnon in Jerusalem

IT began as a search to find the Middle East’s hottest singing talent, but the intervention of Yassir Arafat and Colonel Gaddafi turned last night’s final of the pan-Arabic Pop Idol into a battle for national pride. The two leaders are among the millions of viewers across the Middle East who will this week vote to choose the winner of the Super Star singing contest. Ammar Hassan, a Palestinian music teacher, and Ayman Al-Atr, a dental student from Tripoli, competed in the final sing-off last night. More than 10 million viewers watched the show, broadcast live by satellite from Beirut.

Town squares across the Palestinian enclaves were full after huge screens were erected so that fans could follow Hassan’s fortunes as he sang three traditional Arab songs. In an attempt to secure his victory, Jawwal, the Palestinian mobile phone company, made a 20 per cent cut in the prices of text messages and calls that Hassan’s supporters were using to register their votes. The cut-price calls were unveiled amid a welling of Palestinian pride and widely circulating rumours that Colonel Gadaffi, the Libyan leader, in league with the Syrians whose entrant was knocked out in last week’s semi-final, had made calls free to boost their singer’s chances.

Hassan has become an instant folk hero. Streets in his family’s West Bank hometown of Salfit empty each Sunday when the contest is broadcast and his supporters have set up a “war room” with banks of computers and mobile phones. Mr Arafat, the Palestinian leader, is said to have called Hassan weekly throughout the 20-week contest.

Future TV narrowed the field from thousands of entrants across the Arab world to just 12. Yet, despite the adulation and passion it is not all plain sailing. Fans waved Palestinian flags and tears flowed as Hassan sang a Lebanese ballad about Jerusalem including the words: “When Jerusalem was captured . . . Love retreated . . . And war settled in people’s heart”.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,170-1228322,00.html