The X Factor Arabia, originally aired on March 26, 2006, with the title XSeer Al Najah (meaning Elixir or Essence of Success) is the Arab version of The X Factor. The Arabic-language version of the program also created by Simon Cowell has a similar format to the British version, in that there are judges who each have a team of contestants to mentor and compete with each other for the X Factor title. The 14-episode first series was broadcast in 22 Arabic-speaking countries. In its debut, it was known as being one of the most watched programs on television and was produced and supported by Rotana, one of the largest production companies in the Arab World. The winner of XSeer Al Najah earned a chance to sign with Rotana. However, with the continuing success of the rival pan-Arab series Star Academy on Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), XSeer All Najah lost most of its pan-Arab appeal and was discontinued after season 2.
In 2012, the Egyptian TV channel CBC announced that The X Factor Arabia would return in 2013 with four judges: Elissa, Carole Samaha, Wael Kfoury, and Hussain Al Jasmi. Despite its revamped format, The X Factor Arabia struggled against its rival show MBC's Arab Idol which aired at the same time slot as The X Factor.
In 2014, MBC brought the rights for the show from CBC, revamped its format and started producing season four. Only Elissa as a judge and Bassel Alzaro as a host were retained from season three during MBC's restructure of the show. The judges on MBC The X Factor are Ragheb Alama, Elissa and Donia Samir Ghanem. The first episode aired on 14 March 2015 on MBC1 and MBC Masr.
In 2023, Dubai Media (Dubai TV) acquired the rights to produce and broadcast The X Factor in the Arab world. The 2023 panel featured Lebanese superstar Ragheb Alama, Egyptian singer Angham, and Kuwaiti singer Abdallah Al Rowaished. The inaugural season on Dubai TV concluded in January 2024, with Haneen Elshater announced as the winner.
The second season premiered on November 3, 2024. The grand finale took place on January 12, 2025. The show was produced by Mformedia in partnership with the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism as part of the "DSF Nights" events. The panel featued two new judges - Rahma Riad and Fayez Al Saeed, along with returning judge Ragheb Alama. The title was won by Abdul Rahim Al-Halabi, a Syrian contestant who first gained fame as a child on The Voice Kids.
Series Overview
Act in Nelly's Category Act in Khaled's Category Act in Michel's Category Act in Anoushka's Category Act in Elissa's Category Act in Carole's Category Act in Wael's Category Act in Hussain's Category Act in Ragheb's Category Act in Donia's Category Act in Angham's Category Act in Abdallah's Category Act in Rahma's Category Act in Fayez's Category
Season Start Finish Winner Other Finalists Winning mentor Host Judges (seating order) 1 6 February 2006 15 May 2006 Raja Kessabny Over 25s Ahmad Alaa 16-24s Guitarista (Ali, Rami Faraj, Marwan) Groups Nelly Nathalie Maamary Charbel Raji (Xtra Factor) Michel Nelly Khaled rowspan="2" 2 29 May 2007 1 August 2007 Muhammad El Majzoub 16-24s Bouchra Al Sahafi Over 25s Osama Betro Over 25s Anoushka Joelle Rahme Anoushka 3 21 February 2013 24 May 2013 Mohammed Rifi Over 25s Ibrahim Abdel Adim Over 25s Adham Nabulsi Boys Hussain Al JasmiYosra El LozyBassel Alzaro Carole Wael Elissa Hussain 414 March 201513 June 2015 Hamza Hawsawi Solo International Hind Ziad Solo Arab The 5 Groups Ragheb AlamaBassel Alzaro Wael Mansour (Xtra Factor) Daniella Rahme Donia Elissa Ragheb rowspan="4" 5 3 September 2023 January 2024 Haneen Elshater16-24s Shaimaa OmranOver 25s Nasser & Hamdan MohammedGroups Sheema Abdallah Angham 6 3 November 2024 12 January 2025 Abdul Rahim Al-Halabi Hashem Al-RaquadMajid Khalid Rahma Riad Fayez Rahma
Summary
In each series, each judge is allocated a category to mentor and chooses three acts to progress to the live finals. This table shows, for each series, which category each judge was allocated and which acts he or she put through to the live finals.
Key: – Winning judge/category. Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font.
Season Year Nelly Khaled El Sheikh Michel Elefteriades One 6 Feb - 15 May 2006Over 25sMaher Abdallah GhazalRaja KessabnySherine 16-24sAhmad AlaaDora El FortiHala Al Sabbagh GroupsGuitaristaPlayProva Season Year Anoushka Khaled El Sheikh Michel Elefteriades Two 29 May - 1 August200716-24sChamiyya AbdalazizHalaMahmoudMuhammad El Majzoub Over 25sBouchra El SahafiIkram El AssiNisrineOusama Betro GroupsNhasSafaa & HanaaTrioTwins Season Year Elissa Carole Samaha Wael Kfoury Hussain Al Jasmi Three 21 Feb - 24 May2013GirlsImane KarkibouSalwa Anlouf Soumaya Turki GroupsYoung PharozMaraya BandLes Bledards Ninja BoysAdham NabulsiAl Muntasser BillahHoussam TerchichiAli Hamed Over 25sMohammed RifiIbrahim Abdel AdimMarwa Ahmed Season Year Ragheb Alama Elissa Donia Samir Ghanem Four14 March - 13 June 2015Solo International Hamza HawsawiLatoyaNedjim MahtallahMaria Nadim Solo ArabicHind ZiadiMajdi SharifRania JdidiNada Khalil GroupsThe5GuitaNaiMounib BandAves Band
Season 1 (2006) Results summary Colour key Act in team Nelly
Act in team Khaled
Act in team Michel
–Act was in the bottom two and had to sing again in the final showdown –Act received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown) –Act received the most public votes
+Weekly results per act Act Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Quarter-Final Semi-Final Final Raja Kessabny Safe Safe Bottom Two Safe Safe Safe Safe Winner Ahmed Alaa Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two Bottom Two Bottom Two SafeRunner-up Guitarista Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe 3rd Eliminated(semi-final) Dora El Forti Bottom Two Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two Eliminated(quarter-final) Maher Abdallah Ghazal Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two Eliminated(week 5) Play Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two Eliminated(week 4) Hala Al Sabbagh Safe Bottom Two Bottom Two Eliminated(week 3) Prova Safe Bottom Two Eliminated(week 2) Sherine Bottom Two Eliminated(week 1) Final Showdown Raja Kessabny Ahmed Alaa Dora El Forti Maher Play Hala Al Sabbagh Prova Sherine No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes aloneMichel's vote to eliminate (Groups)Sherine Hala Al Sabbagh Maher Dora El FortiKhaled's vote to eliminate (16-24s)Sherine Prova Play Maher Nelly's vote to eliminate (Over 25s) Prova Hala Al Sabbagh Play Dora El FortiEliminated Sherine2 of 3 votesMajority Prova2 of 3 votes Majority Hala Al Sabbagh2 of 3 votesMajority Play2 of 3 votesMajority Maher Abdallah Ghazal2 of 3 votesMajority Dora El Forti2 of 3 votesMajority GuitaristaPublic voteto save Ahmed AlaaPublic voteto win
Season 2 (2007) Results summary Colour key Act in team Anoushka
Act in team Khaled
Act in team Michel
–Act was in the bottom two and had to sing again in the final showdown –Act received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown) –Act received the most public votes
+Weekly results per act Act Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Quarter-Final Semi-Final Final Muhammad El Majzoub Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Winner Bouchra El Sahafi Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Runner-up Ousama Betro Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two Bottom Two Safe 3rd Eliminated (Week 10) Safaa And Hanaa Safe Bottom Two Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe 4th Eliminated (Week 9) Chamiyya Abdalaziz Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two Safe Bottom Two Eliminated (Week 8) Nhas Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two Eliminated (Week 7) Twins Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two Bottom Two Eliminated (Week 6) Trio Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two Bottom Two Eliminated (Week 5) Nisrine Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two Eliminated (Week 4) Mahmoud Safe Safe 10th Eliminated (Week 3) Hala Safe Bottom Two Eliminated (Week 2) Ikram El Remas Safe 12th Eliminated (Week 2) Final Showdown Ousama Betro Safaa And Hanaa Chamiyya Abdalaziz Nhas Twins Trio Nisrine Hala No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes aloneAnoushka's vote to eliminate (16-24s)Ikram El Remas Nisrine Trio Twins Nhas Khaled's vote to eliminate (Over 25s)Hala Mahmoud Trio Twins Nhas Chamiyya Abdalaziz Michel's vote to eliminate (Groups)Hala |Ikram El Remas Mahmoud Nisrine Chamiyya Abdalaziz Eliminated Hala2 of 3 votesMajority Ikram El Remas2 of 3 votes Majority Mahmoud2 of 3 votesMajority Nisrine2 of 3 votesMajority Trio2 of 3 votesMajority Twins2 of 3 votesMajority Nhas2 of 3 votesMajority Chamiyya Abdalaziz2 of 3 votesMajority Safaa And HanaaPublic voteto save Ousama BetroPublic voteto save Bouchra El SahafiPublic voteto win
Season 3 (2013) Colour key –Contestant was in the bottom two and had to sing again in the final showdown –Contestant received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown) –Contestant received the most public votes +Weekly results per contestant Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Round 1 Round 2 Mohammed Rifi 1st24.66% 1st23.42% 1st25.44% 1st33.08% 1st32.03% 1st33.50% 1st31.18% 1st35.11% 1st46.16% 1st61.16% Winner Ibrahim Abdel Adim 12th1.36% 2nd13.69% 6th7.60% 7th4.64% 5th8.40% 4th9.12% 3rd15.22% 3rd17.24% 2nd19.62% 2nd20.92% Runner-Up Adham Nabulsi 3rd15.17% 5th12.15% 3rd14.64% 2nd15.36% 2nd21.12% 2nd17.55% 2nd18.34% 4th15.12% 3rd19.47% 3rd17.39% Eliminated Young Pharoz 2nd18.32% 6th10.55% 5th9.54% 4th9.53% 4th8.85% 3rd13.12% 5th13.46% 2nd22.79% 4th14.75% Eliminated (week 9) Imane Karkibou 5th10.30% 3rd13.63% 2nd15.39% 5th8.92% 7th7.55% 7th8.65% 4th13.57% 5th9.74% Eliminated (week 8) Salwa Anlouf 4th13.17% 4th12.52% 4th11.06% 3rd10.60% 3rd10.00% 5th9.05% 6th8.23% Eliminated (week 7) Marwa Ahmed 8th2.41% 7th3.60% 7th4.05% 6th6.58% 6th8.33% 6th9.02% Eliminated (week 6) Maraya 7th3.67% 9th2.44% 9th3.37% 8th3.99% 8th3.72% Eliminated (week 5) Al Muntasser Billah 11th1.45% 10th2.08% 10th2.78% 9th3.98% Eliminated (week 4) Houssam Terchichi 6th5.24% 8th2.86% 8th3.81% 10th3.31% Eliminated (week 4) Les Bledards Ninja 10th1.56% 11th1.72% 11th2.32% Eliminated (week 3) Ali Hamed 9th1.71% 12th1.35% Eliminated (week 2) Soumaya Turki 13th0.99% Eliminated (week 1) Final showdown Soumaya Turki,Ibrahim Abdel Adim Ali Hamed,Les Bledards Ninja Les Bledards Ninja,Al Mountassir Billah Al Mountassir Billah,Maraya Maraya,Imane Karkibou Imane Karkibou,Marwa Ahmed Salwa Anlouf,Young Pharoz Imane Karkibou,Adham Nabulsi No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes alone Samaha's vote to eliminateIbrahim Abdel AdimLes Bledards NinjaLes Bledards NinjaMarayaMarayaImane KarkibouYoung PharozAdham Nabulsi Kfoury's vote to eliminateIbrahim Abdel AdimAli HamedAl Mountassir BillahAl Mountassir BillahImane KarkibouImane KarkibouYoung PharozAdham Nabulsi Elissa's vote to eliminateSoumaya TurkiLes Bledards NinjaAl Mountassir BillahAl Mountassir BillahImane KarkibouImane KarkibouSalwa AnloufImane Karkibou Al Jasmi's vote to eliminateIbrahim Abdel AdimLes Bledards NinjaAl Mountassir BillahMarayaImane KarkibouMarwa AhmedYoung PharozAdham Nabulsi
Season 4 (2015)
References
Arabic Wikipedia page
External links Official XSeer Al Najah website Second Season Website Official Youtube Channel