Star Academy Arab World or Star Academy Arabia, is an Arab world televised talent show, which aired from 19 December 2003, to 29 January 2016. The show features a group of young male and female candidates who are selected from a pan-Arab pool of more than 3,000 and sequestered for four months in "The Academy," a four-story building in Lebanon, where they live, train, and compete against one another every week. The show became an instant success and every episode a much-watched event across the Arab world.

The show was adapted from a French show of the same name and produced by Dutch company Endemol, Vanilla Productions & PAC Ltd. Star Academy Arab World is based on the Spanish format Operación Triunfo.

The show centers around the 16 candidates who compete in weekly talent competitions, singing, dancing, and acting during on-stage performances. At the end of every week, one contestant is kicked off by a public vote by the viewers.

One of the show's highlights are the guest appearances of some of the Arab world's most important singers and performers such as Najwa Karam, Angham, Haifa Wahbe, Assala Nasri, Ehab Tawfik, Elissa, Myriam Fares, Nawal Al-Zoghbi, Abdallah Al Rowaished, Wael Kfoury, Latifa, Carole Samaha, Sherine, Saad Lamjarred and many more. The show has also been successful for its reinvention and continuous changes, just as, starting from the third season, the show witnessed guests from international superstars such as Julio Iglesias, Anggun, Karl Wolf, Tina Arena and Chris De Burgh.

Overview Based in Adma, a city north of Beirut, Lebanon, the show is aired for 4 months on the Egyptian TV station CBC and on the Lebanese terrestrial channel LBC and is hosted by Hilda Khalife. The show follows 16 candidates through their weeks living in "The Academy," training with "teachers," and performing their talents in live on-stage shows. While many choose to sing, talents are not restricted to vocal performances; acting and dancing are also common talents.

The show takes on a few different formats depending on the day of the week. Every day, there is a one-hour "access" show that goes over the day's important and exciting events. On Friday, there is a live performance show where the candidates compete against each other, sometimes alongside famous domestic and international stars, and are voted off one by one. In addition, viewers can tune into "The Academy" 24/7 by watching LBC Reality, a dedicated satellite station.

The concept of the show is training the students in several disciplines: singing, acting, sports, vocalizing, theatre expression, dancing, and musical culture. Then, each Monday, the three weakest students are nominated. The nomination is done by the teaching staff after the candidates undergo an evaluation test the day before Sunday. On Friday, a special live show called "Prime" is broadcast. During the prime show, the candidates perform and sing either by themselves or with guest artists. The three nominated candidates' initial voting is through the public, done by either phone calls or text messages. The one with the highest percentage of votes returns. The two remaining candidates are then voted on by their fellow candidates, and the one with the most votes remains. The other candidate has to leave the academy immediately. When the overall number of candidates is reduced, the nomination by the professors comes down to two students. At this point, it's completely up to the public to vote who is in and who is out, as the remaining candidates do not vote.

The show proved to be immensely popular. As both the LBC and CBC stations provide satellite connections to more than two dozen Arab countries and also to Arab communities throughout the world, it became one of the most popular shows in the Arab-speaking world. In Saudi Arabia in particular, Star Academy was a media event so popular that its broadcasts achieved record ratings, emptied streets in major cities like Jedda, animated debates, inspired Mosque sermons, and widely distracted students from focusing on final exams in May 2004. (Al-Humaydan, 2005) CBC And LBCI, the networks airing the show, reaped huge profits from the show but have been unable to replicate the show's success with other reality shows.

This debate also caused the indefinite postponing of West Asian edition of Big Brother, also known as Big Brother – Al Raiss.

Political responses

Conservatives

While the show is immensely popular among viewers, especially in Saudi Arabia, many conservative and religious leaders have criticized the show for promoting anti-Islamic behavior and ideals. Star Academy has sparked intense debates over the role of Islam in public life, Western cultural influence, gender relations, and political participation and has subverted Wahhabi notions of social order. In response to countless questions from religious Saudi viewers who questioned whether or not it was religiously haram (prohibited) or halal (permitted) to watch the show and participate in the voting component of Star Academy, the Permanent Committee for Scientific Research and the Issuing of Fatwas issued a related fatwa (religious ruling) that prohibited watching, discussing, voting in, or participating in Star Academy, as well as urging businessmen not to finance this or any similar show.

According to the Committee, the fatwa was issued because the show carried a number of serious issues including "free mixing of the sexes," "the wanton display and unveiling on the part of the women displaying their charms," and blatant promotion of immorality by "making Muslims get used to seeing these shameful scenes that provoke desires and by distancing them from good morals and virtues." The Committee also declared that simply not watching the show was not sufficient; it is also the duty of all practicing Muslims to advise those who watch or take part in the show that it is against religious law.

Many individuals have also spoken out against the show, citing religious reasoning as well. An Imam as Mecca’s Great Mosque called Star Academy a "weapon of mass destruction." Sahwi activists distributed a series of audiocassette sermons entitled "Satan Academy" while still others created similar sermons that compared the reality show to the virulent virus that had caused severe respiratory syndrome in the population. Religious leaders were not the only one to speak out against the show, though. Al-Riyah published a number of hostile op-eds entitled "Star Academy: A Corrupt Satellite Industry" and "Star Academy… The Other Terrorism" that harshly criticized the show.

Liberals

While there was much criticism of the show by the area’s more conservative members of society, many liberals praised the novel approach to television media. Numerous reporters in Saudi newspapers praised Star Academy as an alternative to the extremist dogma that had taken over mass media in the nation. In their view, the show acted as an invitation to dialogue as well as an inspiring lesson in democracy. In a column entitled "Star Academy’s Democracy" a female Saudi journalist wrote that "Arabs sheid away from voting because …[of fraud]… until satellite television… corrupted us by inciting us to vote: "vote you are the referee"…"nominate your favorite candidate"…the Arab viewer has become obsessed with voting because results resemble election results in the United States, where unlike Arab elected, no body wins by 99.9 percent but rather by logical proportions."

Other liberals were exasperated by the conservatives’ excessive reaction to Star Academy. Another female journalist writing for Arab news asked "how vulnerable must we be if a TV program can ‘destroy our moral standards and teach our children bad things."

A major liberal voice hailed from within the royal family when Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal, a major stakeholder in LBC, supported Star Academy by sending his private plane to Beirut to bring the winner back to Saudi Arabia.

The patriotic night

On 14 February 2005, Rula Sa'd, the Director of Marketing and Promotions at the LBC acted in her role as Director of the Academy to announce to the contestants that Rafiq al-Hariri had been assassinated, and that Lebanon was in mourning. This was one of the only instances in the show's history that a real-life event had intruded upon The Academy. Like other Lebanese channels, LBC suspended its regular programing to focus all attention on the aftermath of the assassination, including a ten-day hiatus of Star Academy. The show resumed on Friday, 25 February with an episode that critics named 'the patriotic night', during which the contestants, along with Arab celebrities and contestants from past seasons, came together and sang a number of patriotic songs in solidarity with the mourning nation. Not once throughout the program was al-Hariri's name said; instead, the show was made to be a demonstration of renewed patriotism.

Major controversy began when it came time to vote off that week's losing contestant. That week, the three nominees for expulsion included a Bahraini man Ahmad Salaheddin, a Syrian woman Joey Bassous, and a Lebanese man, Samer Doumit. Per contest rules, the public votes to save one contestant, and the remaining two are voted for by the other non nominated contestants. The Bahraini man was rescued by the public, but the Syrian women, despite getting higher ratings than Doumit by the public, was ultimately voted off the show.

The ousting was said to echo the tension that already existed between Syria and Lebanon post-assassination, as there was widespread suspicion that the Syrians were implicated in the crime.

Winners

The winners for the various series were: Star Academy 1 (2003–2004): Mohamed Attieh Star Academy 2 (2004–2005): Hisham Abdulrahman Star Academy 3 (2005–2006): Joseph Attieh Star Academy 4 (2006–2007): Shatha Hassoun Star Academy 5 (2008): Nader Guirat Star Academy 6 (2009): Abdulaziz Abdulrahman Star Academy 7 (2010): Nassif Zeitoun Star Academy 8 (2011): Nesma Mahgoub Star Academy 9 (2013–2014): Mahmoud Mohy Star Academy 10 (2014): Mohamed Chahine Star Academy 11 (2015–2016): Marwan Youssef

Teachers Academy Director:Roula Saad (Seasons 1 to 8) / Claudia Marchelian (Seasons 9 to 11) Contestant Supervisor: Fouad Fadel (Seasons 3 to 8) Voice Instructor: Wadih Abi Raad (Seasons 1 to 8)/ Khalil Abu Obeid (Seasons 7 to 9)/ Hicham Boulos (Season 9 Only)/ Carla Ramia (Seasons 10 to 11) Music Instructor: Michel Fadel (Seasons 1 to 8)/ Amir Theyma (Seasons 10 to 11) Vocalize Instructor: Mary Mahfoud (Seasons 1 to 2 then 4 to 11)/ Pierre Samia (Season 3 Only) Dance Instructor: Alissar Caracalla (Seasons 1 to 9)/ Hadi Awada (Seasons 10 to 11) Drama Instructor: Betty Taoutel (Seasons 1 to 2 then 9 to 11)/ Aida Sabra (Seasons 1 to 2) / Gabriel Yammine (Seasons 3 to 5)/ Michel Jaber (Seasons 6 to 7)/ Naji Sorati (Season 8 Only) Fitness Instructor: George Assaf (Seasons 1 to 2 then 5 to 8)/ Wael Jaber (Seasons 3 to 4)

Seasons

Star Academy 1 The first season of Star Academy 1 made its debut in early December 2003. The first season ended on 4 April 2004. The winner was the Egyptian candidate, Mohammad Attia.

The inaugural show quickly became popular and tickets for the show became harder to get as the show went on. The students, particularly the Top 8, became household names, and those that made the Top 8 became instant stars. The eight finalists were Mohammad Attia (Egypt), Bashar Al Shatty (Kuwait), Sophia El Mareekh (Morocco), Bahaa' El Kafy (Tunisia), Ahmed El Sherif (Tunisia), Myriam Attallah (Syria), Mohammad Khalawi (Saudi Arabia) and Cynthya Karam (Lebanon). The teachers were as follows: Wadih Abi Raad, Michael Fadel, Mary Mahfouth, Betty Taoutel, Aida Sabra, Elissar Karakalla and Rola Saad.