Arabian idol: reality TV tames nationalism.

• Author: Freund, Charles Paul
• Position: Citings

A DIFFERENT SORT of conflict broke out this summer in the Middle East-one involving reality TV. While it offers more evidence that the region is in the grip of a liberationist pop culture frenzy (see "Look Who's Rocking the Casbah," June), it also demonstrates that even the region's pop fandom can fall prey to conspiracy theories and divisiveness.

Future TV, a satellite network based in Lebanon (and owned by Prince Minister Rafik Hariri) staged an Arab version of the American reality TV phenomenon American Idol. Called Superstar, the show gathered hopeful amateur singers from throughout the Arab world and, week by week, narrowed the competition based on audience reaction. The show attracted an enormous following from the Maghreb to the Persian Gulf.

The penultimate program, in mid-August, featured three remaining contestants: female singers from Syria and Jordan and a man named Melhem Zein from Lebanon. When Zein was eliminated, the Beirut audience exploded. Both women fainted amid a tumult of flying chairs and had to be rushed to the hospital. A crowd gathered in front of the studio and began a well-known Arabic chant that is usually heard in the context of far more serious strife. This time, instead of a political or religious leader, the chanters...