Can Arab Idol bring peace to the Arab World?

Arab Idol CNN report

Now in its second season Arab Idol brings people from around the Arab world to showcase their talent. I'm guessing that no one was killed in the first season, so this must be something really good going on.

One contestant put it this way:

"You should vote for, only for music," a grinning and relaxed Ahmad Jamal says during rehearsal. "Not for nationality, not for religion, not for political issues," adds the 25-year-old Egyptian contestant. "You just vote for music and the one you love, the one you want to be a star."

One contestant (and I'm sure there are many more stories like this) was nearly killed on her way to the auditions.

Take Farah Youssef, for example. The 25-year-old almost didn't make it out of Syria. Her car was caught in the middle of a shootout as she left Damascus to audition in Beirut.

Right now I'm heading over to youtube to watch some of the segments of the show. If love can't save the Arab World, let's hope that maybe talent can.

Arab Idol youtube

reply to post by jiggerj


Can it bring peace? I'm going with no but what it can do is provide a target for the Islamic extremists.

Weed out Western influence in the Middle East and in time, a long time, peace may follow.

of course no..they fight for religion...and west take advantage to claim the black gold..oil

Originally posted by Swills
reply to post by jiggerj

 

Can it bring peace? I'm going with no but what it can do is provide a target for the Islamic extremists.

Weed out Western influence in the Middle East and in time, a long time, peace may follow.

Can it bring peace? I don't know, but when all the haters in that region of the world watch the talent on this show, maybe they'll say, "Look at the people we're hating and killing. We have to stop because I don't hate them anymore. They're just people like us."

reply to post by jiggerj


I can understand that position.

But killers don't think like that. Their victims aren't people to them, they are just things, like furniture, that need to be taken out to the curb.

reply to post by jiggerj


MSM used the story of a singer in Syria getting his tongue ripped out by Assad's men to start a war so why can't a singer bring peace?
Remember the song well mocking Assad; but then I read more and more only to find out it was a fabrication from MSM.
I have always believed music to be very powerful, very!
Yankee Doodle went to....

reply to post by jiggerj


I never thought I would hear myself say "the idol franchise might be a good thing".

Although it's been abused, in this context, promoting a more carefree mentality, in the form of TV shows like Arab Idol, might help defuse the mega-seriousness of religion in mideast political discourse.

reply to post by jiggerj

the only solution is that arabs like other nations become the decider for their governments. this can alleviate the problems. monarchies should be destroyed. those who are killing and capturing the lands in the name of religion should be destroyed. then those who are backing them from outside will be destroyed !

I find it hard to believe that a simple TV show could undo generations of disagreement, but any positive pan-regional 'event' is helpful in healing old wounds. I suspect it's true to say that things such as this could be the baby steps that get the whole process moving though.

Also, it's interesting to note that China does not permit shows like this where the audience is invited to phone in, make their opinion known and witness their vote shape the events they watch - it smacks a little too much of illustrating the advantages of democracy to them. I don't think it'll do the Arab world any harm at all to see, once again, their individual voices can dictate change.

Baby steps.

reply to post by jiggerj

You are thinking rationally. But the religious radicals don't think rationally. So to answer your question .. no. I do not think this will bring any kind of peace to the Arab world. And further .. it'll probably give fodder to the extremists to have yet another thing to complain about. Sorry.

what they need is to have goverment for the people by the people...voting with paper trails...etc
not like the "christian" countries where all the voting has PROVEN to be rigged
( probably by the devil.... )

Yes, because the Arab world is a brutal, evil place with daily killings, and a culture of death with no place for entertainment and enjoyment.
....

What's depressing is that I'm pretty sure a lot of people here actually believe that.
They don't know that the Arab world has a history of singing and poetry that is older than the English language.
They don't know that the Arab world has a history of cinema going back to the 19th century.
They don't know that "Arab Idol" isn't even the first show of its kind in the Arab world (personally, I preferred the poetry one they had a couple years ago, where the winner for more than one year was a woman).

I'm pretty sure a name like "Arab Idol" isn't going to endear this to anyone. And the entire "idea" of American Idol is so mockworthy that it is hilarious that they're trying to fob off THAT bit of culture to the Arab world, as if it can benefit from that somehow.

I suppose some can say "Hey, it is just a bit of fun that they're having inbetween all the killings and hate and evil", but then that presupposes that killings and hate and evil are the identifiers of "Arabness", and that Arabs don't already have access to fun that is less vapid than an "_ Idol" tv show.

reply to post by babloyi

Originally posted by babloyi
And the entire "idea" of American Idol is so mockworthy that it is hilarious that they're trying to fob off THAT bit of culture to the Arab world, as if it can benefit from that somehow.

I don't know why the "idol" shows around the world are so mockworthy... What's wrong with a singing/talent contest? I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but with all the pure crap on TV these days, I certainly wouldn't criticize it as one of the worst concepts - not when Honey Boo-boo,"Toddlers and Tiaras" and "I have 45 children and want more" are the daily fare... Idol seems quote sane.

I suppose some can say "Hey, it is just a bit of fun that they're having inbetween all the killings and hate and evil", but then that presupposes that killings and hate and evil are the identifiers of "Arabness", and that Arabs don't already have access to fun that is less vapid than an "_ Idol" tv show.

Agreed.

I don't know if Arab Idol will have any impact there, but as you said, the region is rich with history and talent of all kinds.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
I don't know why the "idol" shows around the world are so mockworthy... What's wrong with a singing/talent contest? I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but with all the pure crap on TV these days, I certainly wouldn't criticize it as one of the worst concepts - not when Honey Boo-boo,"Toddlers and Tiaras" and "I have 45 children and want more" are the daily fare... Idol seems quote sane.

Oh, I agree with you on the rubbish on TV these days...haven't turned it on in years, to the point where I'm (happily) oblivious about a lot of it (I usually get whatever particular diamond in the rough I'm interested in online). Nothing intrinsically wrong with singing/talent contest, I suppose, but the format and name of the "idol" shows come with a lot of pointless rubbish and reprehensible baggage, to the point where you can't really just classify it as just another singing/talent contest.

reply to post by babloyi

They don't know that the Arab world has a history of singing and poetry that is older than the English language.

And it sort of died down after the 13th century.

Can you really name a great Arab poet, or philosopher, before Islams heyday in the 10th-13th centuries?

If it's been forgotten, its been forgotten because, as they say, you shouldn't rest on your laurels, or, for that matter, forget the qualities which made you great.

(personally, I preferred the poetry one they had a couple years ago, where the winner for more than one year was a woman).

In my opinion, having a show with franchises in almost every known country worldwide is a good thing. If there's any feeling lacking anywhere in the non-western world for the rest of the world, it's the Arab world. As I've said before, this is due to the religion. It shouldn't be hard to stomach to accept this: India and China have both demonstrated their willingness and ability to thrive economically, technologically and - to a degree greater than the Arab world, culturally - with the western world. The Arab world conversely has been woefully unproductive in comparison. The only glittering exception (and it's a non-Arab country, but a Muslim country nevertheless), is Turkey.

Erdogan has petitioned his fellow Muslims to embrace secularism (despite the obvious contradictions between the brand of Islam practiced in the Arab world) for the sake of making progress. Can they do it? Personally, I have no qualms about contradiction. I live it in everyday in my own life. But Can a fundamentalist Islam the type which rules in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Afghanistan and Pakistan, really move in tandem with a culture and civilization they either secretly or overtly harbor ill feelings towards? (Take the recent gaffe by an Egyptian politician who said America and Israel are "obviously" our enemies, as if it should go without saying). Frankly, there needs to be Arabs in this part of the world to help Muslims move away from a fundamentalist Islam towards either secularism or, ideally, a reformed Islam that interacts with other belief systems the way modern Judaism does (Judaism and Islam are organically very alike), without the fundamentalist tripe that gets in the way. To my knowledge, this requires basic changes in epistemological and metaphysical outlook, such as, we can't ever have absolute knowledge (therefore, we can't know Gods will for certain), which means, accepting the existence of other belief systems as a matter of course.

And the entire "idea" of American Idol is so mockworthy that it is hilarious that they're trying to fob off THAT bit of culture to the Arab world, as if it can benefit from that somehow.

Yes, I know, to a fundamentalist Muslim the very word "idol" rings of the greatest of evils. But it shouldn't be understood as such. The important factor here, besides the general fun of participating in a singing competition, is establishing a tie between the Arab world and the western world.

Culturally speaking, it'll help defuse those enormous tensions many Arabs hold towards the west (and Israel). Even poetry is a bit too high brow, a bit to cerebral, too Islamic, to really defuse that spirit of hostility many feel. Conversely, a slow and gradual move towards a westernized culture (the like which the rest of the world has made) will eventually, years down the road, in future generations, establish a culture that thinks more like utilitarians. The Muslim brotherhood was a major disruption to this transition.

Anyways, I've gone of track. Arab Idol, along with the internet and other modern technologies, will hopefully help mend the gap between the Arab world and the rest of the world. It is also good to know that there is enough of an opposition in Egypt to make fundamentalist goals difficult to implement. Lets hope a generation can arise which sees coexistence with Israel as a fair and decent solution to the Palestinian problem. I am positive that once Israel has some assurances that the populations of the Muslim world are willing to live in peace with them, that they will pack up from the west bank, relocate the hundreds of thousands of Jews living there, and help establish a Palestinian state.

reply to post by Astrocyte


The average westerner may actually be able to name no poets, writers or singers from the Islamic world whatsoever - not that this is of any relevance, except to demonstrate how narrow or culturally "local" the tastes many people are.

I'm sure that most in the Middle East, or anything we may term "The Islamic World" have a plethora of artists and writers etc that they could tell you all about if you cared to ask them.

I'm partial to a bit of Tinariwen myself, not that i can claim to know much at all of music from the Islamic world myself... but i do know that they are awesome, and their story is kinda cool too. There are many other performers in the same "desert blues" vein.



And the "idol" franchise/tag... yeauch

reply to post by skalla

not that this is of any relevance, except to demonstrate how narrow or culturally "local" the tastes many people are.

I actually enjoy the poetry of Rumi. If I'm feeling in a particular spiritual mood, I'll take it off my book shelf and immerse myself in his transcendentalist thinking.

Granted, besides Rumi - the poet, my appreciation of Islamic literature it limited to philosophers i.e. Averroes, Avicenna, Al Ghazali, Ibn Arabi, etc.

I wasn't trashing Islamic culture. I've always appreciated the rhythms, timbre and melody of Arabic music. I was exposed to it often between the ages of 10 and 15 (my moms best friend was Lebanese). What I mean to say is, the Arab world should open itself up - of course, no more completely than the Chinese and Indians have. The Chinese are still Eastern in their habits of thought (towards Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism) while the Indians still on the whole practice their religions. Opening up merely means creating avenues of commonality and connection at a cultural level. The internet has helped widen this up. Arabic Idol is a western singing competition franchise, but the music, if it is to be authentic, will be ARABIC in nature. In fact, I find it a bit unsettling that Portuguese, Dutch etc idol contestants sing more sings in English rather than in their native languages. There's nothing more repellant to me than mindless homogeneity. I love diversity, but diversity within the context of a whole.

Middle Easterners taken on the whole have a tendency to have a stick up their you know what. This is more so the case with those Muslims (sunni fundamentalists, Wahabits/Salafists) who forbid music, dance and pretty much any other type of representational art. They need to relax.