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After more than a year-long hiatus, the fourth series of Arab Idol was relaunched on MBC, with its premiere on 4 November 2016. Once again, just like in the previous season, the jury was composed of singers Wael Kfoury, Nancy Ajram, and Ahlam, as well as music producer Hassan El Shafei, and Ahmad Fahmi returned as host of the show. The first four episodes covered the first round of the show, the auditions process, which took place in nine different Arab countries and, for the first time ever, in Turkey. Although thousands of hopefuls put forth their candidacy, only 64 went through to the second round of auditions in Beirut, Lebanon by the end of which, the 25 semi-finalists were picked to go through to the third round, the live show. The Palestinian contestant Yaacoub Shaheen won the title.
Judges
There was no change in judges from season held in 2014.
The judges for the season were:
Houmam Abdulrazak[21] – later known as Houmam Ibrahim. Before his stint in Arab Idol, he was already a well-known singer in Iraq, and had enjoyed minor chart success with a song, "Ma erftani" (You don't know me).[22]
Rabii Zayyoud (Syria) (he was first eliminated, then qualified successfully after judge Nancy Ajram decided to give him a chance)
United Arab Emirates
Murshid Atta (Saudi Arabia)[36] – had previously taken part in Arab Idol Season 2 and qualified.[37] In Season 4, he qualified again, but had apparently disappeared before the group challenge.
This round began with the 64 candidates' arrival to Beirut, Lebanon. Before settling down, the beginning of the group challenge was announced to the candidates by host Ahmad Fahmi. In pre-determined groups of four to six people, these small groups had to each perform a pre-determined song in front of the jury, immediately after which, performers deemed not good enough to continue were cut from the competition. The songs chosen for this round and the results are as follows.
For the female contestants:
Group 1
Group name: Safar Al-Angham (Travel of the Melodies)
Song choice: "Galaw habibak Missafer" by Thekra[52]
This group comprised four Moroccans and a Saudi. They rendered the late Thekra Mohammed's hit song "Messafer". When their result was announced, judge Ahlam attempted to test the group members' patience by saying that "only one person" had advanced – and that person was "Safar Al-Angham", in other words, the whole group had advanced successfully. All five group members erupted into spontaneous applause.
Group 2
Song choice: "El Areeb minnak Baeed" by Najat El Saghira [53]
Linda Zamil (Palestine) (group leader) – Advanced
Samar Al Husseini (Egypt) – Advanced
Rawan Aalyan (Palestine) – Advanced
Hajar Idelhaj (Morocco) – Eliminated. She could be seen in tears while judge Hassan El Shafei was halfway speaking to her.
Aya Baghdadi (Algeria) (group leader) – Eliminated
Nisreen El Safi (Morocco) – Eliminated
Umniah Hassan (Egypt) – Eliminated
Amal Ibrahim (Jordan) – Eliminated
This team had a problem with the song that they chose. It turned out that the song, "Aala Bali" by Sherine Abdel Wahab, was not suited for their voices. This had a major impact on their performance and led to the elimination of all the members in this group.
Group 5
Group name: Jazairastin (Algeria and Palestine)
Song choice: "Ahou Dalli Sar" by Sayyid Darwich[56]
This team was distinguished by not only the voices of the participants, but also the commonalities that brought them together. The participants were of either Palestinian or Algerian nationality, which inspired their group name, Jazairastin – a portmanteau of "Jazair" (Algeria) and "Falastin" (Palestine). Their creative rendition of Fairuz's "Ahou Dalli Sar" ensured survival of all the members of their team to advance to the next round.
For the male contestants:
Group 1
Group name: Altuyur (Bird)
Song choice: "Walla Ya Teir" by Fadel Shaker[57]
Mohammed Moustafa (Egypt) (group leader) – Advanced
Group 3
Song choice: "Zeina Lebset Khelkhalha" by Samir Yazbek[59]
Mohammed Al Saleh (Algeria) (group leader) – Eliminated
Tamer Daher (Lebanon) – Advanced
Muhannad Al Khatib (Jordan) – Advanced
Asher Alwaleed (Iraq) – Eliminated
Waleed Bechara (Lebanon) – Advanced
Saeed Tarabih (Palestine) – Eliminated
Group 4
Group name: Jalsa (Meetup)
Song choice: "Ya Munyati", popular Yemeni song [60]
Badr Al Hassan (Bahrain) (group leader) – Advanced
Abdallah Alkhelifi (Yemen) – Advanced
Bandar Mougri (Saudi Arabia) – Advanced
Ammar Mohammed (Yemen) – Advanced
Fouad Al-Hitar (Saudi Arabia) – Advanced
This group was composed entirely of Gulf citizens. Their rendition of a popular Yemeni song, completely captivated the jury – so much so that judges Hassan El Shafei and Ahlam gave them a standing ovation at the end. All members of this group qualified for the next stage successfully.
Group 5
Group name: Alkhultat Alsihria (Magic Mix)
Song choice: "Aannabi" by Karem Mahmoud[61][62]
Munad Abdo (Sudan) (group leader) – Eliminated
Omar Hamdy (Egypt) – Eliminated
Nader Hammouda (Palestine) – Advanced
Ibrahim Malouhi (Lebanon)- Eliminated
Mohammed Alhawari (Jordan) – Eliminated
Mohammed Fergani (Algeria) – Advanced
This team comprised six members, each from a different Arab country – which inspired their group name Alkhultat Alsihria (Magic Mix). They performed a song "Annabi", but their magic mix unfortunately did not captivate the jury. Out of their six members, only two – Nader Hammouda and Mohammed Fergani – successfully advanced.
Group 6
Group name: Alwahda (Unity)
Song choice: "Khallas Tarak" by Saber Rebai[63]
Rabih Rahal (Lebanon) (group leader) – Eliminated
Hussein Mohammed (Egypt) – Advanced
Bejan Jaza (Iraq) – Eliminated
Mohammed Hamza (Iraq) – Eliminated
Ahmed Aljarrah (Egypt) – Eliminated
Youssef Hamani (Algeria) – Eliminated
Comprising mostly Iraqis and Egyptians, this group was the most unfortunate of the male groups – largely due to the lack of harmony and chemistry between the group members during the performance of the song. The jury decided to allow only one member of this group, Hussein Mohammed of Egypt, to advance.
Group 7
Group name: Assalam (Peace)
Song choice: "Ya Salat El Zein" by Sayed Mekawy[64]
This team's rendition of a Sayed Mekawy piece, brought a rousing end to the group challenge, once again with a standing ovation from the judges, as well as all six members advancing successfully to the next round.
By the end of the group challenge, 40 contestants remained : 16 female contestants out of the original 23, and 24 male contestants out of 41. These 40 remaining competitors then had to pick one last song, from a list of 14, for their final individual challenge before the Top 24 is picked. This year, however, a maximum of six people could pick the same song, adding to the pressure competitors had to endure, as it was done on a first-come-first-served basis.
The 14 songs in the individual challenge, and the contestants who chose each song, are as follows:
By the end of the individual challenge, and after the 24 competitors to advance was announced, the jury felt as though the previously eliminated candidate Rawan Aalyan deserved a second chance, and so, she was asked to come back, bringing the total number of semi-finalists to 25 (7 female and 18 male). These semi-finalists arise from 12 different Arab countries : 6 from Egypt, 6 from Palestine, 2 from Lebanon, 2 from Tunisia, 2 from Yemen, and 1 of each from Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Syria. Each semi-finalist has their own voting number, varying from 1 to 25.
The 8 contestants who received the most votes automatically advanced to the next round. The judges were able to each select two of the remaining contestants as wild cards. Each pair would sing and then the judge would decide whom to save, advancing them to the next round.
*After being initially eliminated, the judges unanimously decided to save Nadine Khatib and she became the 13th Finalist.
Contestant Progress
Week
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Date
6-7 Jan
13-14 Jan
20-21 Jan
27-28 Jan
3-4 Feb
10-11 Feb
17-18 Feb
24-25 Feb
1
Yacoub Shaheen
Winner
2
Amir Dandan
Runner-up
3
Ammar Mohammad
Third Place
4
Mohammad Ben Saleh
Eliminated
5
Muhannad Hussein
Bottom 3
Bottom 4
Eliminated
6
Dalia Said
Bottom 3
Bottom 4
Eliminated
7
Houmam Ibrahim
Bottom 4
Eliminated
8
Walid Bechara
Bottom 4
Eliminated
9
Kawthar Berrani
Eliminated
10
Nadine Khatib
Eliminated
11
Israa Jamal
Eliminated
12
Bandar Mougri
Bottom 3
Eliminated
13
Houssam Al Shoueikhi
Eliminated
Finals
On finale night, February 25, 2017 Yacoub Shaheen from Palestine was crowned the winner of the fourth season of Arab Idol in a tough competition against Ameer Dandan from Palestine and Ammar Mohammed from Yemen . For the first time of Arab Idol history 2 of the last 3 contestants were Palestinian.
The finale night also had two very touching moments. The first was during the performance of the Hussain al Jassmi song "Hobilaha" (My love for her)[94] by finalist Ammar Mohammed of Yemen, who broke down uncontrollably halfway while singing,[95] and judge Ahlam had to come onto stage to console him.
The second was shortly before the crowning ceremony, when the 13 finalists, led by Yacoub Shaheen, Ammar Mohammed, and Ameer Dandan, got together on stage to sing a special song, "Cursed are the wars".[96] Judge Nancy Ajram was seen in tears near the end of the song.
