The Arab world tour for Star Academy 2 has been launched in Bahrain, on which the show’s eight finalists are scheduled to hold a number of performances. The first concert, organized by MIM Records and the Bahraini Ministry of Information, witnessed a crowd of over 3000.
During their stay in Bahrain, the eight members held a press conference to discuss their tour and future plans. The next stop for the group will be in Jordan on June 16, then Tunisia on June 24, Algeria June 30, and will end in Egypt on July 8.
The first Star Academy was aired on the Lebanese Broadcasting Company (LBC) satellite channel, and ran for almost four months. The series concluded with the victory of Saudi contestant Hisham Abdul Rahman. He defeated Tunisian contestant Amani Al Sweisi and took home a 50 thousand USD reward, a 2005 Ford Mustang, along with the title.
The competition was fierce for Hisham, who only won by a margin of %3.68 of votes. His great sense of humor and strong personality increased his popularity, enabling him to defeat the other 15 original contestants. Hisham was placed in the nominee spot, referred to as the “danger zone” several times, but was always rescued by the large number of votes he received, mainly from viewers in Gulf countries.
Hisham’s victory brought joy to Saudis, who were following the show closely, continuously voting for Hisham via mobile messages and over the internet. However, certain Saudi groups opposed the nature of the show, which they deemed inappropriate for an Arab audience.
