Star Academy Lebanon

infobox Television
show_name = Star Academy (Middle East)


caption = Star Academy title card
format = Interactive reality Game Show
runtime = Varies
presenter = Hilda Khalife
location = Adma, Keserwan, Lebanon
country = Lebanon
network = LBC
LBC Nagham
first_aired = December 5th 2003
last_aired = Present
website = http://www.lbcgroup.tv/staracademy

Star Academy Middle East (also known as Star Academy LBC, and more correctly, Star Academy Middle East (Alakademia), as the majority of the candidates are not from Lebanon) is a pan-Arab televised talent show, which began in 2003 that features a group of young male and female candidates from all over the Arab world. The show instantly became a huge success and a must-watch event everyday for its fans, making it one of the most-watched shows in the Arab worldFact|date=February 2008, and much more popular than its rival Super Star ( the Pan-Arab version of Pop Idol). It is the Arabic adaptation of the French television show Star Academy produced by Netherlands company Endemol, based in the Spanish format called Operación Triunfo.

Overview

Based in Adma north of Beirut, Lebanon, the show is aired for 4 months on the Lebanese TV station LBC. It is hosted by Hilda Khalife. The show concept consists of an academy and candidates/students, where it is also a talent competition to introduce a new artist among the candidates. Talents are not restricted to singing only, but for acting and dancing as well.

It is divided into two formats: each day a program presents moments of the everyday life and training of the candidates (what they are called), and a prime show every Friday evening, which is live. In addition an affiliate TV station films them 24/7.

The concept of the show is training the students in several disciplines: singing, acting, vocalizing, theatre expression, dancing, and musical culture. Then, each week (on Tuesdays) the three weakest students are nominated. The nomination is done by the teaching staff after the candidates undergo an evaluation test the day before (Monday). At the end of the week (Friday), a special live show called the "Prime" is broadcasted. During the prime show, the candidates perform and sing either by themselves or with guest artists. The 3 nominated candidates' initial voting is through the public; done by either phone calls and/or text messages. The one with the highest percentage of votes returns back. The remaining two candidates are then voted on by their fellow candidates, and the one with the most votes remains. The remaining candidate then leaves the academy. When the candidates overall number reduces, the nomination by the professors comes down to two students. By this point, it's completely up to the public to vote who is in and who gets out, as the remaining candidates do not vote.

The show proved to be immensely popular, once attracting nearly 80% of the Lebanese adolescent population, and became the actual most popular show in all the Middle-East and the world as well, as LBC provides satellite connections to all Lebanese arround the world. LBC, the network airing the show, reaped huge profits from the show (but have been unable to replicate the show's success with other reality based programming).

The show received intense criticism when it started off, which led some people to falsely believe that it would not succeedFact|date=February 2008.

This debate also caused the indefinite postponing of the Middle Eastern edition of "Big Brother", otherwise known as "Big Brother - Al Raiss".

Controversy

Due the success of the show, a lot of controversies arose since the 1st first season when Mohammad Attiya beat Bashar Al Shatti in the finals of the competition where as people that Bashar was more deserving as he was a singer, musician, composer, song writer and actor which he achieved moderate success in, unlike Attiya who ended up acting in movies for the past 5 years with low success.In the 2nd season, many thought that Hisham didn't deserve it because he was accomplished actor rather than a singer, unlike finalists ZeeZee and Amani, who were singers. In the end just like Attiya, Hisham ended up acting in movies and TV shows, but unlike Attiya, Hisham was still moderately successful.In the 3rd season, many were shocked to see Joseph win with a high 55% percentage because he came from a Lebanon which at the time, his country was suffering because of the death of Hariri and the war with Israel, anyhow Joseph was still deserving to many people, unlike the 1st 2 winners.In the 4th season, which unlike other seasons was female dominating in votes, as the first 2 places were won by females, Shatha hassoun perhaps the most successful Star Academy winner, won after 7 million votes from 1 voting company inside Iraq, as she spurred a bit of controversy as she represented the Iraqi nation but some thought of her as Moroccan due to her mother's nationality, and the fact that Iraqi citizens cared more to vote for Shatha then to vote for a new president in the country.As for season 5, perhaps the most controversial year, as the season started in late January, many thought that the Academy was pulling for a boy to win in the first place because the number of girls were outnumbered than the number of boy ( 12 boys, 8 girls ), the first controversy started as the troublesome contestant Mohd Qwaider was causing a stir inside the walls of the Academy, as he had numerous fights with most of the students which made fans with or against him, his toughest rival was the Saudi contestant Abdulla Dossary, their feud together was the most famous feud to ever happen in 5 years as it also had the media concentrate on, the feud ended when Abdullah decided to withdraw in the week of the semi-finals, even thought he was the favored one to win. other controversies in the same season was Algerian Amal Boushousa was eliminated, Amal won in numerous polls as to who would win the season and she had the highest fan base as seen on her official fansite with over 10,000 fans as the massages of the official channel was all aiming for her, as she also received expensive gifts during her stay in the Academy such as laptops jewellery and cloths. As for the clothing of the girl contestants were a bit more revealing than any other past contestants which also had the media discussing such topics. Also, a few weeks before the finale, Nader, the winner was a nominee unexpectedly received a very low amount of votes which was 31& as Diaa received 61%, which made the audience wonder how he managed to win in the finale against Mohd Qwaider.

Seasons

Star Academy 1

Star Academy 2

The Candidates are:

Amani Swisi from Tunisia,Hanan El-'Asfara from Morocco,Bashar El-Ghazawi from Jordan,Fahed El-Zayed from Kuwait,Bashar Qaisi from Iraq,Iman Mezher from Lebanon,Zizi Adel from Egypt,Joy Basous from Syria,Randa Hafeth from Egypt,Salma Ghazali from Algeria,Ahmad Salah El-Din from Bahrain,Hisham AbdulRahman from Saudi Arabia,Ahmad Hussein from Kuwait,Anas El-Ramli from Libya,Samer Dhoumet from Lebanon, Katia Haraka from Lebanon.

Hisham Abdul Rahman is the winner of LBC Star Academy 2 Season.

tar Academy 3

On the last prime of the third season of Star Academy Lebanon, The results came as follows

*Joseph Attieh (Lebanon) 55%
*Hani Hussein (Egypt) 30%
*Hanaa El Idrissi (Morocco) 15%

Joseph Attieh, who is a radio and TV production student received a trophy, $50,000 in cash and a brand new 2006 car. He was 19 years old and the first Lebanese who won the Title.

Rankings of the students who were part of the tour are:

* Joseph Attieh from Lebanon....(winner)
* Hani Hossein from Egypt........(2nd place)
* Hanaa El Idrisi from Morocco..(3rd place)
* Chayma Hilali from Tunisia.....(4th place)
* Fadi Andraos from Palestine..(5th place)
* Khalifa Salem from UAE........(6th place)
* Maya Nehmeh from Lebanon..(7th place)
* Rakiya Ibrahim from Egypt.....(10th place)
* Wajdi Lak Hal from Tunisia....(12th place)

tar Academy 4

It is the first time that a girl came in first, Shatha Hassoun was the first girl to take the title.
Her success was a juicy subject for worldwide press, and she was credited for uniting her country, Iraq, over a happy event despite war. This season feature the continued tradition of a strong Tunisian female talent, with Marwa being the only female and one of two students who have never be nominated, with the other student being Carlo.

The ranking of the finalists:

* Shatha Hassoun (Winner) (Iraq) 47%
* Marwa Ben Sghayer (2nd place) (Tunisia) 29%
* Mohammed Kammah (3rd place) (Egypt) 23%
* Carlo Nakhle (4th place) (Lebanon) 5%

The ranking of the other participants in the tour:

* Sally Ahmed (5th place)
* Ali Alsaad (6th place)
* Tina Yamout (7th place)
* Ahmed Dawod (8th place)
* Imed Jalouli (10th place)

tar Academy 5

"'The fifth season of Star Academy began on the 25th of January, 2008. There are several new changes in the academy that include a new swimming pool, a basketball court, a trampoline, a billiard table, a table-tennis table and a newly decorated building. New lessons were added this season including swimming lessons, basketball lessons and music lessons. 19 candidates, 12 boys (Nader - Mohamed - Saad - Abdulla- Zaher - Bader - Moustapha - Adnan - Khaled - Ahmed - Fawaz - Omar) and 8 girls (Shahinaz , Mirhan , Diaa, Amel B, Amel M, Asma, Iman, Jessica) all are competing for the title this season.

The final prime of Star Academy 5, held on the 23rd of May, 2008, witnessed the crowning of Nader Quirat, the first Tunisian winner. The voting for the two finalists began on the 16th of May immediately after the 17th prime. The Final Results were as follows: Nader Quirat 34.44%(winner),Mohamed Qwaider 34.14% (second) Saad Ramadan 31.52%(Third). Nader Quirat is the first winner of the program to sing primarily in none Arabic languages(English, french, Spanish, Italian etc.) but did sing in Arabic on various occasions. This addition of the show was considered the closest final in star academy history and that any of the 3 finalists would have deserved to win the crown.

Order of Elimination
* Nader Quirat(Tunisia) (1st place)34.44%
* Mohamed Qwaider(Jordan) (2nd place)34.14%
* Saad Ramadan (Lebanon) (3rd place)31.52%
* Shahinaz Dia Eldin (Egypt)
* Abdulla Al Dossary (KSA)-Withdrew from the contest at this point
* Mirhan Hussein (Egypt)
* Diaa El Tayebi (Morocco)
* Zaher Saleh (Palestine)
* Amel Boushousha (Algeria)
* Amel Mahalaoui (Tunisia)
* Badr Mansour (KSA)
* Moustapha Mezher (Lebanon)
* Adnan Al Karry (Syria)
* Asma Bassit (Morocco)
* Khaled Bou Sakhr (Kuwait)
* Iman Lamri (Tunisia)
* Ahmed Moustafa (Egypt)
* Fawaz Al Mil (Kuwait)
* Jessica Najem (Lebanon).
* Omar Amer (Iraq)

tar Academy 6

Star Academy 6 is due to start anytime from November to January, most likely after new year and will finish in May 2009.

uccess of the Star Academy Alumni

Season 1 : Ahmed Sherief :the most successful graduate out of the season, where he finished off 5th place, received a distribution for albums contract from Rotana, as his first album was a success all over the Arab world with the hits : Sahran Ma3ak El laila (I'm partying with you tonight), Bain el nass ( Between All People ), as he also starred alongside, Haifa wahbe Carole Samha Rowaida and Wael Kafory in Bahr El Nojoum movie produced by PEPSI. Bashar al Shatti also received moderate success with his first 2 albums which were produced with Rotana, but eventually was released from his contract, due to what he proclaims lack of care and not living up to the agreements, he filmed 2 music videos only. Bashar also stars in a few independent television shows.Baha'a Al Kaffy: released an album with the main song Wa'adni which received good amount of airplay, though the album wasn't as successful, Baha'a currently starts in Egyptian movies.Sophia Marikh: released an album entitled kelmet hob ( Love Word ), received low success, with a few tracks ( Bahik Feek, kelmet Hob ) which had moderate amount of airplay.

Season 2 :ZeeZee Adel: The Most successful Star Academy graduate in all 5 seasons, her first album "Wahda Tayba", which included 3 hit singles; Hob Mosh Mahsoub Alaya, Wahda Tanya, Aref Ana Gayah Laih, she released music videos, and has successful concerts all over the Arab World, she is currently signed to a 3 year contract with 3 music videos shot to each album and the freedom to release singles, she is only star academy student to get such a contract. she won the ART award for the best new artist, she is considered one of Rotana's main artists.Amani Swissi: Amani's releases didn't live up to the expectations alongside, as Osama Al Rahbani, a big arab musician said that Amani had the best voice to ever come from a singing competition , her first album "wain" didn't receive much success, eventually leading to getting released from her contract with Rotana.Salma Ghazali: Salma achieved unexpected success with her first single, Bil Naes, which debuted on number 3 on the Rotana Music Charts, the only song to ever reach such a peak since it's first week, eventually nailing the number 1 spot twice, leading her to sign a permanent contract with rotana.

"'