Star Academy Maghreb enters its fifth week

22/04/2007

Star Academy Maghreb moves into its fifth week with another dismissal. This time, 19-year-old Tunisian Yosra will go home.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis - 22/04/2007

Yosra left the competition

As Star Academy Maghreb enters its fifth week, the number of contestants is down to 12. Algerian contestant Dounia departed last week, followed Friday (April 20th) by Yosra, who failed to win a majority of her competitors’ votes, despite her victory over fellow Tunisian Faten in the public vote.

Faten, Yosra and Libyan Khairi had been placed on the list of nominees for this week, opening up a public vote in which fans select two of them to continue in the competition. The judges' top five for the week were Soraya, Badredine, Jamel, Firas and Hajar, in that order.

During this week's Asian-themed evening, Libyan Khairi chose to perform the Idir song "El Harba Wine" before the judges, earning him 12 out of 20 points. At the beginning of the competition, judge Ghazi Karoui warned that the committee would not be granting points liberally. "The time for the generosity you enjoyed during the past five weeks has passed. Prepare yourselves for our harsh judging," he said.

Faten chose to perform a classic by Tunisian artist Saliha, "Mridh Fani". She received a score of 10.25 out of 20. Contestant Yosra was awarded 14.5 out of 20 points for her rendition of the song "Yakaa Jarhi", by Moroccan artist Naima Samih.

Tempers flared in the house this week. Farid took out his stress on an air conditioner, smashing both it and a recording device and breaking one of the house doors. Farah’s attitude also angered her fellow contestants and the show's producers. To ease the atmosphere, Star Academy management demanded that Farah and Farid apologise publicly, and sent them to a sports facility in the capital to let out their anger by practicing boxing.

Upon her departure last week, Algerian Dounia Boufedjia told the press she did not regret participating and staying away from her studies for a month. "I stayed at the Academy for over a month, during which I considered myself in heaven, because I learned many things that I didn’t know previously," she said. "In addition to getting to know friends from Maghreb countries, I learned about some of the characteristics of these countries and [furthered] my understanding of their dialects," she added.

[staracademy-maghreb.com] Contestants pose during the Asian-themed evening

Despite the show's popularity among viewers in North Africa and Europe, the show has suffered some criticism. Many viewers have sent text messages complaining of the prevalence of the French language in the programme. Libyans in particular are disappointed by the extensive use of French.

The complaint prompted the Moroccan weekly El-Bayan to issue a call to Star Academy's management to reduce the use of French. "Out of respect for the entire Arab world and for our peoples, who are attached to their language, please cut back on the use of French," the paper wrote, proposing instead the use of local Maghreb dialects.

Samira El-Hasyaoui, a student in Tunisia, said she did not have a favourite contestant, but she hoped "the heat in the competition would rise to reach the level of the Lebanese Star Academy". El-Hasyaoui complained of a "lack of excitement that characterises reality TV shows".

Magharebia learned this week that preparations are being made for French football star and native Algerian Zinedine Zidane to visit the house. Media spokesperson for the Karoui & Karoui Group Miriam Bazazi confirmed the news of Zidane’s visit to Tunisia. "Yes, I can confirm the coming of the star Zinedine Zidane, but it’s not within my power to specify the exact date." Several weeks ago, international swimming champion Oussama Mellouli also made a visit to the Star Academy villa in Tunis.