Star Academy Maghreb digs for diamonds in Algeria

2009-10-28

Aspiring stars lined up in Algiers and fought their way to a place in this year's Star Academy Maghreb competition.

By Mouna Sadek for Magharebia in Algiers – 28/10/09

[Mouna Sadek] Queues formed on Sunday as roughly 160 young people auditioned for Star Academy Maghreb in Algiers.

The production team for Star Academy Maghreb rolled into Algiers on Sunday (October 25th), where over a hundred aspiring performers nervously waited to audition.

In the lobby of the Hilton hotel, dozens of young people waited with guitars in hand, singing Algerian and Maghreb songs. Organisers estimate 160 young people came to perform, each hoping for a chance at stardom.

Chams Edine Boudrâa, also known as "Chamso", was one of the lucky few to impress judges and be chosen for the second round.

"I'm really happy to have gone through to the second round. I was petrified before the audition, but once I got in front of the members of the jury I really went for it," he said. "Singing is what I do best. I can sing in Turkish, Italian, French, English, and Maghreb dialect. I'm optimistic, but I'm keeping a level head."

For Chamso, these elections had an element of déjà vu, as he had already been chosen for the Lebanese version of Star Academy but lost in the first round.

Nesrine also impressed the judges enough that they put her through to the second stage. She still can't believe her luck.

"I'm still really tense, I don't even know what to sing," she said, looking a bit lost. She told Magharebia that she hopes to be chosen for a place in this year's competition so she can sing with some of the biggest international recording stars. Italians Eros Ramazzoti and Laura Pausini, Englishman James Blunt, and Maghreb stars Cheb Khaled and Cheb Faudel are all participating in the show.

However, most of the stars-in-training went away in disappointment after the first day of auditions, as the judges selected just nine of the 160 candidates to head to the second round.

Judges will announce which Algerians will head to Tunis for the televised portion of the programme, to be filmed by Nessma TV on November 15th.

Auditions will be held in Oran on October 28th and Annaba on October 30th.

Failing to make the grade didn't spoil the moment for some of the Algerians who had put their pride on the line to sing and dance for the judges.

"The atmosphere was excellent. Singing has always been my biggest dream," Ousmaal Omar El Farouk, 19, said right before performing for the judges. "I'm very optimistic about the auditions."

The general co-ordinator for Nessma TV, Yamina Mecheri, said she was impressed by the amount of talent in Algeria. "The general standard is excellent, in both artistic and intellectual terms," she said.

However, neither she nor her production team would give any hints as to how many Algerian singers would make the final cut.

"If there are 10 talents that impress us, we'll take them all," said Mecheri.

Star Academy Maghreb will start in December and will run on Nessma TV for 13 weeks.