The reality television contest has been going strong for three months, with Middle Eastern viewers hooked on finding out who is going to walk away with the grand prize on Arabs' Got Talent. But now the wait is finally over, with the live finale taking place tomorrow night on MBC 4.
Presented by Raya Abi Rached and Qusai Kheder, AGT adopts the same format as that of its British and American predecessors, and it has certainly been a long journey for the twelve lucky finalists. Pre-auditions for the first AGT kicked off last April, spanning over 13 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Those who made it to the audition round had to perform in front of three judges — Lebanese singer Najwa Karam, Egyptian TV personality Amr Adeeb and Lebanese media academic Ali Jaber — with few making it to the semi-finals.
MBC says that the programme now attracts up to a third of the total number of Arab viewers on a Friday evening.
Following six semi-final episodes, twelve contestants will perform for the last time, with the public voting for their favourite via SMS. The winner of Season One will win a Chevrolet Camaro, SR500,000 (Dh489,471), and a contract with either Sony or MBC.
tabloid! takes a look at 12 finalists. and who the public have been rooting for on the official AGT website. Will their predictions come true on the night?
Noureddine Bin Waqes — Morocco
Moroccan "speed painter" Noureddine Bin Waqes surprised everyone by creating a portrait of legendary Egyptian singer Abdul Haleem Hafez in just a few minutes. Oh, and he did it upside down.
Needless to say, the impressive artist won the votes of the public.
- Percentage of online votes so far: 10.62
Shaymaa Al Meghery - Oman
The third episode of AGT's semi-finals was quite disappointing, with several of the contestants being buzzed by the judges.
However, Omani artist Shaymaa Al Meghery was a huge crowd pleaser with her touching sand story-board, and was voted through to the finals by the public.
- Percentage of online votes so far: 9.67
Joseph Dahdah — Lebanon
AGT's semi-final shows kicked off at the end of February with eight contestants battling it out for one of 12 places in this weekend's final.
The first contestant to be voted through by the region's public was opera singer Joseph Dahdah from Lebanon.
- Percentage of online votes so far: 4.73
Family Crew — Morocco
Despite Lebanese dance troupe Albert Boyadjian putting on a highly entertaining show, it seems they didn't do enough to get through to the finals.
At the end of episode one, it was fellow dance group Family Crew from Morocco that was chosen by Karam, Adeeb and Jaber to go through to the grand finale.
- Percentage of online votes so far: 3.84
Issam Bashiti — Palestine
The youngest — and arguably most adorable — contestant is 9-year-old Issam Bashiti from Palestine, whose poem about his home country did not leave a dry eye in the studio.
Whilst it wasn't enough to automatically get him through to the final, he was voted through by the three judges.
- Percentage of online votes so far: 9.11
Al Fayhaa Group – Lebanon
It was a tough call for the judges after X Wheels were chosen by the public. The trio decided to choose between Abdul Malek Baljani and Al Fayhaa Group, and in the end all three chose Lebanese singing troupe Al Fayhaa Group.
- Percentage of online votes so far: 2.58
Ziad Alyan — Sudan
Another contestant that shone during the third episode was the hip-hop dancer Ziad Alyan. He got his ticket to the finals thanks to the judges.
- Percentage of online votes so far: 1.43
X Wheels — Saudi Arabia
In the fifth episode of the semi-finals, X Wheels took to the stage first, putting on a highly entertaining rollerblade show. They were voted into the final by the general public.
- Percentage of online votes so far: 8.98
Amer Qatamesh – Egypt
Named by Amr Adeeb as the most entertaining contestant on AGT, Egyptian poet Qatamesh not only impressed the judges with his witty words, but the Middle Eastern public as well.
In the penultimate episode of the semi-finals, Qatamesh was voted into the grand finale with overwhelming majority of the public vote.
He is one of the favourites to win this season’s competition.
- n Percentage of online votes so far: 19.35
Johnny Madness — Lebanon
He has said he would love to beat-box with Najwa Karam someday, and he definitely has a fan in the three judges, apart from the public. During the fourth episode of the semi-finals, the Lebanese beat-boxer made it through to the finals thanks to the public vote.
- Percentage of online votes so far: 8.98
Casa Acrobat — Morocco
Moroccan acrobatic troupe Casa Acrobat was chosen by the judges to go through to the finals. However, it seems that the general public do not agree with the trio’s choice, judging by the online votes so far.
- Percentage of online votes so far: 0.80
Ahmad Al Bayed — Saudi Arabia
Saudi contestant Ahmad Al Bayed was the last lucky contestant to make it through to the finals. The magician impressed the judges enough for them to vote him through to the final show.
If the AGT’s website is anything to go by, he is the favourite to win.
- Percentage of online votes so far: 24.25
