UAE | Heritage and Culture

35 Arab poets compete for top honours

Thirty-five new Arab poets will participate in the third season of the Prince of Poets television contest show that kicks off tomorrow in the capital, organisers said.

  • By Eman Mohammed, Abu Dhabi Deputy Editor
  • Published: 23:31 June 9, 2009
  • Gulf News

Abu Dhabi: Thirty-five new Arab poets will participate in the third season of the Prince of Poets television contest show that kicks off tomorrow in the capital, organisers said.

"We are pleased to have 35 new poets selected from the 200 who were interviewed by the contest's jury in Abu Dhabi in early May," said Mohammad Khalaf Al Mazroui, Director General of the event organiser - Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) - at a press conference yesterday.

"They were chosen out of about 1,000 formally approved [entries] from more than 7,500 poems received by the Poetry Academy from different Arab countries," he said in a speech given on his behalf by Eisa Al Mazroui, Director of Special Projects at ADACH.

The competition primarily aims "to detect distinct poetic talents that have not been previously discovered by the media, to encourage new generations on the development of poetic talents, allow them to interact with the distinguished poets, and to identify rhythms and rhymes and various schools of poetry," said Al Mazroui.

The third season of the programme will be launched next Thursday evening at Raha Beach Auditorium in Abu Dhabi.

"The Prince of Poets achieved global success and popularity," said Sultan Al Amimi, Director of the Poetry Academy in ADACH.

"The proof [of the contest's popularity can be seen in] ... the increase in the number of poets in each year, and criticism, both positive and negative...occupying the minds of critics, writers and journalists," he added.

The organising committee took into account the geographical location of contestants in order not to let poets of the same nationality compete on the same episode.

They also considered representation of poets from different regions in each episode.

The jury rules on the ability of poets to perform and succeed in their presentations. Stages of the contest

The competition lasts for 10 weeks and is divided into three main stages in addition to the closing and final episode. The competition begins with the participation of 35 poets.

They compete in the first stage which is divided into 5 episodes which seven poets compete to book 3 cards of each episode to qualify for the second stage of the competition which is divided into 3 episodes when 5 poets participate in every episode and only two contestants qualify.

The third stage is a transitional stage where all members of the committee and the public wait for the completion the final number of poets who are 6 poets after the results of the previous stage herald the qualification of only one poet from its last stage.

The six poets compete against each other in the penultimate episode. Only one of the six contestants does not make it to the last episode. In the last episode five poets will compete in combination of the votes of both the public and the committee.

The final results will announce the winners of the first three places and the top winner is given the title of the "Prince of Poets".

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