Overview
Based in Adma north of Beirut, Lebanon, the show is aired for 3 months on the Lebanese TV station LBC. It is hosted by Hilda Khalife. The show's 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 every Friday at 8:30 pm a prime show 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, sports, vocalizing, theatre expression, dancing, and musical culture. Then, each Tuesday, 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). On Friday, a special live show called "Prime" is broadcasted. During the prime show, the candidates perform and sing either by themselves or with guest artists. The three nominated candidates' initial voting is through the public, done by either phone calls or text messages. The one with the highest percentage of votes returns back. The two remaining candidates are then voted on by their fellow candidates, and the one with the most votes remains. The other candidate has to leave the academy immediately. When the overall number of candidates is reduced, the nomination by the professors comes down to two students. At this point, it's completely up to the public to vote who is in and who is out, as the remaining candidates do not vote.
The show proved to be immensely popular. As the LBC station also provides satellite connections to the majority of the Arab countries and to Lebanese and/or Arab communities throughout the world, it became one of the most popular shows in the Arab-speaking 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 shows.
The show received intense criticism when it started off, which led some people to speculate that it would not succeed.
This debate also caused the indefinite postponing of West Asian edition of Big Brother, also known as Big Brother – Al Raiss.
The winners for the various series were:
- Star Academy 1 (2003–2004): Mohamed Attieh
- Star Academy 2 (2004–2005): Hisham Abdulrahman
- Star Academy 3 (2005–2006): Joseph Attieh
- Star Academy 4 (2006–2007): Shatha Hassoun
- Star Academy 5 (2008): Nader Guirat
- Star Academy 6 (2009): Abdulaziz Abdulrahman
- Star Academy 7 (2010): Nassif Zaytoun
- Star Academy 8 (2011): Nesma Mahgoub
Read more about this topic: Star Academy Arab World