[KnowledgeSeeker]

Source: media.guardian.co.uk

Arab Big Brother pulled amid protests

Lisa O'Carroll
Monday March 1, 2004

The first ever series of Big Brother in the Middle East has been pulled after protests that it was "indecent" and violated Islamic standards.

It had been on air for just one week but the sight of male and female contestants sleeping under one roof caused a public outcry.

Up to 1,000 took part in a rally against the show on Friday and seven Islamist MPs planning an official protest in parliament in Bahrain, where the show is being filmed.

A spokeswoman for the Middle East Broadcasting Centre said it did not want to be "the source of differences of opinion" and had decided to "reconsider the production" of the show.

In a lengthy statement, it said it had made what it believed were the "necessary amendments to comply with Arab traditions", including separate sleeping quarters for male and female contestants and a prayer room.

Protestors who took part in a rally in Bahrain on Friday branded the show "Sin Brother" and demanded it was taken off air.

"We don't want such programmes because our families will be influenced. Our children would think that living together before marriage is acceptable in Islam," one protestor told Reuters.

The show, which offered a $100,000 prize, was filmed in a house in a villa on an island off Bahrain and involved 12 contestants including a salsa-dancing Jordanian jeweller, an actress from Bahrain, a musician from Iraq and a karate teacher from Kuwait.

In the first episode, only one woman was seen wearing the traditional black robe.

Changes to programme not enough

The programme's modifications were clearly not enough for a region that has just got over its first ever reality show, a dating game which offered the prize of an arranged marriage.

The ground-breaking dating show Al Hawa Sawa - Being Together - outraged sections of the community and was damned by critics as too liberal, but fans writing on internet diary sites said it supported traditional values of limited contact before marriage.

In the show, eight women lived together in a Big Brother-style luxury apartment with suitors able to view them 24 hours a day.

They were allowed to contact the women before a possible meeting in the flat to propose marriage.

Viewers of Al Hawa Sawa suspected in January that three of the eight contestants were flouting a ban on cigarettes and alcohol in the luxury Beirut apartment they moved into in December.

One source working on the Hawa Sawa programme said he was not surprised that Big Brother was pulled.

"They put girls and boys under the same roof. This goes against Arab sensitivites. In Hawa Sawa, they don't sleep under the same roof and you don't have cameras giving the public access to the bedrooms 24 hours a day. Our objective was to see a true romance unfold not to be peeping toms."

MBC, a Saudi satellite network, went to great lengths to explain what reality TV was in its statement.

"This new kind of programming does not go any further than what's going on in the private or state channels. On the contrary it is more honest in showing the actual facts than series of soap operas."

It added: "Every new thing takes time to be accepted and in some cases it is misunderstood."
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AND IN A RELATED STORY...

Source: Reuters & utusan.com

Arab ``marriage'' TV show ends after sparking furor

DUBAI March 1 - The first Arab reality TV show ended on Monday after three months of controversy over its format -- parading women before suitors in a luxury apartment for 24 hours a day.

Critics damned the ground-breaking dating show Al Hawa Sawa ([/i]On Air Together[/i]) as too liberal, but fans writing on internet diary sites said it supported traditional values of limited contact before marriage.

Suitors could view the girls 24 hours a day and contact them before a possible meeting in the flat to propose marriage. In a region of 280 million Arabic speakers, such shows have huge potential audiences and provoke much public debate.

Al Hawa Sawa ended just after an Arab version of the hit reality TV show Big Brother was launched to furious protests from conservatives in the Gulf state of Bahrain, who branded it ``indecent'' - it shows six men and women living in the same villa.

Traditional values in Arab societies require the segregation of unmarried men and women, but television networks have increasingly been pushing back the boundaries.

Viewers of Al Hawa Sawa suspected in January that three of the eight girls from around the Arab world taking part in the show were secretly smoking, flouting a ban on cigarettes and alcohol in the luxury Beirut apartment they moved into in December.

``Hey - they are human. We all have our demons,'' one online diarist who gave his name as H. Qureshi said. ``It's not a shocking thing for me. I feel sorry and sad for these ladies. They are living a hypocritical lifestyle.''

The show ended early on Monday morning when one of the last two contestants dropped a bombshell on-air, saying she refused to get married. She then locked herself in a bedroom until she was flown back to her native Algeria.

``Believe me, I do not want to get married. Please, please - I'm not feeling right. They will know the reason in the media when I get out - I'm going to talk,'' emotional 21-year-old Aicha Gerbas told the camera minutes before the finale.

Gerbas had earlier agreed to marry Hossam, an Egyptian who was sitting in the living-room next door to the ``truth room'' where Gerbas shocked viewers with her sudden change of heart.

``This is completely inappropriate behaviour,'' the show's ``voice'' responded. The Arab channel MBC, which ran the show, declined to comment on the incident.

``Aicha has made fools of you all!'' one viewer gloated in a text message that trawled across the bottom of the screen.

The show saw another hiccup earlier in the week when Lebanese authorities unexpectedly turned back the suitor Hossam at Beirut airport, refusing to grant him a tourist visa.

``One wonders why the production company doesn't stop the show with all the problems it's facing,'' the Lebanese paper Assafir wrote recently after some contestants who had left complained of boredom and jealousy.

Minutes after Gerbas's bombshell, the viewers' vote chose Mervat Fo'ani from Lebanon as the ``Bride of On Air Together'', sending her with her chosen suitor on a honeymoon to Malaysia, where conservative Islamic values are also strong. - Reuters

[EddyBee]

Thanks KS. This news beggars all belief.

[KnowledgeSeeker]

Source: Editorial at cairotimes.com

It’s been the week for reality TV in the Arab world, as Al Hawa Sawa (On Air Together) ended and Big Brother (named in Arabic, amusingly, Al Rais) began—only to end itself, but before its time. Critics have damned Al Hawa Sawa as too liberal, but its fans, writing on internet diary sites, have enthusiastically backed it saying it supported traditional values of limited contact before marriage.

The idea is that suitors view the girls 24 hours a day on television living their lives in a luxury flat they’re cooped up in and contact them via email, letters, telephone and video. The girls decide which guy they like before a meeting in the flat—with parents dutifully present—to propose marriage.

But the show, which started in December, ended on a suspense-filled note with one of the final two contestants giving our Hossam from Egypt a shocking heave-ho at the last minute. “Believe me, ya Voicy,” Algerian girl Aicha Gerbas, who had been the darling of the show to that point, beseeched the voice with whom the girls have on-air tête-a-têtes with in the “truth room” on 29 February. “I do not want to get married. Please, please—I’m not feeling right.” Then she vowed: “They will know the reason in the media when I get out—I’m going to talk!” At which she ran off into her room and refused to leave until the show was over and MBC taxied her to the airport for her flight back to Algeria.

Insult to Egypt
Poor Hossam sat next door waiting for Voicy to explain what had happened. “This is completely inappropriate behaviour,” MBC’s voice said, helpless. “Aicha has made fools of you all!” one viewer gloated in a text message that trawled across the bottom of the screen. Peeved viewers then gave all their last-minute votes to the other finalist, Mervat Foaani from Lebanon, who won the big prize of a honeymoon to Malaysia with her chosen Mr. Right, Abdel-Karim, also from Lebanon.

Poor Hossam, who was even turned back at Beirut airport earlier in the week for not having a visa, then sat through the celebrations in the cruel realization that he was not going to get his chosen lady after all. It was the last in a string of embarrassments for the show. In January three of the eight girls seemed to be having secret smokes in the toilets and bedrooms, flouting a ban on cigarettes and alcohol in the luxury Beirut apartment.


Greater Middle East Initiative
But hey—at least the show reached its conclusion. That’s more than can be said for Big Brother/Al Rais, which MBC pulled off the air on 1 March after protests in Bahrain, where it was held complaining that it was immoral and indecent and Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet, should not do such un-Islamic things.

Those complaints were despite the fact that, unlike the foreign versions of the hit show, the men’s and women’s sleeping quarters were kept apart, there was no filming in the bathroom and prayer rooms were provided for both religions.

Things got off to a risqué start though on 21 February when the first contestant who entered the house—Saudi national Abdel Hakim—kissed the female contestants on the cheek in welcome.

As the week proceeded, Big Brother Al Arabi proved to be compelling viewing. Amal from Egypt rescued her reputation for non-stop attention to her make-up by frank talk with the girls about her messy divorce. Apparently she decided to pull the plug on the relationship after he pulled a punch. That probably saved her from being nominated by any of the girls as their candidate for departure a week later on 28 February.

But a trio of Egyptian-Iraqi Ashgan, Tunisian Kawthar and Syrian Najwa—the quiet one bending to the will of the pushy girls in order to gain acceptance—soon took center stage, and both Ashgan and Najwa were among the four nominees for boi-boi which viewers were left to ponder just before MBC spoiled the show for all loyal fans.

Emergency summit
The terrible trio caused a crisis by their public joking about the ungainly and rather uncharismatic Abdullah, a Somali-Saudi, during a game of charades. That led to an Arab League-style crisis meeting around the kitchen table among all 12. “We should leave this committee meeting as one, with one voice and anyone who has anything inside them that they want to say must say it now!” Abdullah said in defiant nationalist tones, thumping the table.

“Abdullah is the only one of us with a good heart,” Omani woman Alaa—the only veiled contestant—tearfully revealed to Big Brother in the confession room, denouncing the unholy trinity. Sultry Bahraini entry Shatha sulked most of the week, only coming out of her shell to lash out at Najwa for not speaking to her in a respectful manner during one group fun session.

Among the men there was more harmony, with only Beshara—a dandy Lebanese actor—finding his name among the four nominated for the early exit that never was. Beshara’s inclusion could only have been because his character irritated those who listed him, since he had done virtually nothing to offend anyone all week except be himself and this viewer would advocate voting to save him, were the show still ongoing.

The other highlight of the week was Ashgan’s pressing the Iraqi Mazen on how he managed to get a visa to Egypt while her aunt could not. Mazen coyly confessed that in fact his family is in possession of diplomatic passports.

[Hamlet77]

Originally posted by KnowledgeSeeker
Source: Editorial at cairotimes.com

It’s been the week for reality TV in the Arab world, as Al Hawa Sawa (On Air Together) ended and Big Brother (named in Arabic, amusingly, Al Rais) began—only to end itself, but before its time. Critics have damned Al Hawa Sawa as too liberal, but its fans, writing on internet diary sites, have enthusiastically backed it saying it supported traditional values of limited contact before marriage.

The idea is that suitors view the girls 24 hours a day on television living their lives in a luxury flat they’re cooped up in and contact them via email, letters, telephone and video. The girls decide which guy they like before a meeting in the flat—with parents dutifully present—to propose marriage.

But the show, which started in December, ended on a suspense-filled note with one of the final two contestants giving our Hossam from Egypt a shocking heave-ho at the last minute. “Believe me, ya Voicy,” Algerian girl Aicha Gerbas, who had been the darling of the show to that point, beseeched the voice with whom the girls have on-air tête-a-têtes with in the “truth room” on 29 February. “I do not want to get married. Please, please—I’m not feeling right.” Then she vowed: “They will know the reason in the media when I get out—I’m going to talk!” At which she ran off into her room and refused to leave until the show was over and MBC taxied her to the airport for her flight back to Algeria.

Insult to Egypt
Poor Hossam sat next door waiting for Voicy to explain what had happened. “This is completely inappropriate behaviour,” MBC’s voice said, helpless. “Aicha has made fools of you all!” one viewer gloated in a text message that trawled across the bottom of the screen. Peeved viewers then gave all their last-minute votes to the other finalist, Mervat Foaani from Lebanon, who won the big prize of a honeymoon to Malaysia with her chosen Mr. Right, Abdel-Karim, also from Lebanon.

Poor Hossam, who was even turned back at Beirut airport earlier in the week for not having a visa, then sat through the celebrations in the cruel realization that he was not going to get his chosen lady after all. It was the last in a string of embarrassments for the show. In January three of the eight girls seemed to be having secret smokes in the toilets and bedrooms, flouting a ban on cigarettes and alcohol in the luxury Beirut apartment.


Greater Middle East Initiative
But hey—at least the show reached its conclusion. That’s more than can be said for Big Brother/Al Rais, which MBC pulled off the air on 1 March after protests in Bahrain, where it was held complaining that it was immoral and indecent and Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet, should not do such un-Islamic things.

Those complaints were despite the fact that, unlike the foreign versions of the hit show, the men’s and women’s sleeping quarters were kept apart, there was no filming in the bathroom and prayer rooms were provided for both religions.

Things got off to a risqué start though on 21 February when the first contestant who entered the house—Saudi national Abdel Hakim—kissed the female contestants on the cheek in welcome.

As the week proceeded, Big Brother Al Arabi proved to be compelling viewing. Amal from Egypt rescued her reputation for non-stop attention to her make-up by frank talk with the girls about her messy divorce. Apparently she decided to pull the plug on the relationship after he pulled a punch. That probably saved her from being nominated by any of the girls as their candidate for departure a week later on 28 February.

But a trio of Egyptian-Iraqi Ashgan, Tunisian Kawthar and Syrian Najwa—the quiet one bending to the will of the pushy girls in order to gain acceptance—soon took center stage, and both Ashgan and Najwa were among the four nominees for boi-boi which viewers were left to ponder just before MBC spoiled the show for all loyal fans.

Emergency summit
The terrible trio caused a crisis by their public joking about the ungainly and rather uncharismatic Abdullah, a Somali-Saudi, during a game of charades. That led to an Arab League-style crisis meeting around the kitchen table among all 12. “We should leave this committee meeting as one, with one voice and anyone who has anything inside them that they want to say must say it now!” Abdullah said in defiant nationalist tones, thumping the table.

“Abdullah is the only one of us with a good heart,” Omani woman Alaa—the only veiled contestant—tearfully revealed to Big Brother in the confession room, denouncing the unholy trinity. Sultry Bahraini entry Shatha sulked most of the week, only coming out of her shell to lash out at Najwa for not speaking to her in a respectful manner during one group fun session.

Among the men there was more harmony, with only Beshara—a dandy Lebanese actor—finding his name among the four nominated for the early exit that never was. Beshara’s inclusion could only have been because his character irritated those who listed him, since he had done virtually nothing to offend anyone all week except be himself and this viewer would advocate voting to save him, were the show still ongoing.

The other highlight of the week was Ashgan’s pressing the Iraqi Mazen on how he managed to get a visa to Egypt while her aunt could not. Mazen coyly confessed that in fact his family is in possession of diplomatic passports.

This may sound flippant and is not intended to offend anyone, but this is just the sort of thing BB5 needs.

Anyone know of any video clips to download?

[EddyBee]

Originally posted by Hamlet77
This may sound flippant and is not intended to offend anyone, but this is just the sort of thing BB5 needs.

Anyone know of any video clips to download?

I've been looking but I haven't managed to find a thing. I shall try the US sites later.