Filming of The Hydra Executives has finally started, with 16 contestants battling it out for a US$1m prize. Anil Bhoyrul reports on a new TV phenomenon.
Like the launch of any reality television show, this one didn't quite go according to plan.
Having spent several hours getting ready for a lavish launch party attended by the great and good of Abu Dhabi, the eight members of the American team taking part in ‘The Hydra Executives' spent equally long cleaning up after the party.
"The first challenge was to see who the party guests thought were a better team. They picked the British team, so the losers - the Americans - had to wash up. It's all part of the learning process," says Hydra Properties boss and star of the show, Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim.
Dr Al Fahim has been planning the show for over a year, and last week filming finally began. The concept is based on Donald Trump's ‘The Apprentice' show, with a Hydra and UAE twist added: two teams will spend the next 16 weeks facing each other in a series of business related challenges, to test their abilities not just to cut it in the property game but in the business world.
At the end of each week, one contestant will be "fired" from what is deemed to be the weaker team - until the grand finale in June, when the winner will be revealed.
And the prize? Pretty impressive: each contestant has begun the show by announcing their own "dream" property project. The winner will see this project actually undertaken by Hydra Properties, and get a US$1m stake in it.
"When it comes to prizes, whoever wins will become a proper player in the property market and have a stake in a potentially huge project. I think they will be very, very happy with that.
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