Forget singing your way to reality TV fame and fortune – now you need to know your syntax from your stanzas to win the public’s affections and Dhs1 million. Currently being shown on three different channels, The Prince Of Poetry TV competition has taken the Arab world by storm. Becky Lucas caught up with Nashwa Al Ruwaini, CEO of the production company behind the show, to find out more.
Is this the first competition of its kind?
We aired a similar show earlier this year focusing on Nabati Arabic poetry specific to the Gulf region, called The Million’s Poet. Poetry has always been a major part of Arabic culture and heritage, especially here in the Gulf. But with the increase in satellite broadcasting and our obvious closeness with the West due to business and economics, there are a lot of Western concepts influencing people today. With all this going on, young people are forgetting about their own culture and what makes them unique as Arabs. We came up with the concept of mixing modern media with age-old heritage. The competition formats are popular all over the world right now, so why should that not include this region? We now have a great show with a young funky look and concepts such as SMS voting. Everyone all over the Arab world is watching and suddenly remembering that poetry can be cool.
How popular has it been so far?
As far as the ratings go it is still too early to tell, but how we judge the success of the show so far is by our live audience attendance – we pack out the theatre for every show. We also look at our website hits and press coverage. Almost every major news publication or online site publishes stories about us at least once a week if not more, and the competing poets are featured regularly in the press. We are so happy that young kids as well as adults are talking about this show. And even though it is a completely different concept, I can tell you that our last show, The Million’s Poet actually beat Superstar and Star Academy in terms of ratings.
What do you put this success down to?
Most of it is down to the poets. They are all young, as we limit the application age to between 18 and 45. People get to know the poets from their onstage performances, but we also wanted to add an even more personal touch, where they open their hearts to the audience in the ‘Diary Room’.
How many poets entered?
We had over 5,000 applicants for the show. They were required to compose and perform their own poetry. It makes us different from the Pop Idol-style shows, as all our contestants’ work is original.
Do poetry styles differ between different Arab countries?
Classical Arabic poetry is standard all over the Arab world in terms of style and linguistics; however each country or sub-region also has its own type of poetry. This is most noticeable here in the Gulf. It is famous for its Nabati style of poetry, which is heavily influenced by Bedouin heritage, as well as the Gulf regional dialect. Arabs from outside the Gulf may not be able to understand this type of language so clearly, unless they are Bedu, as the Bedouin dialect and traditions are still widely spoken and practised here. It is not only the style that can be different but also the topics – Nabati poetry focuses heavily on family or tribal ties , notions of loyalty, pride and patriotism. Classical Arabic has a much wider span of topics and can cover almost anything.
Is the show subtitled in English?
Unfortunately not as we don’t feel there is a large enough audience for that yet. But we are reaching out to the international press to get more coverage about the show. We want to show the rest of the world how much Arab culture there is and how much we still value it. There are so many negative images about this region, and it is important for us to show another side to it. We have got press packs and information about the show in English.
What topics do contestants cover in their poems?
Many of the poems touch on politics – things like the suffering in Iraq; many poems are also about love. People write poetry about what they are feeling inside and what they feel is important in their everyday lives.
What about the differences between your show and something like Pop Idol?
There is a lot of respect involved in this competition, as it is not easy to come up with the beautiful poetry we are witnessing. We do not believe in humiliating people on stage like other types of shows – what makes good TV for some does not make good TV for all. Our culture is all about respect for one another.
Do you think a show like this will ever be created elsewhere?
It would be great if it were, as we would have achieved much more than we hoped for. After The Million’s Poet show, 13 new poetry channels began broadcasting, and the show’s format was copied by five stations.
Is there a Princess Of Poets title as well?
There is not a Princess Of Poets title per se but we do have women in this competition, so naturally if a woman won she would automatically be the Princess Of Poets.
Prince Of Poets is screened every Friday at 10pm on Abu Dhabi TV, the Emirates Channel and the Prince Of Poets Channel . The final takes place on September 7.
Follow us on
