Arab Idol Judge: My Support to Parwaz was My Gift to the Kurdish People

 

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – It was Parwaz Hussein, a young Kurdish contestant on the Arab Idol show, that piqued Lebanese superstar Ragheb Alama’s interest in the Kurds and the Kurdistan Region.

Last week the singer and television personality was in Erbil as a UN environmental ambassador, and to pursue business interests in Kurdistan’s booming economy.

“I have been looking forward to this visit to get to know the Kurdish people,” Alama told Rudaw during the visit.”

“I have heard a lot about the Kurdish leaders and their patriotism. This has been the main inspiration for my visit,” said the star, who was among the judges on Arab Idol, where Hussein mesmerized audiences around the Arab world, and created something of a controversy by singing in Kurdish and identifying her country as “Kurdistan.”

Alama, 51, said that it was through Hussein that his fascination with the Kurdish people was renewed.

Born to a Shiite family in 1962, and with three decades of musical achievements to his name, Alama was appointed in 2013 by the UN’s environmental program as an ambassador to west Asia.

“As an environmental ambassador I hope to be able to visit several places in Kurdistan and do some environmental research studies about them,” he said.

He added that he hopes to invest in Kurdistan’s booming housing market and to meet Kurdish officials who pushed for the establishment of a Kurdish-Lebanese Association that has brought much Lebanese investment to the autonomous enclave in northern Iraq.

Alama said that he risked criticism from other judges on the panel by allowing Hussein to sing in her own mother tongue.  “My support to Parwaz was my gift to the Kurdish people,” he said.

“When she mentioned Kurdistan, it immediately crossed my mind that she had come a long way to participate in the show and sing in a foreign language,” he said. “I decided to let her sing in Kurdish on the show despite all the criticism I faced by people who told me that this was an Arab Idol show, not Kurdistan Idol.”

“I hope young Kurds will prepare for the next Arab Idol season and show their talent,” Alama added. “They will have my support.”

Alama was the latest of many Arab and Iranian singers to arrive in Kurdistan to hold concerts or pursue business opportunities in the region’s booming economy.