‘Arab Idol’ Controversy Over Kurdish Singer Puts Iraqi Kurdistan on the Map

 

By BARZAN MUHAMMAD

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A Kurdish contestant’s insistence that she is from Kurdistan, and an Arab judge’s comment that Kurdistan is in fact a part of Iraq, has stirred up something of a hornet’s nest.

So far Parwaz Hussein, who has mesmerized judges like Lebanese superstar Nancy Ajram with her singing, has not needed any help to beat 15,000 rivals to break into the semifinals of Arab Idol, the Arab world’s most popular television talent show.

But the controversy over her origins is generating a buzz on the Internet, and getting Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region -- which would like the world to recognize its Kurdish ethnicity instead of seeing it as just another part of predominantly Arab Iraq -- exactly the kind of publicity it needs.

In the Kurdistan Region, a three-province enclave that remains an oasis of peace surrounded by violence and bloodshed in the rest of Iraq, the controversy over Hussein’s origins and the judge’s comments, has audiences glued to their television screens and cheering for the amateur singer.

Last week, after a performance by Hussein, Ahlam al-Shamsi, who is a singer from the United Arab Emirates and one of a panel of judges, said, “I am against writing the word Kurdistan. Kurdistan is an inseparable part of Iraq. Hussein is from Iraq.”

Those remarks transferred the show from entertainment to politics.

Al-Shamsi’s comments drew immediate reactions.  In the studio itself, some among the audience applauded her comments, while others began chanting, “Kurdistan, Kurdistan.”

Arab writer like Rana Madhat responded: “Parwaz is from her country. She has her own language, nation and flag. Her flag (and its sanctities) should not have been attacked.”

Areeb Rantawi wrote in Jordan’s Ad-Dustour newspaper: “Kurds have had an active participation in building Arab and Islamic civilization. They have had their role in the Arab and Islamic arts too. We have to welcome Parwaz Hussein to this Arab show.”

“Hussein is an ambassador of the Kurds to the Arab world,” Rantawi added.

Kurds responded to al-Shamsi on Facebook, YouTube and other social media outlets. drawing an apology from the singer and judge.

In a response to a comment by Rudaw’s social media editor, Ruwayda Mustafa, al-Shamsi wrote on her Twitter account, “I did not intend to offend. I meant to support Parwaz. I will prove this.”

Furthermore, al-Shamsi published a statement on April 22, in which she said “Hussein came to the program with a message of peace, art, and love, and we accepted her in our program as such. “I did not mean to deny your existence… I am proud of Parwaz’s beautiful voice and creativity.  We will open-mindedly support her.”

At the end of her statement al-Shamsi wrote, “Support Parwaz, daughter of Iraqi Kurdistan.”

After the show, Goran Salih, Hussein’s husband, contacted her and asked how MBC officials had reacted to al-Shamsi’s on-air comments.  Salih told Rudaw “al-Shamsi and MBC officials apologized to Parwaz. Al-Shamsi told her she had no intention of offending Parwaz.”

Salih added that, “Parwaz asked MBC and al-Shamsi to officially apologize. In the next episode there will be an official apology on the show.”

Hussein’s videos have had six million hits from around the world. Only in the past week, the videos were downloaded 1.5 million times.

Safeen Salih, Hussein’s brother in law, told Rudaw “4.3 million votes have been sent to Parwaz’s number from Iraq. She is in the top of the list.”

So far, nine performers have made it to the semi-finals. Next week, the show’s final episode will be aired.