ALKHOBAR, 9 February 2007 — Can you make a camel disappear into thin air or play the sax better than Kenny G? If so, Safa Al-Ahmad wants to give you a chance to become a star. Safa is part of the production team currently casting the talent show “Mawaheb ” for Lebanese production house, imagic. Mawaheb will be broadcast on LBC satellite television channel.

The first seven shows in the Mawaheb series will be recorded in the studio before a live audience and a panel of three judges. According to Safa, each contestant will have two-and-a-half minutes to showcase his or her talent. The judges are free to stop and eliminate the contestant at any moment if they think the performance lacks appeal. About 14 contestants will appear on each 70-minute program. The contestants who are good enough to move forward to the semifinal and final stage in July, will perform live, with viewers voting for their favorites. The contest is “winner take all” for a cash grand prize. Competing in Mawaheb is open to any Arab of any age who has a talent that can be performed on stage.

“We are looking for unusual or amazing talents,” said Safa. “For example, snake charmers or illusionists might be interesting. We’ve seen some bands that play rock or hip-hop with strong Arab influences. A painter who can create three different works of art on stage in the two and a half minutes allowed; a small child who recites poetry with unusual drama and flare; these are some of the talents that are of interest to us.”

Safa has been crisscrossing the Kingdom auditioning people who think they can deliver an amazing performance. She’s seen a man who can walk on glass, some talented musicians and a contortionist. But it’s been difficult and people aren’t lining up to grab their two minutes of fame. In part, it’s because in Saudi Arabia they can’t line up.

“We haven’t been able to do an open casting call in the Kingdom like we would do in many other countries. This means that we’ve had to go almost door to door to audition talents and that’s been time consuming,” she said.

Cultural barriers in the Kingdom have also meant that it has thus far been impossible to find Saudi women who are willing to go on television to showcase their talents. It’s not that there aren’t any talented Saudi women, it’s just that performing publicly is outside the social norm for them.

Mawaheb is based on a format that has already been successful in the US, under the title “America’s Got Talent.”

“It’s a take off of another show, but what will be unique about Mawaheb is that it’s going to be a pan-Arab show where talents from all over the Arab world are performing,” said Safa. “Of course they will have their own uniquely Arab talents plus their own interpretation of modern culture.”

Safa has been working her way up the ranks in Middle East television productions, initially as a part of teams that created “home grown” weekly programs for Gulf TV stations and more recently moving on to lead the productions of more ambitious “reality” shows such as The Investor and the Middle Eastern version of Extreme Makeover.

Discussing with her the criticism that Arab television productions are just imitations of Western shows, Safa pointed out that bringing productions to air requires a combination of skill sets and funding, neither of which are in ready supply in the Middle East.

“The expertise that is used to create winning show formats is still not well developed in the Middle East,” she explained. “It is much more cost effective for production houses to buy a format that has already been successful elsewhere and then tailor it to the Arab world. However, I’d like to point out that The Investor, which aired on MBC, was a format created for the Arab world and in particular the Gulf market. So it is becoming more feasible to develop programming with themes that originate in the Middle East.”

Safa also added that in the Middle East and especially the Gulf countries there is only limited support for the development of any of the professions needed for a successful entertainment industry. Few artists, except singers, are able to make a living from their talents.

“Casting is much tougher for Mawaheb than for other shows I’ve done,” said Safa. “In the Kingdom there is little encouragement for the performing arts. There are no talent shows at Saudi schools. The concept of vaudeville has never existed here. Live performance in general is confined to folkloric themed productions.”

Despite the hurdles, imagic would like to cast about 60 percent of the contestants in Mawaheb from the Gulf countries. All contestants’ airfare, hotel and other expenses associated with producing the show in Beirut will be covered by imagic. In the case of children who may be appearing on Mawaheb, imagic will support the expenses of an accompanying guardian.

“We are hard at work to get the word out about the program,” asserted Safa. “We believe we are providing a unique opportunity to showcase talented Arabs who may have never had the chance to demonstrate their ability before an audience. We have hired consultants to help make their acts more professional. I want to make it clear that this is definitely not a freak show where the tallest woman or fattest man would be the contestants. We are looking for talents, they can be unusual talents, but we want to see people with amazing abilities.”

All this aside, with the terrible situation in Palestine and an even worse catastrophe unfolding in Iraq, how can a group of young, skilled producers be putting so much effort into creating something so frivolous?

“Life isn’t news broadcasts 24/7,” replied Safa. “Everybody needs to see something light-hearted now and then. If the talents on display in the program are coming from the region, then so much the better. We really have more than enough depression to cope with that’s created by the instability and violence in daily life in the Middle East. No, Mawaheb isn’t going to change the world, but it might help us all get though another day here and there’s nothing wrong with that.”