Cynthia Schneider: The surprising spread of "Idol" TV

39,657 views ・ 2009-11-13

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00:15
I'd like to ask you,
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what do these three people have in common?
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Well, you probably recognize the first person.
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I'm sure you're all avid "American Idol" watchers.
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But you might not recognize Aydah Al Jahani,
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who is a contestant, indeed a finalist,
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in the Poet of the Millions competition,
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which is broadcast out of Abu Dhabi,
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and seen throughout the Arab world.
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In this contest
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people have to write and recite
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original poetry, in the Nabati form of poetry,
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which is the traditional Bedouin form.
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And Lima Sahar was a finalist
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in the Afghan Star singing competition.
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00:58
Now, before I go any further,
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01:00
yes, I know it all began with "Britain's Got Talent."
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But my point in discussing this
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is to show you -- I hope I'll be able to show you
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how these merit-based competitions,
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with equal access to everyone,
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with the winner selected via voting by SMS,
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are changing tribal societies.
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And I'm going to focus on Afghanistan
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01:25
and the Arab world with the UAE,
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how they're changing tribal societies,
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not by introducing Western ideas,
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but by being integrated into the language in those places.
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It all begins with enjoyment.
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01:42
Video: We are late to watch "Afghan Star."
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We are going to watch "Afghan Star." We are late.
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01:48
We are running late.
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We must go to watch "Afghan Star."
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01:56
Cynthia Schneider: These programs are reaching incredibly deeply into society.
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In Afghanistan, people go to extraordinary lengths
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to be able to watch this program.
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And you don't necessarily have to have your own TV set.
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People watch it all over the country
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also in public places.
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But it goes beyond watching,
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because also, part of this
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is campaigning.
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People become so engaged
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that they have volunteers, just like political volunteers anyway,
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who fan out over the countryside,
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campaigning for their candidate.
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Contestants also put themselves forward.
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Now, of course there is a certain degree of ethnic allegiance, but not entirely.
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Because each year the winner has come from a different tribal group.
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This has opened up the door,
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particularly for women.
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And in the last season there were two women in the finalists.
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One of them, Lima Sahar, is a Pashtun from Kandahar,
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a very conservative part of the country.
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And here she relates, in the documentary film "Afghan Star,"
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how her friends urged her not to do this
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and told her that she was leaving them for democracy.
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But she also confides that
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she knows that members of the Taliban
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are actually SMS-ing votes in for her.
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Aydah Al Jahnani also took risks
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and put herself out, to compete
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in the Poet of the Millions competition.
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I have to say, her husband backed her from the start.
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But her tribe and family urged her not to compete
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and were very much against it.
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But, once she started to win,
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then they got behind her again.
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It turns out that competition and winning is a universal human value.
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And she's out there.
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Her poetry is about women,
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and the life of women in society.
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So just by presenting herself
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and being in competition with men --
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this shows the voting on the program --
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it sets a very important example for young women --
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these are young women in the audience of the program --
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in Abu Dhabi, but also people in the viewing audience.
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04:11
Now you'd think that "American Idol"
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would introduce a measure of Americanization.
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But actually, just the opposite is happening.
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By using this engaging popular format
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for traditional, local culture,
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it actually, in the Gulf, is precipitating a revival
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of interest in Nabati poetry,
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also in traditional dress and dance and music.
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And for Afghanistan,
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where the Taliban banned music for many years,
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it is reintroducing their traditional music.
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They don't sing pop songs,
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they sing Afghan music.
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And they also have learned how to lose gracefully,
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without avenging the winner.
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04:52
(Laughter)
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04:54
No small thing.
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And the final, sort of, formulation
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of this "American Idol" format,
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which has just appeared in Afghanistan,
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is a new program called "The Candidate."
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And in this program, people present
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policy platforms that are then voted on.
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Many of them are too young to run for president,
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but by putting the issues out there,
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they are influencing the presidential race.
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So for me, the substance of things unseen
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is how reality TV is driving reality.
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05:29
Thank you.
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05:31
(Applause)
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