Kuwait Times

Published Date: April 20, 2009
By Sawsan Kazak

Arab youth will soon showcase their talents on Stars of Science, a new reality show aimed at exhibiting innovation in the Arab world. The program will differ from existing reality shows because it will not emphasize and showcase the best voices, appearances and dance abilities, but rather it will seek out the best brains and problem solving skills.

The Stars of Science is the first pan-Arab television competition for young Arab inventors. The contestants are sixteen young Arabs ranging in age from 21 to 31 from eleven countries. Each competitor entered the competition with an idea for a new invention in the science and technology fields which would, in theory, benefit humanity.

The 16 aspiring inventors where chosen from more than 5,600 applicants from around the world. Throughout the show, the contestants will be evaluated by three judges, all of which are experts in their respective fields. There is Dr Sadeg M Faris from Libya, who is an engineer who holds more than 600 patents in his name. From Lebanon there is William Sawaya, a world-renowned designer. Finally there is Dr Mona Zaki from Egypt, a prominent businesswoman and marketing consultant.

The show will begin airing May 29, 2009 until June 26, 2009 on Kuwait TV. The five week program will broadcast five prime-time episodes on Friday, 90 minutes each along with daily shows from Sunday to Thursday, 45 minutes each. These will keep viewers updated on the daily events of the participants within the workshops. The educational reality will entertain viewers because it teaches them about science and technology. With the help of broadcasting partners, the program will air simultaneously in 16 Arab n
ations on public and private channels.

The newly inaugurated Science and Technology Park in Doha will play host to the reality show. State of the art workshops, classrooms and lounging areas were built specifically for the show. The innovative program is the initiative of Qatar Foundation for Education, Sciences and Community Development, who aim to "endorse a healthy competitive spirit, encourage creativity, team-building and innovative careers amongst the youth in the Arab world.

Throughout the five weeks the program will air, the challengers will have the opportunity to develop their inventions from mere ideas on paper to actual products that can be mass produced and sold worldwide. Throughout the different processes, cameras follow their every move, capturing their successes as well as their failures as they are confronted by the many challenges that come with creating new technologies.

This show will have an interactive format as the final episode, which will be broadcasted live, will allow the viewers to vote for their favorite invention. The first prize winner will receive $300,000 to continue the creation of their invention.

The message is that we are Arabs who established civilizations long ago, and we can do it again and we can put Arab youth on the world map when it comes to technology and science," said Dr Nagwa Abou El-Naga, member of the steering committee for Qatar Foundation in a statement to the Kuwait Times. "We are not simply looking on to what others are doing, we are working hard to keep up with what's going on in the rest of the world," she added.

The steering committee, which has been working on this project for about two years, had to create it all from scratch. "It is the first time a program like this has been done - we are covering new grounds. We had to select which company would shoot the show, we had to establish the framework of the program, we had to define our conditions for the jury and the candidates, we had to find a location, how it will begin and end, we even had to decide how the set would look like," Dr Nagwa said.

When asked if this show was going to be a yearly one, Dr Nagwa said she was not yet sure. "For now, I'm not going to jump and say that we are going to do it every year. First we will see what outcome we get from this show," she said.
The difference between reality shows and scripted ones is night and day. The steering committee learned that the hard way. "It was risky because you can't guarantee the outcome. There are many factors that can affect the show," explained Dr Nagwa. "But we needed to take the risk. If you don't take the risk, you will never gain knowledge," she added.

She believes that even though this is a new kind of reality show with a serious subject matter, the Arab world will react positively. Dr Nagwa thinks that it will be attractive to viewers because of its interactive features.

The goal is to tell the Arab viewer that science can be something good. To give hope to our children and to have them aspire to be more than singers," said Rony Jazzar, CEO of Khayal Productions during an interview with Kuwait Times. Jazzar is very discouraged when he sees Arab youth thinking that the only way to make money is by singing and dancing. He believes this is due to the fact that the new generation is given bad role models.

We never see someone like Dr Farees, for example, who has more than 600 patents in his name. This is great! This is what our new generation should know about," he explained. Jazzar believes that the 16 contestants will send a positive message to the Arab youth by showing them that they can use their brains to be successful.

He believes that the show will be received positively by the viewers, saying, "I am confident that people are going to watch this show and will forget the science side of it, but will rather will see the passion and adventure aspect of the show." The show is completely a non-profit project as the patents stay in the ownership of the creator. The show is being provided for free to all TV stations to air.