I actually first heard of Star Academy’s Ave Maria/Athan duet from Elie Fares but really didn’t give much interest to it. But apparently, the UAE’s 7Days newspaper believes its front-page news:
Prayer song on LBC hits bad note
A pair of wannabe pop stars have been blasted by a wave of online hate mail and death threats after performing the call to prayer and a Christian hymn together during a TV talent contest.
Mohammed Dakdouq and Nisman Mahjoub appeared live on Friday’s episode of LBC’s ‘Star Academy’ for the duet, which saw the Islamic ‘Athan’ mixed with Christian choral piece ‘Ave Maria’.
The three-minute performance was met with rapturous applause by the studio audience, but thousands of viewers across the region, and in the UAE, have branded their efforts anti-Islamic and sinful.
Really? Front-page news? You mean the arrest of UAE bloggers / activists is not of major concern? The article goes further to state:
7DAYS was unable to reach LBC for comment yesterday, but press reports in Lebanon say the station received a barrage of complaints and has apologised for any offence cause[d].
Over at Ms.Levantine, a poll is in place on whether Lebanon is a model of coexistence between Muslims and Christians. Clearly we still have a long way to go.
What a shame that is was taken as such – I don’t watch Star Academy, but I saw a vid of it. I personally thought it was amazing and this is how it should be.
Truly, what a shame.
I cannot believe that the contestants and the stations are apologizing. Isn’t it time to stop kowtowing to prejudices?