The X Factor
Promotion · September 2023
In 2023, the fifth season of Arab's X Factor, created by Simon Cowell, premiered and quickly became one of the most-watched television shows. The first season comprised 14 episodes and was aired in 22 Arabic-speaking countries. The judging panel featured Elissa, Carole Samaha, Wael Kfoury, and Hussein Al Jasmi. In 2023, Ragheb Alama, Angham, and Abdallah Al Rowaished joined the panel as judges.
In 2012,the Egyptian TV channel CBC announced that The X Factor Arabia would return in 2013 with four judges: Elissa, Carole Samaha, Wael Kfoury, and Hussain Al Jasmi. Despite its revamped format, The X Factor Arabia struggled against its rival show MBC's Arab Idol which aired at the same time slot as The X Factor.
In 2014, MBC brought the rights for the show from CBC, revamped its format and started producing season four. Only Elissa as a judge and Bassel Alzaro as a host were retained from season three during MBC's restructure of the show. The judges on MBC The X Factor are Ragheb Alama, Elissa and Donia Samir Ghanem.
After a new hiatus of almost two-and-a-half years, the programme rights were purchased by the Dubai Channel and DMC and was relaunched at the end of 2017. The judges were Donia Samir Ghanem from season 4, the Lebanese Najwa Karam replacing Elissa, the Iraqi Majid Al Mohandis replacing Ragheb Alama and Tunisian Saber Rebai as a fourth addition judge. In 2023, Ragheb Alama, Angham, and Abdallah Al Rowaished joined the jury for the 5th season.
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