Humeid Abdouli's Arab Idol dream is over. The 23-year-old from Fujairah left the programme on Saturday night after failing to secure enough votes from viewers and the judging panel.
The same episode also delivered another surprise exit, when the highly rated Syrian contestant Sahar Abou Elshorouf was sent packing.
Abdouli’s departure completed what proved to be a bittersweet weekend for the Emirati.
After landing in the bottom three the previous weekend, he returned on Friday and Saturday with a pair of performances that were easily his best of the live shows.
He opened on Friday with a cover version of a cover version: the Emirati superstar Hussein Al Jasmi’s take on a traditional Moroccan folk song.
The judging panel – the UAE diva Ahlam, the Egyptian producer Hassan El Shafei and the Lebanese pop stars Nancy Ajram and Wael Kfoury – were unanimous in their praise.
El Shafei said that Abdouli had finally come into his own with “a really enjoyable and relaxed performance”.
The television audience, however, thought otherwise. Abdouli joined Abou Elshorouf at the bottom of the line-up, with both needing to convince the judges to use their votes to keep them in the competition.
Abdouli delivered a spine-tingling performance of another Al Jasmi tune, Fakadtak, while Elshorouf went for a traditional Lebanese folk song.
With the panel deciding to save their yes votes for another week, both competitors were sent home.
Elshorouf joins Egypt’s Mu’min Khalil and Iraq’s Ali Al Najem on the growing list of favourites who have made early exits, thus proving that, in some cases, the audience and the judging panel have very different opinions on contestants.
For Abdouli, his Arab Idol campaign will be defined by his resilient optimism.
He walks away from the programme carrying the affection of the superstar Ajram, who labelled him "the fruit of Arab Idol".
• Arab Idol is broadcast live on MBC1 on Fridays and Saturdays at 10pm