Our favourites to win Arab Idol 2014

With the live performances starting on Friday we look over the final 26 Arab Idol hopefuls and pick the top three to watch.

Salma Ahmed. Courtesy MBC

Twenty-six young men and women from across the Arab world have already beaten the odds simply by reaching the final stages of Arab Idol’s third season.

But the real battle begins on Friday night, when they will go head to head in the first live episode of this year’s competition.

There is no doubt that every one of them has bucketloads of talent and the potential to go far. After all they’ve been picked by four notoriously hard-to-please judges – the Emirati singer Ahlam, the Egyptian record producer Hassan El Shafei and the Lebanese pop stars Nancy Ajram and Wael Kfoury – out of the many thousands who auditioned in 12 cities across the Middle East and Europe.

We will certainly be keeping a keen eye on the progress of Humeid Abdouli, an Emirati from Fujairah, who seems to have a good chance of going the distance in the competition, considering how impressed all four judges were not only by his singing talent, but also by his presence on stage.

But he faces some tough competition. Here is our pick of three of his rivals who have tugged on our heartstrings, and who we think also have a good chance of going all the way.

Ajrad Yoghardat, 22, from Algeria

The judges said Yoghardat’s voice is unlike any other they’ve heard this season.

His outgoing personality also impressed them and he has established himself as playful and fun-loving – but his defining feature remains his amazing vocals, which have a depth and resonance that has been described as ­gypsy-like on the show.

His solo performance in front of the judges, meant to determine his fate on the show, forced them to erupt into spontaneous applause and shout out “bravo” as he sang. Kfoury even told him that his voice was “outside human capabilities”.

Definitely one to watch out for and it helps that he’s always so funny and happy on the show.

Sahar Abou Elshorouf, 27, from Syria

Elshorouf is the self-professed comedian among her friends and peers, despite the grief she has had to endure in the past few years.

The young Syrian spoke of losing her home soon after her father died, when the situation in Syria started to worsen. She says she has lost 23 relatives and friends to the civil war in the country, describing them as "martyrs", and she has already dedicated whatever success she enjoys in Arab Idol to them.

The judges say she sings “with feeling” and “from the heart”. Once it sank in that she had won a place in the final 26, she swore that there would be “no more grief and depression for me from now on – I’m going to stay ­positive”.

Salma Ahmed, 18, from Egypt

Ahmed auditioned last year but was rejected early on in the process and never made it to the live phase of the show. This time around, all four judges are unanimous in their opinion that her voice has matured and will become crucial to the show.

An honourable mention has to go to Manar Sami, 26, from Egypt, whose beautiful voice made her an easy choice for the judges. However, Ahlam advised her to lose some weight if she hopes to continue with Arab Idol, claiming that no clothes were available on the show in anything other than a size small or ­medium.

We’d hate to see Sami booted out because of a weight issue – it’s supposed to be a singing contest, last time we checked.