After a long six-year hiatus, the pan-Arab televised talent show, Star Academy Arabia is back for its 11th season, multiple Lebanese outlets recently reported.
The show premiered in 2003 and was adapted from a French show of the same name that was based on the Spanish format "Operación Triunfo".
It follows the daily life of 16 candidates in a four-story building in Lebanon, where they are tutored by professional academics in singing, acting, and dancing.
The candidates get selected from a pan-Arab pool of more than three thousand and are sequestered for four months in "The Academy".
They compete in weekly talent competitions during on-stage performances.
Voting from the audience will determine which contestants get eliminated at the end of the week.
The show featured many top-notch performers including Diana Haddad, Sherine, Haifa Wahbe, Elissa, Angham, Assala, Kadim Al Sahir, Ramy Ayach, Nawal El Zoghbi, Marwan Khoury, Carole Samaha, and Ehab Tawfik.
It also hosted global superstars such as Julio Iglesias, Anggun, Karl Wolf, Tina Arena, Chris De Burgh, and Massari.