Iraq Gets It's Own Pop Idol!

In an attempt to lighten up the day to day lives of the people of Iraq a TV station in the country has begun its own version of Pop Idol.

Called ‘Iraq Star’ the programme is broadcast on Al-Sumeria TV and has seen more than 2,000 hopefuls attend auditions after the venture was announced earlier this year. Many Iraqis already obsessively watch American Idol.

However Iraq Star doesn’t have any of the Hollywood glamour of its US counterpart witht the show being shot in a drab studio with no audience, although producers are promising more glitzy touches for the finale which is being held in Beirut reports MSN news.

"We are trying to lighten the load and problems Iraqis are going through,” said director Wadia Nader. "We had shows like this in the 1960s when people were discovered on television. But since then, with so many wars, Iraqis couldn't see this kind of thing."