Grand prize winners in a PepsiCo contest in the UAE recently attended the season finale of MBC’s Arab Idol, one of the most popular musical programmes in the Middle East, in Beirut.

Saeda Al-Dakkak, Mustafa Taha and his son Alaa won an all-expenses-paid trip to Beirut provided by PepsiCo to attend the final elimination round and witness the rise of Arab Idol’s next star Carmen Sulaiman, said a statement.

The company’s strategic sponsorship of one of the region’s most spectacular entertainment event stems from its vision to enhance the quality of popular music through supporting and nurturing artistic talents in the region, giving them the opportunity to develop and emerge.

The social and cultural initiatives undertaken by PepsiCo are an important part of the company’s efforts to serve the community and contribute to the process of social evolution within the framework of local culture, the statement said.

The program is hugely popular with TV audiences throughout the world following its tremendous success in Great Britain where it premiered in 2001 under the name ‘Pop Idol’.

Since then it has become a global phenomenon with a large number of viewers in countries including US (where it is known as American Idol), Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, Australia and India, and is now being enjoyed by viewers across the Middle East in its newest version as Arab Idol. – TradeArabia News Service