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Salam, So I happened to watch the ‘long awaited, brand spanking new’ talent show ‘The Shia voice’ on Imam Hussein TV3 last night and here are some thoughts on it; Production/direction wise, It seems like a template from the talent shows in Western media including but not limited to the camera shots and how it’s directed. For instance, The judges and contestants being followed by the camera from the car to the venue. Also, the two presenters/hosts and their roles before and after the contestant goes on stage. The absolute copy/paste of the roles from something like ‘Britain’s got talent’ is somewhat cringe-worthy. I suppose it’s being copied because it worked in Western media which is not a bad thing per se', but a little creativity would have been nice. What I absolutely felt uncomfortable with was the same concept of humour and subliminal mockery of the contestants who may not be performing to the level of others was shown; just as it would be in Western shows. And this is where the ‘entertainment value’ apparently is. When one contestant, who wasn’t performing to the level of others, was clearly struggling in his Noha recitation, the camera shots and actions of some judges were more than awkward to watch. The reason being, is that these contestants aren’t singing or clowning around; it’s what their performing (Noha etc) that is a very sensitive matter and should not be mocked, even subliminally or made/produced/directed for ‘entertainment value’. Despite my criticisms, I found that overall, the show was good, it appealed to its target audience and the youth are much better off watching an imperfect Shia talent show with lots of Quran, Noha and Ahlulbayt (عليه السلام), than watching Western talent shows. It’s a huge production endeavour and they seem to have pulled it off. There were some fantastic and talented contestants with admirable skills, and these shows can encourage more of the youth to engage within their communities and bring out their own talents for the service of Ahlulbayt (عليه السلام). All in all, I give ‘The Shia voice’ a thumbs up. Simply because I believe that anything with the mention of Allah Ta’ala and Ahlulbayt (عليه السلام) is Baraka.