Popular choice … Shatha Hassoun wraps herself in the Iraqi flag after winning Star Academy in Adma, Lebanon.
BAGHDAD: After enduring one of the bloodiest weeks in Iraq's sectarian conflict, Iraqis have united in celebrating the win of an Iraqi woman in the hit pan-Arab television talent show Star Academy.
Shatha Hassoun, 26, fell on her knees on stage and wrapped the red, white and black Iraqi flag around her shoulders after learning she had won the most votes in the reality show, which is broadcast from Lebanon and is one of the most popular programs in the Middle East.
The announcement came shortly before midnight on Friday in Iraq. In Baghdad, a power cut meant many who had been following Hassoun's fortunes over the past four months were unable to see her beat the three remaining competitors, from Lebanon, Tunisia and Egypt.
But in those areas with generators, cheering erupted from many homes along with the sound of celebratory gunfire, which began slowly at first and then intensified as the news spread by phone and text message.
Hassoun is an unlikely ambassador for Iraq, as she has never been there. Born in Casablanca, Morocco, she claims Iraqi nationality through her father, a native-born member of the Shimary tribe of southern Iraq. Some say the distance may also have help her rise as a unity candidate: no one knows for sure whether she is Sunni or Shiite, so both sides have claimed her. And living abroad is forgivable these days in Iraq, which many residents have fled as violence has worsened.
But what really counted, fans said, is that the beautiful, Paris-educated Hassoun embraced bombed-out, struggling Iraq. Iraq, in turn, embraced her.
"We heard she lived in Morocco and has never been in Iraq. And she loves her country so much. Imagine how great her love would be if she lived here!" said Ahmed Kadhiim, 32, a day labourer in a market in Baghdad on Friday. Around him was a small crowd of boys and men who estimated that among them, they had cast at least 500 votes for Hassoun this week.
Original article posted here.
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