Arabic Poet Idol

The number one primetime show in the Arab world -- an audience of 70 million -- features poets.

An initiative of Abu Dhabi's Authority for Culture and Heritage intended to increase interest among the region's youth in their cultural roots, "Million's Poet" is an Arabic-language, American Idol-style competition. Over the course of the 15 week competition, an initial batch of 48 bards is voted down to a final winner who will be crowned as ‘Million's Poet' and awarded 1 million AED.

Are the poems being translated for performance or publication in Europe, the States?

More about the show, and the progress of the contestants can be found at CNN, ArabianBusiness.com, and Zawya.

Quizzes

Do you know what a "wo-mba" is? Try the How wide ranging is your vocabularly" quiz at the Guardian to test your multi-lingual mettle.

You can also test your knowledge of Italian literature.