Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef joins Arabs Got Talent judges

Menna Osama, Monday 7 Oct 2024

Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef has joined the judging panel for the seventh season of the reality TV talent show Arabs Got Talent, which will be filmed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Arabs Got Talent

 

Since the beginning of October, the billboards announcing juries of the upcoming edition of Arabs Got Talent have appeared across Cairo.

They followed the MBC group announcements of the names of the jury members last August and the teaser's release a week ago.

The seventh season of the popular Arabic talent show, part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell, will feature Youssef in his judging debut.

He will join Lebanese singer Najwa Karam and Saudi actor Nasser Al-Qasabi, who participated in earlier seasons.

Additionally, TV presenter Raya Abirached will host the show.

Bassem Youssef, 50, gained fame with his news satire programme Al-Bernameg  strongly inspired by Jon Stewart's The Daily Show  which aired in Egypt from 2011-2013.

Over the past year, the surgeon-turned-satirist returned to prominence by appearing in several interviews, including one with British presenter Piers Morgan, to lambast Zionism and Israel’s war on Gaza.

Youssef is not the first Egyptian to join Arabs Got Talent judges. The show's first season in 2011 saw the participation of Egyptian TV presenter Amr Adeeb, while actor Ahmed Helmy joined the show in four consecutive seasons (3-6 held between 2013 and 2019).

The show's seventh edition returns after a four-year hiatus, with filming moved from Beirut, Lebanon to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The pre-recorded show will air starting 16 October on MBC TV channel.

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