Winners and sore losers?

A million pounds, a dashing presenter and a religious controversy are the ingredients of the most-talked-about TV show in town. Dena Rashed switches on
Here is one way to win a million Saudi riyals (approximately LE one million): make a call to George Kordahi's game show Who will win the million? (man sayarbah el-million?). When you get through, you must answer three questions correctly. Once you leap this hurdle, your name will go into a computer which will then pick eight names as the contestants for the next show.
But even if you are one of the lucky eight, you aren't anywhere in sight of that million yet. You now face a barrage of three more multiple-choice questions, and your finger must leap to the button with the correct answer before anyone else's. Only the fastest gets into the hot seat to finish the show.
This is where brains and the ability to keep a cool head take over from luck. Under pressure from tension generated by the show host and reverberating through the live audience, you must find the correct answer to each of the final 15 questions. If you're stuck you can have a little help from a friend and from the audience, once from each. If you choose not to answer a question you're out of the game, but the money you've made so far is yours. If you answer incorrectly, you collect only what you made at the last goal post. If you answer all 15, the million is yours.
It sounds straightforward enough. So where are all those millionaires? And where does the show find the money to pay them?
Millionaires? You can count them on one hand, with some fingers left over. There have, as yet, been no winners of the full million, though one contestant has managed to win half a million. You might think the show's owners are breathing sighs of relief. Why, then, the urging of the show host, not without the odd hint, for the contestant to get the answer right and take away, at least, a little money? The answer is that the programme's owners are probably laughing all the way to the bank. They are the ones making the millions -- and they are making it out of the contestants. It's those initial phone calls: they are made in their thousands and fill the show's coffers.
It is 10.30pm at one of the biggest malls (and they are all pretty big) in the middle to upper class district of Medinet Nasr. The mall is teeming with people, all focused on a large, strategically-placed TV screen. Anticipation fills the air, and as soon as Who will win the million? comes on heads twist for a better view and a breathless hush falls over the audience. "I just love the show," squeals Marwa Maghrabi, a 24-year-old mother who has brought her baby along.
When MBC first started airing the programme six months ago, it took the Arab world by storm. But since it began featuring on Egyptian television's Channel One, some commentators have become uneasy.
It started with a religious ruling (fatwa) issued by the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Nasr Farid Wassel, condemning the programme. The Mufti reasoned that the seemingly-innocent programme was gambling in a new guise. As such, it was a vice totally forbidden by Islam. Accordingly, he argued the programme should be cancelled.
Wassel's opinion is not shared by all among the religious scholars at Al-Azhar University. Some have openly disagreed with the fatwa and stressed that there is no harm in such programmes, which provide the public with information and entertainment at the same time. However, a member of parliament for the leftist Tagammu Party, El-Badry Farghali, has joined ranks with Wassel in opposing the programme.
"Should we be importers of everything, even our entertainment shows?" asked the ever- angry Farghali. "We [Egypt] used to be the exporters of entertainment and we still should be."
The shows are broadcast on Saturdays and Tuesdays, resulting in the cancellation of two Egyptian programmes which, Farghali believes, are more worthwhile.
Fans are not impressed. "Whether there is a controversy about this programme or not, I am sure people will continue watching it," Maghrabi said. She and her two sisters had been viewing the programme on MBC before it was aired on Egyptian TV, and they all agree it is the best show on the Arab satellite channels.
The magnetism of the show's presenter, Kordahi, plays no small part in its success. Many women interviewed by Al-Ahram Weekly expressed an enthusiasm for Kordahi which reflects the dire lack of smart, handsome and sophisticated presenters on Egyptian TV. Not only is Kordahi physically appealing, but his background as a journalist on the Lebanese newspaper Lessan El-Hal before the Lebanese civil war, then with the Monte Carlo radio station, and finally as the director of MBC FM has given him what many women seem to find an irresistible worldly air.
"The show is very entertaining and it asks good questions, and that's why it's fun. But without Kordahi I think it would be boring," confessed a veiled Omnia Elhamy, a human resources manager, before blurting out: "He's gorgeous!"
At another table in the mall, Alia Khalil is sitting with her partner. This doesn't prevent her declaring bluntly that Kordahi's elegance is unmatched. "Believe it or not, before the show comes on all the members of my family play a game where we try and guess what he will be wearing," she said. "It isn't just about his looks. It's also about his knowledge and his style."
Even the men don't disagree. "He's a professional, and it shows to a large degree in the way he deals with the contestants. He knows how to show them respect," Sherif Sabry, a doctor absorbed in the show broke off to say.
And in the midst of all the controversy and admiration, Kordahi is the most sought-out man in town. It took some persistent stalking to catch Kordahi in his Cairo hotel.
"I was totally taken by surprise when the show gained such importance in Egypt." he told the Weekly in an exclusive interview. However, he was even more astonished when the fatwa was issued against it. He went as far as to say on air that a programme which challenged contestants and provided knowledge for viewers could not have anything to do with gambling. "The show has had great success in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries. The attacks only began when it appeared on Egyptian TV," Kordahi said. He believes the source of the anger could be the settlement of old disputes between certain channel directors or programme owners. "I can't be sure but I think it is all personal," he said.
Who will win the million? is currently made in France, with each group of eight contestants flying in from all over the Arab world to compete for the seat but also enjoy three days in France. From October, however, it is expected that the studio and production will be set up in Egypt. "The problem is that those who attack the show do not understand what Egypt will gain if it's made here. Many Arab countries wish to host it," Kordahi said.
"If Egypt is willing to open up and accept globalisation, why can't we then accept Arabisation? Why shouldn't Egypt open up to the Arab world in return, just like the Arab world embraces Egyptian culture?"
Food for thought, indeed, and on the street people seem to be ready for variation. "It is rare to watch an Arab programme or a show on Egyptian TV, yet it is quite normal to broadcast Egyptian TV serials, movies and songs on Arab channels," Maghrabi said. "I think it would be nice if we saw some Arab shows from time to time on national TV."
Perhaps the key to understanding the controversy lies in understanding the pressure of slick foreign competition on local programming. An Egyptian version of Kordahi's show is Pyramid of Dreams, presented by the Egyptian actor and composer Ezzat Abu Ouf and broadcast on Channel Two. "I have to say I am one of George Kordahi's fans," Abu Ouf told the Weekly. However he doesn't see why the show should be featured on Egyptian TV. "We already have a similar show," he said. "We are in a panic now and are introducing new ideas to our programme so as to compete with Kordahi's."
Abu Ouf's show follows the same format as Who will win the million?, but it does not match the prize money. Contestants who make it to the final round could win LE10,000, and possibly a car to boot. But that is not the only drawback. One viewer, Mohamed Gaber, expressed a popular TV-watcher sentiment when he said: "I don't like Abu Ouf's programme because the questions are so trivial."
Kordahi cannot make comparisons with Abu Ouf's programme, since he has never watched it. He argues that a strong point of his programme is that the questions are based on two cultures: Islamic and European. "Maybe that is why no one has won a million up to now -- the questions are quite difficult," he admits. He sits back and smiles that winning smile and tells me, "I do not think I'd win a million if I ever took part." But then it is such fun just to watch.
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