Big Brother: The Boss (Big Brother: الرئيس) (also known as Big Brother Arabia) was a 2004 Arabic-language television show, based on the worldwide hit Big Brother, in which contestants live in a specially built house while competing for a prize. The show was aired on MBC 2 with a big prize $100 000, not won because of the cancellation.

The show was filmed in the Amwaj Islands in Bahrain. It was hoped that the show would follow the success of such popular programs as Star Academy, and the recent dating show "Al Hawa Sawa," but failed to do so, and instead the show gained major controversy in the countries it aired in.

Many were offended by the fact that it featured six men and six women living together in one area ( Gender segregation and Islam), despite staying in separate parts of the house, and the only way of communicating with each other was in open areas such as the kitchen and garden.

The show began on airing 21 February, and was discontinued 11 Days later on 2 March to avoid more controversy in the Arab World, specifically, the Arabian Peninsula. During the first (and only) nominations Asjan, Bashara, Najwa and Shaza were nominated. However, an eviction never took place.

Abdul

Abdul Hakim is a 25-year-old from Saudi Arabia.

Abdullah

Abdullah Bishara is a 24-year-old from Somalia.

Ala'a

Ala'a Omar is a 30-year-old from Oman. She is best known for being the only female Housemate to wear the traditional Hijab. She was unpopular with several housemates (namely Abdullah, Amal, Asjan, Bashara, Faris and Najwa) who labelled her "boring", but, when it came to nominations, only Bashara nominated her.

Amal

Amal Saleh is a 20-year-old beautician from Egypt.

Asjan

Asjan Hadad is 26 years old and also from Egypt. She was one of the four Housemates up for Eviction in the first round of Nominations. She, along with Najwa, was the most popular housemate in the outside world.

Bashara

Bashara is a 29-year-old boutique owner from Lebanon. He was also one of the four Housemates Nominated for Eviction.

Faris

Faris Ashour is a 22-year-old Karate teacher from Kuwait.

Kauthar

Kauthar Altareeki is 32 years old and from Tunisia. She was the only housemate to receive no nominations during the first and only round of nominations.

Mazen

Mazen Jasim is a 22-year-old musician from Iraq.

Michael

Michael Banna is a 26-year-old from Jordan.

Najwa

Najwa Hamoud is 31 years old and from Syria. She was up for Eviction as well in the only round of Nominations. She was the most popular housemate in the outside world.

Shaza

Shaza Sabt is a 29-year-old actress from Bahrain. She, along with Asjan, Bashara, and Najwa was Nominated for Eviction in the first round of Nominations. She was the least popular housemate in the outside world.

¹ Had the eviction gone ahead, Shaza would have been evicted with 65% of the vote. Bashara received 20%, Asjan received 10%, whilst Najwa received 5%.

The house was mainly segregated for the male and female housemates. Single-sex bedrooms, bathrooms and prayer rooms were provided and the only parts of the house accessible to both sexes were the kitchen and garden areas. Parts of the house (e.g. the women's bedroom) were monitored by female camera operators only. Five times a day, Big Brother would announce to the housemates the time for prayer.

Producers decided to cancel the show, as there were many complaints from viewers, and complaints on Arab radio talkshows. The shows producers actually went into the house in person to inform the housemates that it was to be cancelled. Many of the Housemates were devastated at the news that they had to leave. Had the eviction gone ahead, Shaza would have been evicted with 65% of the vote. Bashara received 20%, Asjan received 10%, whilst Najwa received 5%. This and Serbian Big Brother, where three people from Big Brother died in car accident, remain the only series of Big Brother in the world to be cancelled and not have a winner.

There was a variety of controversy surrounding the introduction of Bahrain’s Big Brother. Supporters argued that the how was economically beneficial to Bahrain, because it would bring more tourism to the country. In addition to tourists, the use of cellular phones to vote for competitors on the show was beneficial to phone companies. Because of the use of cell phones for voting the increased tourism to Bahrain, some thought the show Big Brother should stay on the air for the economic growth.

In addition to the supporters, the show led to a number of critics. Some argued that the show did not accurately represent Islamic values due to it’s showing of women and men living in close proximity as well as competing together. The Saudi Media Committee initially advised against this show, however they allowed it under two conditions: it was not shot in Saudi Arabia and that the show enforced strict guidelines for the separation of men and women. Despite the precautions taken, the decision was made to suspend the program after a contestant’s scarf fell off to reveal her shoulders, and a male contestant was shown on camera kissing a female contestant on a cheek. In addition to this, due to an inexperienced production crew, a scene aired in which the visual for the women’s room’s had an audio track from the men’s room playing over it, leading viewers to believe that the men and women were together in the private quarters. This led to concerns about Ikhtilat, or the unsupervised mixing of unmarried men and women looked down about upon by Islam.

There were other concerns surrounding the show despite the issue of morality. There were issues of representations of reality, or the idea of reality TV. Some argued that to showing men and women interacting were not accurate of the reality of real Arabic society. On the other hand, some thought this may represent current society, however they did not want to be viewed in a way that was immoral to other countries in the Middle East. Because the channel it aired on was a family channel, MBC, some thought that they would want to express more moral values. It was also broadcasted on Lebanon broadcasting networks, a country known for more liberalist attitudes and western-oriented values.

The morality of the show could also have bigger implications. Some argued that it wasn’t the morality of the show that was the issue, but how they appeared to foreign investors. If other corporations did not approve of how Bahrain was represented on the show, it could have business ramifications. It actually led to a Parliamentary debate about national reputations: the nonconformity to prototypical Islamic culture could ruin its reputation for foreign investors.

• Tegenlicht - Dutch documentary series which featured a two-part episode about the show. Includes Real Media stream of episode.
• ra%27is&ots=XehroLA8O_&sig=Vt8m1RHGuCNLRsrizP8tWrGIwp8#v=onepage&q=bahrain%20big%20brother%20al-ra'is&f=false - Reality Television and Arab Politics, a book by Marwan Kraidy.

Category:2004 television seasons Category:Big Brother (TV series) Category:2004 television series debuts Category:2004 television series endings