Feature: Rising female star on popular Afghan singing show bravely champions discrimination

Appearing in national dress on stage and

delivering her song with confidence at the "Afghan Star" singing contest, Sahar

Arian hoped to win the contest and become a professional singer.

"I have problems but am hopeful to overcome the challenges and debut

as a popular singer one day," Arian told the audience after performing

on Thursday night.

The private television channel Tolo launched the program "Afghan Star"

in 2005, which is similar to that of "American Idol" to search for

talented singers from across conflict-ridden Afghanistan and to

bring joy among the war-weary Afghans.

Since its beginning in September 2005, the program "Afghan Star"

fast became a popular television show among Afghans in a

country where the Taliban outfit had outlawed music as an un-Islamic practice

during its six-year reign toppled in late 2001.

Presently, Afghan Star Season 11 is underway and those securing first,

second and third places are encouraged by winning valuable

prizes ranging from cash to automobiles.

In each season, hundreds of young singers, music fans and those studying

music from across the militancy-plagued country register for the

popular Afghan Star show to compete in the competition.

The judges, comprised of four established singers and musicians

including a female appraiser, evaluate the performances of each singer and score

them based on their stage performance and overall musical talent.

Whittling down the hundreds of competitors, the expert panel select the

top 12, and each week one participant has to be eliminated from the race

in the search of the most talented one.

On Thursday night, a male singer Jawed Samir was eliminated from the

race, leaving the top eight to contest for the prestigious title

of being the Afghan Star. Next Thursday night another young singer will be

eliminated from the competition as the tension and excitement rises.

Two girls including a teenager Ziba Hamidi and six guys are among the

eight top contestants all vying for the top positions in the 11th season of

the popular TV show.

Decked out in colorful dress; a mixture of Afghan national costume and western

style, the aspiring Hamidi is hopeful of winning the Afghan Star title at

the conclusion of the singing showdown.

With all the attributes of a beauty queen, the young Hamidi who wants to become a

rapper in conservative Afghanistan, in her stage shows has been

striving to reflect women's problems and discrimination against women

in her traditional society.

"From the first day of her birth, a girl faces discrimination," the

brave Hamidi sung on stage on the show last week, promoting the

notion that Afghan women, like men, are talented and should not be

treated as inferior.

However, on Thursday night she, during a spectacular joint performance with

a male vocalist Jawed Samir on stage, belted out a captivating song about the

sweet union of eternal love, much to the delight of the judges and the avid

aficionados of the show tuning in across the nation. Enditem