Muslim conservatives, who forced the suspension of an Arab version of the reality show Big Brother, have now turned their attention to two popular shows programmed by Lebanese satellite channels which draw record audiences of young people.
The shows are annual events - Future Television's "Superstar" talent contest and LBCI's "Star Academy" reality TV competition.
On Monday, in Bahrain the Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC) television channel announced it was suspending an Arab version of the controversial Big Brother, because of the public outcry there where it was being filmed.
One day earlier, Superstar launched its second annual edition with expectations of drawing record viewing numbers.
"Last year, we reached a record number of 4.8 million spectators. This time we are expecting the figure to rise to six millions," Bilal Labban, the coordinator of Superstar, said.
Some 40,000 stardom-seeking youngsters applied to take part in the show, with 83 being chosen from 15 Arab countries.
Those selected, including 32 young women, come from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, the Palestinian territories, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Barhain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya.
Conservatives have sharply criticised the whole basis of the Superstar and Star Academy shows which skirt some of the taboos involving young men and women in the Middle East.
Superstar candidates are housed in hotels and episodes are shot at Future TV studios, while Star Academy candidates are housed at LBCI buildings, with separate dormitories for women and men.
Aired on a 24-hour satellite channel, Star Academy shows young Arab women and men living together in a talent contest that proved a big hit in a region where private lives are taboo subjects and sexual segregation remains the norm.
"These kinds of programmes are in contradiction with our habits and with the principles of Islam. We are seeing youngsters kissing and expressing emotions. This is indecent," said fundamentalist Lebanese Sheikh Mohammad Hamdi.
In Kuwait, another Muslim sheikh described the shows as "impious."
The Superstar programme will be broadcast in three stages, starting with the airing of screen tests held in a roadshow across six Arab countries and France.
"We included France to give young Arabs in that country the chance to participate in the competition. And for the sake of transparency, we want to show the public the criteria of our selection process," said Labban.
In early April, the 83 selected candidates will attend a second screening which will only retain 14 finalists among whom a winner will be voted in the summer.
The voting process of Superstar is entirely based on emails and phone text messages while in Star Academy, the process also involves a jury of professionals as well as the candidates themselves.
At the Superstar finale last year, the announcement of the victory of Jordanian Diana Karazon prompted demonstrations in several Arab countries.
Thousands of people took to the street in Amman to celebrate Karazon's achievement, with shots fired into the air and personal congratulations from the royal family.
The loss of Lebanese candidate Melhem Zein angered fans who demonstrated outside the Future Television headquarters to denounce what they termed the "rigged" voting process.
"In order to overcome suspicion, we developed the capacities of our switchboards and we have hired an international control company," said Labban.
Fans of both programmes seem to be satisfied with the timing of the two shows.
"We are fans of Star Academy, and now we are also going to watch Superstar 2," said Karim Hamdan, a 24-year-old student.
"Star Academy ends in April, just when Superstar candidates arrive in Lebanon," said Bahaa Arab, an architecture university student.
MBC's scrapping of Big Brother came three days after some 1,000 people, mainly Islamists, protested against the show, which the channel was producing at a villa in a resort called Amwaj on Muharraq island, the second largest in the Bahrain archipelago.
Islamist MPs accused that show of violating Islamic traditions.
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