It appears that some bits of western culture is definitely reaching Afghanistan. On March 13 mainstream media reported that a woman from the conservative Pashtun belt, that’s the Afghan version of the U.S “bible belt”, is one of the top three contenders in the country’s version of “American Idol.” I wonder if members of the Canadian Army based in Afghanistan to protect big oil companies interests watched it.

Bridget Johnson says, “Isn’t the point that 11 million Afghans — a third of the country’s population and 90 percent of the TV-watching population — eagerly tune into Star each week, that 300,000 votes were text-messaged in for the recently aired finals, and that music is filling homes and hearts again despite clerical objections?

Being an American Idol junkie, I considered myself the perfect journalist to delve further into Afghan Star. So I watched all of the episodes put on YouTube by Tolo TV, the network that has raised so much of that clerical ire. The audition tapes were the best: As Idol begins each season by showing the good — and the very, very bad — performers from audition cities, Star also had audition shows from Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif, and more; more than 2,000 hopefuls tried out for a chance to win $5,000 U.S. and a record deal. The audition shows opened with catchy music and fast-paced shots of the host city and its people — with production values equal to that of American TV, and some of the landscapes resembling Barstow.” [PAJAMA MEDIA]

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