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Scorpiomoon
| Friday, December 12, 2003 - 9:26 am
Big Brother hits the Middle East Claire Cozens Friday December 12, 2003 Wedding: contestants will compete for arranged marriage A television company is set to take the Arab world by storm with a Big Brother-style reality TV show in which young women compete to win an arranged marriage. The eight women, who have already been chosen, will live together in a house with television cameras monitoring their every move. They will be introduced to a series of bachelors, with family members on hand to offer advice on which would make a suitable husband, while viewers get the chance to vote for their favourite couples. Al Hawa Sawa, or Being Together, will be aired in several Middle Eastern countries later this month and is certain to be criticised in an area renowned for its conservatism. Although the makers of the show claim they will respect "all aspects of Arabic culture" - explicit tattoos, shorts and "form-fitting leotard or Spandex-type clothing" are banned - the notion of a group of women competing for a husband is bound to be controversial. But there are signs that the Middle East, which has until now escaped the tidal wave of reality TV sweeping the west, is becoming more receptive to the format. The Middle East Broadcasting Corporation, which is showing Al Hawa Sawa, is also planning the Middle East's first Big Brother, to be filmed in Bahrain. Big Brother fans may not recognise the format, however. Unlike the British version of the show, where producers' matchmaking efforts have become almost the primary focus with competitors plied with alcohol and offered "dates" as prizes, men and women will be kept completely separate. Prayer and Koran reading rooms have been allocated for participants. The makers of Al Hawa Sawa have banned alcohol and tobacco and say competitors should maintain "high standards of moral and ethical conduct".
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