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The UAE is the first and only country on the globe making its finest poets millionaires - and not just its own, but any man or female from the region and beyond able to think, write and speak in Nabati rhymes.

This is about to occur once more, for the 7th time, on May 17, when 5 from 48 Arab poets will be granted AED 15 millions for their own composed and recited poems.

In the meantime, all 48 need to go through a procedure of elimination, a process which began on Tuesday night, when the very first show - and telecasted episode - of the Million's Poet competitors began once again at Al Raha Beach Theatre in Abu Dhabi.

A minimum of 1200 a lot of people filled the Al Raha Beach Theatre auditorium and hundreds of thousands more tuned in to Baynounah TV to enjoy among the most popular Arab programs, arranged once every 2 years - rotating with the Prince of Poets competition for classical Arabic poetry - by the Cultural Programmes and Heritage Festivals Committee - Abu Dhabi (CPHFC).

"With countless audiences from all over the world, the Million's Poet is a course to stardom that starts with a small step on the stage of Al Raha Beach Theatre and ends with the raising of the poetry Bayraq for the winner of the title. However, we all understand that poets are winners," stated Sultan Al Amimi, Director of the Poetry Academy and member of the Million's Poet jury.

Over the three hours show, eight poets - from the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman - stepped into the middle of the stage, took their seat on the imposing red armchair and pored their heart out in verses of Nabati - Bedouin dialect - poetry, which they wrote themselves.

Over the next six weeks all 48 finalists from 9 countries, selected from a number of thousands who applied, will be heard, 8 poets every evening, throughout the Tuesday nights programs, which begins at 10 PM.

3 judges - Sultan Al Amimi, Dr. Ghassan Al Hassan and Hamad Al Saeed - will comment on each of the participant's poem - judging both the technical and stylistic merits of the poem, as well as the analysis. In previous years, only 2 out of the 8 poets were chosen by the judges to carry on to the next round, while 2 more were selected by the public vote.

"This year the voting has altered slightly. The judges will choose approximately 3 poets to move even more, if they find them to be very strong. If the group happens to be less remarkable, only one poet will be advanced by the judges. The other one to three poets will be picked by the individuals watching the show, who can vote on social networks or sending sms to worldwide codes - we have one for each getting involved nation - that are relayed throughout the program," explained Eissa Al Mazrouei, member of the competitors's Organising Committee and Managing Director of Baynounah TELEVISION.
In either case, throughout each round, 4 poets will carry on to the next stage. Hence, by the end of six weeks, 24 poets will get in the 2nd level of the competitors.

During the very first program on Tuesday night, two poets, one from Kuwait and one from Saudi Arabia, were thought about by the judges to be the very best of the night, and announced to go to the next level. Two more will be selected by the public this week and announced throughout the next week's program on Tuesday, 16th of February.

"Kuwaitis are very strong in poetry and throughout the opening night show both individuals from Kuwait were good," said Abdullah Butti Al Qubaisi, Director of Projects at CPHFC.

"It is through programs such as the Million's Poet that we influence our young generation of Emiratis to go back to this gorgeous old tradition. The competitors has a Million's Poet for kids too, which runs for one day after the main program is over and 10 years earlier, when we initially started, we had an Emirati kid in the kids' competition who was keen to be part of the adult Million's Poet. Today he is here. He is only 19 years old, our youngest candidate, and he has actually made it to the last 48," included Al Qubaisi.

The competitors is likewise opened for females - previously ladies have actually made it to the winning podium on the 3rd and fourth places - and this year one Emirati woman has qualified in the last 48

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