A reason for rhyme

• Last Updated: November 05. 2009 6:41PM UAE / November 5. 2009 2:41PM GMT

In the debate over how to protect national identity when at least 80 per cent of the population is non-national, it can be difficult to distinguish between those aspects of Emirati culture that must at all costs remain unchanged, and those that can benefit from growing and developing along with the nation; between those aspects of expatriate culture that can usefully be embraced and adopted, and those that are clearly alien and have no place here. You might think that poetry belongs in the first category, and that reality TV – that peculiarly western amalgam of tackiness, voyeurism and celebrity obsession – most assuredly belongs in the last.

But then along comes Prince of Poets. The Abu Dhabi TV show, which ended its third season in August, attracted an audience of millions throughout the Arab world. And as we reported yesterday, it has just been recognised in the specialist genre category at the annual awards ceremony of the Association for International Television.

“Specialist genre” indeed. Poetry has always held a special place in Arab hearts, and the reality TV format has given it an enthusiastic young audience: a perfect example of traditional and modern blending to produce something unmistakably new, but still quintessentially Emirati.