Dounia Batma

Dounia Batma (Arabic: دنيا بطمة) (born 1 April 1991) is a Moroccan singer and actress who rose to popularity as the runner-up of the first season of Arab Idol (the Arabic version of Pop Idol) on MBC. She lost the title against Egyptian contestant Carmen Suleiman. Batma was born and raised in Hay Mohammadi, in the Ain Sebaa-Hay Mohammedi district of Casablanca, Morocco. Her father, Hamid Batma, played for different bands including Mesnawa and Nass El Ghiwane, and her uncle, Laarbi Batma, is the leader of Moroccan fusion group Nass El Ghiwane, considered by Martin Scorsese as "Africa's Rolling Stones". She studied tourism after high-school, without stopping to dream about a musical career. In 2010, at the age of 18, inspired by her already-famous older cousin Khansa Batma (Mohamed Batma's daughter), she took part in a Moroccan musical competition, called Studio 2M, broadcast on 2M TV, in the Oriental category. She sang various songs of both Moroccan and Middle-Eastern repertoires, and reached the semi-finals. She did not reach the final, but managed to release a single "Aalash Tgheeb" (Why are you hiding?) in Moroccan Arabic which didn't become very successful. But she realized that she would need to go further to get the career she was expecting and Arab Idol was a great venue to reach the Arab World's heart. On 8 September 2011, Batma auditioned for the Arabic music competition Arab Idol. The show is the pan-Arab version of Pop Idol and a rebirth of Future TV's show SuperStar. The winner of the competition wins a contract with recording label Platinum Records and Chevrolet Corvette (C6) as well as an important advertisement campaign with Pepsi. She auditioned in Casablanca, and performed La Tfaker (by late Tunisian singer Thekra) in front of the jury composed by Lebanese pop singer Ragheb Alama, Emirati diva Ahlam and Egyptian music producer and musician Hassan Shaf'ei. They invited her to join in, which introduce her to the Arab audience. She was selected in the top 10 against contestants from Tunisia, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt. Batma's vocal abilities amazed the members of the jury and made her among the favorites since the very first prime, where she performed Talal Maddah's "Magadir". Her performance was so strong and so intense that it made Ahlam cry out of emotion.