Influencers, content creators and media personalities gathered up in Beirut on April 28 for the live finale of Sadeem, the Arab World’s biggest digital competition and social media series, to celebrate inspiring up-and-coming content creators from the region.
After pulling through a number of creative challenges throughout the different stages of the competition’s second season, the initial 20 participants were filtered down to a top 3 by the end of it: 22-year-old Mohy Yasser from Egypt, 29-year-old Naji Elqaq from Jordan and 24-year-old Saif Ben Ammar from Tunisia.
The dynamic trio competed for the grand prize of 1 million Riyal and the chance to produce their own show, in an entertaining live show hosted by American-Egyptian TV host and digital creator Sherif Fayed in the presence of Sadeem Season 2 judges: Kuwaiti influencer Ascia, comedian Ahmed Sharif, Algerian YouTuber DZjoker Chemsou and Egyptian rapper Zap Tharwat.
The night kicked off with a series of red carpet interviews and featured video summaries about the season’s most memorable moments in addition to recaps of each of the finalists’ journeys on the show, and guests were kept entertained through a meticulously orchestrated 3D mapping show.
Despite having markedly different journeys in the competition, each of the finalists brought their own touch to the show, recalling their ups-and-downs and the essence behind their motivation across individual one-on-one interviews.
It was ultimately Egyptian YouTuber Mohy Yasser, the youngest of the three, who won the Best Content Creator title, taking home the coveted prizes and another Sadeem trophy for Best Director. Yasser launched his YouTube channel in 2013, sharing a variety of social experiments, travels and challenges with his over 600 thousand subscribers.
“It’s the best moment of my life [heart emoji] I have worked hard for two months and prepared for over six years for this particular moment…Thank you to everyone who stood by me in times of trouble and joy [heart emoji] today I am Sadeem’s champion… Tomorrow I start the work to reach new goals and the big dream… It’s only the beginning,” he wrote in his winner announcement Instagram caption.
Seven other awards were distributed throughout the night: Best Message went to Logina Salah from Egypt, Best Photography was awarded to Rabih Bin Ibrahim from Tunisia and Best Song was given to Khalid Gad from Egypt. Yemeni contestant Mazen AlSaqqaf took home two awards: Best Scriptwriter and Best Hashtag, and finalists Elqaq and Ben Ammar also received awards for Best Audience Growth and Most Engagement, respectively.
Through its first two seasons, Sadeem has redefined the often ambiguous notion of influencers by providing talented young content creators with an unparalleled opportunity to grow their audience, improve their content and get their message across to the world.
It’s the era of content creation par excellence, notably at a time when there’s a noticeable lack of quality Arabic content on the Internet, and Sadeem has surely contributed to further popularizing Arabic content on social media and encouraging more Arab youth to contribute relevant content in their native language.
We’re eyeing the upcoming season with anticipation and can only hope to see more Lebanese content creators catching on the trend, creating content in their local dialect and finding their voice.
