Palestinian Wedding Singer Enchants the World...

Palestinian singer Mohammad Assaf holds a Palestinian flag after he won the title of the television talent show “Arab Idol,” in Beirut, Lebanon. (EPA/MBC PRESS OFFICE)

From the Washington Post: "JERUSALEM — It was a most improbable story of a moonlighting wedding singer from a Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, who barged his way into an audition and went on to win hearts across the Middle East — and on Saturday night was declared the winner of the “Arab Idol” singing contest.

Fireworks exploded over the West Bank city of Ramallah and people poured into the streets there and in the Gaza Strip to celebrate what fans called a dream come true for Mohammad Assaf, the fresh-faced 22-year-old college student from Khan Younis.

He closed down his competitors by singing, in English, the Backstreet Boys hit “I Want It That Way.”" Palestinians find an unlikely hero in ‘Arab Idol’ contest show winner