CAIRO — Flames burst from the stage for a grand entrance, and fake fog swirls around a young man in a white robe. He clutches the microphone, gazes seriously into the camera and then, accompanied only by drums, he sings.
"I accept Allah as my God, His religion as my religion, and His Messenger as my Messenger," he intones, as the audience, divided into men's and women's sections, claps along with the rhythm.
The singer is a contestant on a new Islamic version of "American Idol," launched to find and promote talent for the Arab world's first Islamic pop music video channel....