THE Lebanese army was called out last week after the Arab world’s equivalent of the television talent contest Pop Idol descended into chaos.

Mayhem erupted at Future Television in Beirut last Monday when it was announced that Melhem Zein, the Lebanese runaway favourite, had received fewer votes than his female rivals from Syria and Jordan.

Angry spectators stormed the stage and fans converged on the studio and the contestants’ hotel. The army was ordered to defend both buildings, but it was not in time to prevent Ruweida Atieh, the Syrian, from being slapped.

In Zein’s home town of Shemestar, in the Beka’a Valley, soldiers were confronted by angry mobs with sticks.

Viewers of Future’s Superstars protested that they had been stopped from voting by a 12-hour power cut that began on Sunday and by widespread problems with telephone networks and the internet. However, the television company refused to rerun the vote.

In a week when Israeli warplanes boomed overhead and the economy descended into its worst state for years, the Zein affair dominated the Lebanese headlines. “Intifada breaks out in studio as anger spills onto the streets”, screamed one daily. “Shame on you!” cried another.

An-Nahar, the leading newspaper, initiated a vote of its own on whether Zein had been ousted “as a result of political pressure”.

By Thursday Jordan appeared to bearing the brunt of the blame. One rumour suggested that King Abdullah had ordered his army to vote for their compatriot, Diana Karzoun.

Lebanese communities as far away as Brazil denounced the outcome, and further protests in favour of Zein broke out across the Gulf states.

In taxis, offices and restaurants, rich and poor alike aired their conspiracy theories. One had it that Atieh was still in the running to win because of Syrian pressure on Rafik Hariri, the Lebanese prime minister and owner of Future Television.

Another suggested that the Jordanian royals, close friends of Hariri and his wife Nazek — who is of Jordanian descent — had asked him to intervene in Karzoun’s favour because Jordan has no pop stars.

The most credible explanation, however, was that the fault lay with the creaking Lebanese infrastructure. As well as the power cut, both mobile networks and land lines were jammed, and the internet link to the show crashed as votes flooded in from across the Arab world.

Those who sent text messages to vote for Zein claimed they had received thanks for supporting rivals.

Zein, meanwhile, has portrayed himself as a martyred superstar. He assured his rioting fans that he knew his true status because of the love he felt from them.

Adoring thousands sang his songs outside; no Lebanese politician has enjoyed such acclamation in years.

Tight security will surround today’s final between Karzoum and Atieh. However, a Kuwaiti newspaper has urged readers not to vote for Karzoun on the grounds that Queen Rania of Jordan had ordered free telephone lines to be opened so that the entire population could vote for her.

The head of Jordan’s telecommunications ministry was forced to deny the allegation.