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The final 20 poets who made it to the televised Prince of Poets competition were announced for  the first time on Monday, February 20th, ahead of the first episode of the seventh Prince of Poets. Organised by the Cultural Programmes and Heritage Festivals Committee - Abu Dhabi, the competition awards the best verses of classical Arabic poetry. The finalists were chosen from hundreds who applied from 27 different countries for the competition, representing 12 Arab nations, Including the UAE. The Prince of Poets, which awards AED one million to the winner, AED 500,000 to the second place, is the most valuable literary competition worldwide - along with its sister competition, The Million Poet - and not just from a financial point of view. Since it started, 10!years ago, the Prince of Poets succeeded in reviving Classical Arabic poetry,   Introducing or re-introducing it to audiences across the Arab Gulf, Asia, Africa, even Europe. "Ten years have gone since the launch of the first season of the Prince of Poets in 2007. To the present day, the TV programme has succeeded to reveal the talents of 185 poets to the Arab audience and the wider public in all parts of the world." said Sultan Al Amimi, Director of the Poetry Academy at the Cultural Programmes and Heritage Festivals Committee. In this season, we will be honoured by the participation of 10 women, who make up half the participating poets. This is the highest rate of women participation ever recorded in the history of the competition, compared to 25 percent in the fifth season," Al Amimi also said. This is not the only first for the competition this year. The seventh season has revealed that the TV programme will, for the first time, be presented by two hosts, Dr. Nadine Al Asaad from Lebanon and the Emirati TV presenter, Mohammed Al Junaibi. Live episodes will be broadcasted every Tuesday evening, from 10  pm, from Al Raha Beach Theatre in Abu Dhabi, on Baynouna and Al Emarat TV channels. Issa Saif Al Mazrouei, Director of the Department for Special Policies and Projects at the Committee, stressed that the Prince of Poets, opened to young talents between the age of 18 and 45 years old, managed to achieve one of its top objectives, which is to attract the interest of younger generation to the art of Arabic poetry. "The Prince of Poets has definitely brought poetry back to light. With one of the highest viewer rate in the Arab region, the programme has revived poetry as an eloquent form of expression, by giving talented poets the chance to serve as ambassadors for their countries," he added. On Tuesday night, at Al Raha Beach Theatre, the competition will begin with four poets, who will each recite their verses in front of the judges and the live audience. After each of the first five episodes, three poets will qualify for the next stage. The 15 poets will then compete in the next stage, which includes three episodes. This time, only two poets will qualify to the next round. The remaining top six will battle it out in just one episode to decide the five finalists. These last five poets standing will compete for the title in the last episode, on April 25. "We hoped this season to have women competitors. They are the sirens of poetry and we hope they will challenge their male competitors. The judges are not gender biased, but who knows, we might have a Princess of Poets this year," pointed out Dr. Ali bin Tamim, one of the three jury members of Prince of Poets, alongside Dr. Sarah Fadhl and Dr. Abdul Malek Mortadh.