In "Million's Poet", the TV talent contest for Arab poets that has been gripping millions of viewers in the Middle East, Nasser al Ajami, a 30-year-old Kuwaiti, walked away last night with the top prize of $1.36m.

Hissa Hilal, the controversial Saudi woman who recited her poems covered from head to foot in black, came third out of the 48 original competitors, winning more than $800,000. 

Despite coming third, Hilal stole the show earlier in the contest with her poetic denunciations of the fatwas issued by some of Saudi Arabia's clerics, and she reportedly received death threats.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 8 April 2010.