Famous Egyptian singer and MBC The Voice judge Sherine Abd El-Wahab took off her own shoe on The Voice's stage and used it to vote for a contestant during Saturday night's episode.
The judge enthusiastically pushed down the red button that turns the judge's chair with her shoe while Algerian contestant Nasser Attawy performed "Enta El Kont Badawar Aleh" by iconic Syrian Egyptian composer and singer Farid Al-Atrash.
Despite the enthusiasm that prompted Wahab to take off her shoe for the Algerian singer's performance, Attawy ended up choosing judge Assi El-Helani as his mentor in the competition.
The move received immediately dissatisfied facial expressions from fellow judge Kadim Al-Sahir on camera and the backlash of many outraged viewers across the Arab World on social media after the video showing the incident quickly went viral.
Many Egyptians on social media expressed anger at Wahab's "vulgar" and "disgraceful" behavior and said the singer embarrassed Egyptians on every satellite TV channel she appeared on, while others said it was "insolent" and disrespectful to the contestant.
One Twitter user even used the incident to compare between the state of Egyptian singers nowadays and in the past writing "Umm Kulthum carried her handkerchief on stage while Sherine carried her shoe in front of it. That's the great difference between those who respect the audience and those who despise it."
On the other hand, some users defended Wahab, saying that she was just being spontaneous and that she didn't mean any harmful intention to the contestant.
"I wish Sherine can understand that there is a difference between spontaneity and vulgarity."
Following the less than pleasant response to her behavior, Wahab posted a voice note Sunday on her official Facebook page to officially apologize for the incident and thank her fans for their birthday wishes as well.
"I want to present an official apology to the entire Arab World for the shoes incident but I am dealing with a button after all," said Wahab.
"But, of course you would love to see me in the best way possible and you would always love to see me not making mistakes, and you must be right and I'm wrong."
"My continuous reaction to Sherine on the show."
Currently in its third season, 'The Voice: Ahla Sawt' is one of the Arab World's most popular TV shows and one of MBC's most successful programs. The singing competition is judged by Wahab, Sahir, Helani and Tunisian singer Saber El-Roubayi.
