12 Facts About Yacoub Shaheen

Yacoub Shaheen is most well known for having won Arab Idol in 2017, catapulting him to popularity in his native Palestine.

Yacoub Shaheen would spend his childhood there and began to develop a passion for music after discovering Arabic and Assyrian folk-pop music, and at the age of seven, he began to study music at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music.

Yacoub Shaheen studied interior design at the Palestine Polytechnic University, before eventually pursuing music full time.

In 2005, Yacoub Shaheen participated in the Palestinian Muhawm program where he would win the title of "Star of Palestine".

In 2017, Yacoub Shaheen won the TV program Arab Idol, a program with approximately 120 million viewers in the Arab World.

Yacoub Shaheen became the second Palestinian to win the contest after Mohammed Assaf who grew up in a Gaza Strip refugee camp and won the Arab Idol in 2013.

Yacoub Shaheen performed at the Bethlehem Cultural Festival in 2022.

Yacoub Shaheen grew up attending the Syriac Orthodox Church, and was a deacon at his local parish.

Yacoub Shaheen has previously been vocal about both his Palestinian and Assyrian heritage, writing a message that read "Seyfo 1915" to raise awareness of the Assyrian genocide.

Yacoub Shaheen is a member of the Palestine Scout Association.

Yacoub Shaheen has regularly participated in philanthropic activities, donating parts of his winnings to orphanages and regularly celebrating his birthday at them.

Yacoub Shaheen owns a fashion store in his native Bethlehem, and has two sisters.