She is American, speaks little Arabic, and has never been to Egypt. But Jennifer Grout, 23, has wowed Middle Eastern audiences by reaching the final of Arabs Got Talent – the spin-off of the British and US shows of similar names – with a near-perfect rendition of a song by Egypt's best-loved singer, Umm Kulthum.  Born and raised in Boston, Grout's Arabic accent has inspired debates about whether she is merely pretending to be a westerner. Her fellow contestants are from different parts of the Middle East, and include Mayam Mahmoud, 18, billed as Egypt's first hijab-wearing rapper.  "There's lots of rumours that I'm not actually American," Grout said. "I'm very flattered by that because it means I'm doing something that is … unbelievable."  When first auditioning, Grout struggled for credibility. She remembers sitting down with her oud (the forerunner of the lute) in front of an audience in Lebanon, where the show is filmed, and where "nobody took me seriously".  "What's your name?" asked one of the judges, Egyptian actor Ahmed Helmy, in Arabic. "Sorry?" replied Grout, in English, to titters from the crowd.  But after she started singing, the atmosphere changed. "When I played the first line, the audience started chuckling. But I kept going, and after about 30 seconds, everyone changed their minds and started supporting me."  Grout is through to the show's final on 7 December, with the judges first won over by her version of Umm Kulthum's Baeed Annak, a love song that is tough even for native-speakers to master – and then Oh Birds, by Syrian singer Asmahan.  "You don't speak a word of Arabic," another judge, Lebanese singer Najwa Karam, told her, "and yet you sing better than other singers."  Grout's version of Baeed Anak is of particular interest in Egypt, where Umm Kulthum's popularity has barely dropped since her 40-year career in the middle of the 20th century and she remains a national hero – four million Egyptians reportedly took to the streets to mourn her death in 1975. Her most famous love-song, Enta Omri, is still regularly heard wafting from Egyptian cafes and car radios.  "She is born again every morning in the heart of 120 million beings," said the actor Omar Sharif . "In the east, a day without Umm Kulthum would have no colour."  Umm Kulthum aficionados gave a varied reaction to Grout's unlikely interpretation of their icon. Nahla Mattar, the director of Cairo's Umm Kulthum museum, said she was impressed by Grout's dedication, but argued the singer still needed "a lot of deep training in Quranic recitation. So far … she is still just an American girl singing that melody."  But Professor Virginia Danielson, Umm Kulthum's first English-language biographer, said "her resonance – that slightly nasal sound – is particularly compelling and very expressive in this style of singing. Her voice is strong, very pretty and she commands the style of the repertory very well. If I were going to criticise, I'd say the rhythmic structure of the piece escapes her a bit, but otherwise she sang very well, I thought."  The daughter of musicians, Grout grew up playing the violin and piano, and only became interested in Arab music in 2010, while at university in Canada. After reading an article about the Lebanese diva Fairouz, Grout was intrigued, and began singing and playing the oud in a Syrian cafe in Montreal. After graduating, she later moved to Morocco to immerse herself in its music scene, using translation websites to get a sense of each song's meaning. "I have a natural ear for picking up accents," she said, "but not necessarily for languages."  It was after recording two CDs with local artists that a friend of a friend in Morocco suggested she audition for Arabs Got Talent. Television talent shows were never on Grout's horizon growing up in America. "One of my aunts was a big fan of shows like American Idol and was always bugging me, as a 12-year-old, to sing some pop song," Grout said. "But I didn't even watch those kinds of shows."  Now Grout may win one – and she has already won over hearts and minds. "We have always been following and imitating the west," said Najma Karam, one of the show's judges. "This is the first time someone who's not related in any way to the Arab world – an American who doesn't speak the language – performs in Arabic."
Boston-born Jennifer Grout has amazed Middle Eastern viewers, reaching the Arabs Got Talent final despite speaking little Arabic