But Grout - the only non-Arab to compete - came close behind along with Palestinian artist Mohammad al-Diri, who captured audiences by drawing portraits of prominent Arab and international figures using original and diverse techniques.

The 23-year-old, who taught herself to sing difficult and popular Arab songs without speaking a word of the language, stunned audiences with her voice.

She grew up in a musical home, and came upon Arab music after reading an online article about Arab diva Fairouz from Lebanon.

Grout was enthralled by her voice and soon discovered other singers, including Umm Kalthoum, the Egyptian still considered to be the Arab world's finest singer three decades after her death.

Grout mesmerised audiences with her rendition of an Umm Kalthoum song as she appeared on the Beirut stage of , strumming the oud as she sang.

Grout said that despite not speaking Arabic, she learned the lyrics to the songs after finding translations for them on the internet.

Grout lives in Morocco and organisers said it was not necessary to be an Arab to compete.

"I believe Jennifer is a phenomenon we should celebrate," Saudi Arabian comedian Nasser al-Qasaibi said.

Egyptian actor Ahmed Helmy played on the idiosyncrasies of his country's dialect - the Arabic alphabet's "J" is pronounced as a "G" in Egyptian - to commend Grout's talents. "From today, you're no longer 'Jennifer', you're 'Gennifer'," he said.

The judges praised her voice and her enthusiasm for classic Arabic music - much of it relatively unknown outside the Middle East - at a time when many commentators lament that Western cultural hegemony has eroded the region's distinct identity.

The talent programme is based on the UK show Britain's Got Talent.