The Canberra Times

IN A well-guarded hotel on top of a hill, a lively audience of Afghans and US VIPs watched the season finale of Afghanistan's version of Australian Idol.

Singers performed on a star-shaped stage while graphics flashed in the background.

Meanwhile, further down that hill, thousands of Afghans demonstrated on Friday against the re-publication of Prophet Mohammad drawings in Denmark.

Former US ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke, was among the VIPs watching the filming of Afghan Star. But because of the protests outside, he couldn't leave the hotel when he had planned to.

"I love it, fabulous. Better than American Idol," Mr Holbrooke said. "It shows the two Afghanistans. The riots down there and the show up here."

Mr Holbrooke criticised the way President George W.Bush's administration had handled the conflict, and said the United States had "neglected" the country "and now we're playing catch-up".

He said any of the three remaining candidates for president Republican John McCain and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would do a better job in Afghanistan than Mr Bush.

Inside the hotel's ballroom, 19-year-old Rafi Naabzada was voted the winner of the third season of Afghan Star, the country's most popular TV show.

The founder of Tolo TV, which produces Afghan Star, Saad Mohseni, said the show was helping bring about social change in Afghanistan.

"Not just in music, but in the way people voted, the way they lined up in an orderly manner [outside the show] ... the way the losers are gracious. No one is threatening violence. That's a huge change," he said.