DUBAI: When Saudi social media star and YouTuber Osama Marwah learned that he had been nominated for the Favorite Arab Star prize at the 2023 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, he was over the moon.
But the news really sunk in when his fans began posting about the announcement.
“This whole online campaign started, and it was so nice to see my followers’ reactions — seeing that they’re excited as much as I am for the award, and then seeing their excitement to share the voting links. Honestly, it’s an honor,” Marwah told Arab News in a Zoom interview.
The Favorite Arab Star award honors talents from the Middle East and North Africa.
Best known for his vlogs and prank videos, Marwah was nominated alongside Syrian comedian and social media personality Amro Maskoun, Jordanian YouTuber Raghda Kouyoumdjian — famous for her short comedy skits and lip sync videos — and Rozzah, a 19-year-old Jordanian content creator with more than 4.2 million followers.
Marwah, who has more than 5.93 million followers on YouTube, has his older brother to thank for pushing him in front of the camera.
“Maybe three or four years after my oldest brother started his YouTube channel, I used to help him behind the scenes because I was just too shy to be on camera. I understood YouTube, I know how it works. I know how to edit videos, how to make stories, but I was always so shy. Until one day, my brother just pretty much forced me onto the camera and then the audience’s reaction was just unbelievable,” said Marwah, who is based out of Dubai.
“The video got maybe 3 or 4 million views. And the audience were like, ‘oh my God, why don’t you make your own videos?’ This is when I started gaining confidence,” he added.