Political scientists know that national identity is forged by a shared sense of community and choice, captured in the phrase "Imagined Community", from Benedict Anderson's seminal book. Anderson theorised that otherwise unconnected citizens reading about the same events in newspapers is what creates national identity, and hence nations. TV shows are an even hotter crucible for creating a national imagined community, especially in a young country like Afghanistan with a 28 per cent literacy rate.

Demographics are the other driver of political change. In a country with 60 per cent of the population under 20 and a median age of 17, Afghan Star engages big segments of Afghanistan in a new collective exercise of choice. "Star is a way for younger Afghans to change the way we do politics in Afghanistan," says Jahid Mohseni. "Until now, it's been the older generations who have been saying what's right and wrong in terms of social conduct."

The Mohseni brothers are young high-octane Afghan entrepreneurs who built Tolo TV into Afghanistan's dominant network with pizzazz and slick programming. Their dubbed Indian soaps deeply annoyed Islamists who took offence at the sight of unveiled females, and then mobilised the government to ban dancing on TV. The sight of an unveiled Setara grooving around the stage while singing her final number on the show - a very modest prance by Western standards - further scandalised the clerical ulama.