Outside, Islamist fundamentalists protested against the Danish newspaper cartoons mocking Islam. Inside, a young man with slicked-back hair and a dazzling white suit was on Friday declared Afghanistan’s hottest new pop star.

Amid a flurry of lights and confetti, Rafi Nabzada, a 19-year-old Tajik, won the third series of Afghan Star, the television show that is the local equivalent of Pop Idol, beating 2,000 other wannabes to the top prize – $5,000 and a record contract.