Ajami a 30-year-old amateur poet won the competition after receiving 67 percent of public and jury votes. Hilal recited her last poem in the contest, a defense of the freedom of thought. The contest's panel, whose voting accounted for 60 percent of the final score, gave Hilal the highest score and praised her courage for expressing her opinion “honestly and powerfully.” But Hilal lost out after the audience vote, which accounted for the remaining 40 percent, was not enough to give her the crown. __