Shakira show a ringing success

ABU DHABI // The organisers of Shakira’s New Year’s Eve performance said yesterday that the show proved a success and underscored their intention to continue bringing international acts to the capital.

Despite early concerns that the concert would be cancelled after Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Ruler of Dubai, called off New Year’s celebrations in his emirate in recognition of the violence in Gaza, everything went as planned, said Lee Charteris, operations manager for Flash.

“We were obviously very relieved it wasn’t cancelled,” Mr Charteris said. “We’d put a lot of work in and it would have been a great shame if it hadn’t been able to go ahead, but it did and people came and had a great time. We’re very, very happy indeed about how it went.”

Organisers said they sold about 12,000 tickets to the La Rumba concert and party.
Shakira performed outdoors at the Emirates Palace hotel, where staff had toiled for weeks to transform the grounds for Wednesday night’s party.

Among the songs Shakira performed were her international chart hits Wherever, Whenever and Underneath Your Clothes, in addition to several Spanish numbers.

She went through several costume changes, her energetic dance moves and belly dancing delighting the crowd. For one song, she climbed down from the stage and met members of the audience, even asking some in the audience for brief vocal contributions.

The show ended with the hit Hips Don’t Lie, from Shakira’s second English-language album, Oral Fixation Vol. Two, but she remained on stage and counted down the seconds to midnight, when a huge firework display began and the audience cheered. Hundreds of revellers stayed to dance through the night at the La Rumba party.

Mr Charteris said Flash is talking with “a few artists” about coming to perform in the capital, but he would not elaborate.

In its short history, Flash has brought a roster of A-list stars to the region for the first time, including Justin Timberlake, Jon Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera and, recently, George Michael.

Source:http://www.thenational.ae