Witty Hala Feb 2014

Musical concerts are the most awaited events at the Hala February Festival. Every week, two concerts are held on both Thursday and Friday, starting at about 10:00 pm and going all the way till 3:00 am. These concerts are held at the Ice Skating Rink . . . . . The first of these concerts was held on Thursday and young Moroccan singer Jennat kicked off the show . . . . .The audience was frisked for security reasons and cigarettes, lighters and cameras were confiscated. Officials from the Ministry of Information were present and kept a vigilant eye on the crowd to ensure nobody danced or indulged in any kind of immoral activities.Undercover officials were present at the theater and one of them told the Kuwait Times reporter that they were keeping a close watch on the vehicles to prevent vandalism or robberies . . . . . The second performance started around midnight with the popular Lebanese singer Elissa taking center-stage. She was criticized for being arrogant and refusing interviews with the media . . . . .

About 15 minutes after Elissa finished her performance, Amr Diab, the most popular Egyptian singer came onstage much to the audience’ frenzy. He was at his charming best and cracked up the crowd with his wit. Diab stepped off the stage and mingled with the audience and while some of his fans wanted to shake a leg with him, the hovering officials didn’t allow them to do so. Amr started his career about 30 years ago, and released his first album in 1983. He has even performed with international bands and some of his songs have been translated to other languages.  He won many accolades, including the World Music Award for Best Sales in the Middle East three times in 1998, 2002 and 2007.  Link