It was officially confirmed that Lebanese-Colombian pop/rock singer Shakira Mebarak is to hold a grand performance in Tunisia in late September. Negotiations with the singer had lasted for months before any agreement was reached and after the previous cancellation by Shakira of all possibilities of performing in the Middle East due to the US-led war on Iraq.
According to the London based Elaph, Shakira will hold the scheduled concert at the grand November Seventh stadium, which can accommodate a crowd of seventy thousand. It was added that a large staff of sound, lights, and stage experts working for Shakira will head to Tunisia to make all the necessary preparations for the grand event that is expected to be the main highlight ever to hit Tunisia since 1996 when American superstars Michael Jackson and Sting held their concerts.
Organizer of the Beit El Din Festival, Nour Janbalat, was also able to successfully reach an agreement with Shakira to hold a concert in Lebanon, after failing to do so earlier this year. The date of the concert has been decided to be around the end of September or early October, since the singer is preoccupied with holding concerts elsewhere.
Cutting the deal with Shakira that previously was out of the question was a great achievement for Nour, who feels honored to bring the singer to her country and introduce her to her people.
Muhsin Jaber, owner of the music production company Alam Al Phan, had reopened negotionations with the business manager for Shakira to hold concerts in Egypt this summer. Jaber had expressed his wishes to have Shakira take part in the big events in different tourist areas during the summer, which will include a large number of Arab singers, to celebrate the opening of his new music channel Mazzika.
Negotiations between the two sides had come to a temporary halt after Shakira had demanded a private plane to take her from London to Sharm El Sheikh and a wage of 750 thousand US dollars, not including the wages of the band and accommodations.
On his part Jaber renegotiated with Shakira a new offer for one million US dollars to hold four concerts in Egypt; in addition to giving him full rights to market her albums around the Arab world. Shakira requested some time to rethink his offer over and discuss the issue with her consultants. – Albawaba.com
