South Indian Hit Music Festival delights crowds at Expo 2020 Dubai


Katy Gillett
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Over the course of seven hours on Saturday, visitors to Expo 2020 Dubai were treated to a marathon musical medley of South Indian performers as part of the Hit Music Festival.

The event, which made its debut in 2020 in Sharjah, featured 15 artists who took to the Jubilee Stage, performing to the crowd across several genres and languages, from Tamil to Malayalam.

Scroll through the photo gallery above to see performers at Expo's Hit Music Festival.

Artists on the bill included young Keralite singing sensation Suchetha Satish, 16, who made headlines at aged 12 for breaking a Guinness World Record by singing in 102 languages. She kicked off the festival with a short multilingual set at 5pm.

Also performing were singer and actress Remya Nambeesan, a familiar face on the Malayalam and Tamil film circuits, and Sachin Warrier, known for his song Muthuchippi Poloru from the Malayalam film Thattathin Marayathu.

Rock and blues trio Rock Paper Scissors also delighted visitors – who attended the concert for free with an Expo pass – alongside singer, poet and social media sensation, Arya Dhayal, who performed her debut single Try My Self.

Singer and actor Siddharth Menon from Kerala, co-founder of the band Thaikkudam Bridge, performed along with singer Jyotsna Radhakrishnan, who sings in 12 languages and has more than 1,000 songs in her repertoire.

KS Harisankar, a singer and music producer who comes from a family of musicians and predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, also took to the stage.

Harish Sivaramakrishnan, the lead vocalist of rock band Agam, who performs a progressive version of Carnatic music, the South Indian classical system of music, was the final performer of the night, with a 45-minute set.

A range of performers have taken to the stage at Expo 2020 Dubai over the past few months, with plenty more to come. A hit K-pop show took place last with, with American pop-rap trio Black Eyed Peas on the bill for this coming Tuesday.

See photos of K-pop stars impressing crowds at Expo last weekend:

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Updated: January 23, 2022, 9:27 AM`