Emirati stars Hussain Al Jassmi, Eida Al Menhali and Balqees Fathi will perform at the opening ceremony of the Asian Cup. Courtesy Asian Cup
Emirati stars Hussain Al Jassmi, Eida Al Menhali and Balqees Fathi will perform at the opening ceremony of the Asian Cup. Courtesy Asian Cup

UAE stars Hussain Al Jassmi, Balqees and Eida Al Menhali to open Asian Cup



Three of the UAE's biggest stars are set to perform during the opening ceremony of the AFC Asian Cup.

Emirati singers Hussain Al Jassmi and Eida Al Menhali, along with Yemeni-Emirati singer Balqees Fathi, will take the stage at Zayed Sports City Stadium on January 5 at 7.30pm ahead of the opening match between the host UAE and Bahrain.

The event will feature a series of live musical performances aiming to give tribute to Asian football following with the theme of "Bringing Asia Together". The opening ceremony show will also tell the tale of Mansour (one of the tournament's mascots), an Emirati boy inspired by the beauty of the flight of falcons. Inspired by their gracious movements, he extends an Emirati welcome to Asia and the rest of the world.

The Local Organising Committee has also revealed that as many as 600 expert performers from the UAE and around the world will participate in the live extravaganza including drummers, Ayalla dancers and origami falcons.

The trio bring star power to the event. Al Jassmi is one of the Middle East's top-selling artists and he made history back in December when he became the first Arab artist to perform at the Vatican's annual Christmas concert. Balqees made her music debut in 2013 and her album Zay Ma Ana was the most downloaded album on iTunes in the Middle East in 2015. Al Menhali is most known for his hit single Motasoa and he last performed at the Sheikh Zayed Heritage Festival for New Year's Eve.

Fans who plan on attending are asked to be in their seats by 7.30pm to enjoy the full spectacle of the ceremony before the 8pm match start. This is just the second time the UAE has hosted the tournament – the last time they did so was in 1996.

The Asian Cup UAE runs from January 5 to Feb 1 with 51-matches being played in eight stadiums around four host cities. For more, visit www.the-afc.com/asiancup

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Read more:

2019 Asian Cup: Groups, tickets, latest news and all you need to know

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Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

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May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff 

May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'

Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff 

Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson 

Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party

Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters 

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Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.

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