Dubai is going to be the hologram entertainment capital of the world, according to the team behind this weekend’s Abdel Halim Hafez concert.
After premiering with a pair of sold-out shows at Dubai Opera earlier this month, the digitalised version of the Egyptian crooner, who died aged 47 in 1977, returns to the Downtown venue with a live orchestra this weekend.
The show not only allows an audience to enjoy Hafez's influential hits again, including Ahwak and Abo Oyoun Garee'a, but it also comes as part of a series planned for the city, featuring holograms of great Arab singers from the past.
The Hafez concert, which will also take place in Egypt later this year, follows one of Umm Kulthum that showed at Dubai Opera in August and has toured the UK.
Bringing these legends back to the limelight are pan-Arab broadcaster MBC and Dubai’s New Dimension Productions (NDP).
NDP was founded in 2010 in Amman, before it relocated to Business Bay to pioneer hologram entertainment across the region.
The company's previous projects include a hologram of Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father, for 2018's Year of Zayed celebrations, as well as Saudi singer Talal Maddah. A show by Yemeni singer Abu Bakr Salem is next in line.
"I feel that we are only scratching the surface," NDP chief executive Hasan Hina tells The National.
“I believe this is going to be part of the future of entertainment. It's going to help us break boundaries in that we are bringing people from the past with people in the present to create new visions for the future.”
How the hologram was made
It's a lofty vision underscored by a lengthy and laborious process that Hina says is similar to movie and music production.
We are already in discussions with the tourism authorities to position Dubai as the capital of hologram entertainment
With the Hafez hologram, first they had to secure an agreement with the singer's estate and record company, allowing them to use his songs and physical likeness for the show.
“I have to say that his family were absolutely wonderful to deal with," Hina says.
"Through their representative, they helped us a lot with information about Hafez and provided feedback about his accessories like clothing, colours and personal details.
“They gave us more of an insight into his life and demeanour on stage.”
With a team of technicians studying hundreds of hours of concert footage, a casting call was also held in Egypt, Syria and Jordan for a Hafez lookalike to become the model on whom the hologram is based.
The chosen talent, Jordanian Yousef Kallani, then worked with the production team in Dubai to recreate Hafez’s signature mannerisms on stage.
This includes his trademark on-stage posture: erect, eyes wide and glistening, head and shoulders swaying along with the strings section and both palms outstretched to the audience.
Hina says the production process took up to five months, which was three fewer than Kulthum's hologram.
“We managed to cut down the time frame as we developed more tools to help us keep pushing those timelines. But, at the same time, Hafez was much more difficult to create than Umm Kulthum because he interacts more with the audience.
“Umm Kulthum is less interactive because she is in absolute control of the stage and audience. She was a very dominant figure.”
The Hafez Dubai Opera shows run for nearly two hours, featuring 14 songs (vocals are taken from concerts spanning 25 years), but Hina says a bigger repertoire of songs have been recorded to ensure no concert is the same.
More than entertainment
Despite its promising start, it's too early to predict whether or not hologram entertainment will take off across the region.
MBC project manager Imad Salibi, however, believes it's still a worthy investment, as the hunger for nostalgic content in this part of the world remains strong.
“Nostalgia is not some fad or new style in the region," he says. "We were born with the music, understood the value of the songs and the importance of the stage. When we see these new shows it helps to remind us who we are,” he says.
"The only irony of this is that we are using the most advanced technology to bring back the best moments of our past and the golden days we want to see again.”
NDP is intent on rolling back the years, and Hina confirms they have a number of hologram projects in the works, with Dubai as the launchpad.
"We are already in discussions with the tourism authorities to position Dubai as the capital of hologram entertainment,” he says.
"The city will be the base and then it will tour the world from here. This will make Dubai and the UAE an exporter of not only entertainment but the kind of content and culture that will build bridges with others."
The Abdel Halim Hafez First Hologram Concert will take place at Dubai Opera on Thursday and Friday, at 10pm. Tickets from Dh350 at www.dubaiopera.com
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
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- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
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- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
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- Duration: Can linger for days
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RESULTS
6.30pm: Longines Conquest Classic Dh150,000 Maiden 1,200m.
Winner: Halima Hatun, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ismail Mohammed (trainer).
7.05pm: Longines Gents La Grande Classique Dh155,000 Handicap 1,200m.
Winner: Moosir, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.
7.40pm: Longines Equestrian Collection Dh150,000 Maiden 1,600m.
Winner: Mazeed, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
8.15pm: Longines Gents Master Collection Dh175,000 Handicap.
Winner: Thegreatcollection, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: Longines Ladies Master Collection Dh225,000 Conditions 1,600m.
Winner: Cosmo Charlie, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
9.25pm: Longines Ladies La Grande Classique Dh155,000 Handicap 1,600m.
Winner: Secret Trade, Tadhg O’Shea, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
10pm: Longines Moon Phase Master Collection Dh170,000 Handicap 2,000m.
Winner:
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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Key facilities
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- Premier League-standard football pitch
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- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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Sun jukebox
Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)
This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.
Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)
The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.
Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)
Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.
Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)
Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.
Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)
An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.
Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)
Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.
ABU DHABI T10: DAY TWO
Bangla Tigers v Deccan Gladiators (3.30pm)
Delhi Bulls v Karnataka Tuskers (5.45pm)
Northern Warriors v Qalandars (8.00pm)
Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry
4/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
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Read more from Aya Iskandarani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RACE CARD
6.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh82.500 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.05pm Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m
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8.50pm UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) Conditions Dh183,650 (D) 1,600m
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10pm Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (T) 1,400m
The specs: 2018 Ford Mustang GT
Price, base / as tested: Dh204,750 / Dh241,500
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Gearbox: 10-speed automatic
Power: 460hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque: 569Nm @ 4,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.3L / 100km
