Grammy Award-winning singer Kelly Rowland will close this year’s Dubai Airshow.
The former Destiny’s Child star will perform at the closing night gala dinner.
Previous acts to close the show include legends like Tom Jones, Diana Ross, Michael Bolton, Lionel Richie and George Benson.
Rowland will take to the stage in front of a host of VIP guests, said Lorne Riley, head of corporate communications for Dubai Airports.
The singer is “excited” to take time out of her busy schedule filming The X Factor in the US to return to the UAE for the action-packed event.
Dubai Airshow will be at Dubai World Central, a purpose-built site, from November 17 to 21.
Rowland last performed in Dubai as part of Shoppiesta, a consumer lifestyle fair during Eid in 2011.
The singer is “part of the furniture” on The X Factor, according to Simon Cowell, with the pair joined on the judging panel by Demi Lovato and Paulina Rubio.
When describing her judging style, Rowland, who famously put together the successful girl group Little Mix on The X Factor in the UK, said she was “firm but honest”.
“In the music business right now everybody has to be on the grind, everybody has to be on the hustle, because there’s somebody waiting right there to take your spot,” she said.
“It’s important for you as an artist to fall in love with music all over again and I have.
“Music has always been in my veins but right now I’m on a high.”
Exhibitors, visitors and media from all over the world will descend on Dubai for the Middle East’s leading aerospace event, which in 2011 attracted 56,548 trade visitors, 960 exhibitors and US$63 billion worth of orders were made.
For more information about the Dubai Airshow visit www.dubaiairshow.aero
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
