Nancy Ajram, Sean Paul and The 5 have been announced among the headliners of this year’s Beats on the Beach – a free annual music festival held in the corniche to mark the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Also performing in the capital over the race weekend, from November 24-26, will be the Filipino pop sensation Yeng Constantino and Jordanian crooner Adham Nabulsi – with more headliners to be revealed soon.
Typically attracting tens of thousands of fans to Abu Dhabi Corniche, the weekend will kick off on Thursday November 24 with a headline slot from Constantino, a household name at home after she broke out from Pinoy Dream Academy in 2006.
Support comes from fan favourite Shamma Hamdan, best known as the first Emirati woman to make it to the finals of reality show Arabs Got Talent.
There’s more local talent on display earlier in the evening from UAE based act Secrecy Over Supremacy, who also performed last year as winners of the annual Emerging Talent Competition.
Earlier in the evening the same stage will host the three finalists from this year’s talent search – with the winning act invited to graduate to a headline slot at Saturday’s closing concert.
The festival moves up a gear on Friday November 25, with Sean Paul taking headline duties. A regular UAE visitor, the Jamaican dance hall Grammy-winner proved a crowd favourite when he performed at Beats on the Beach in 2010. Expect to hear hits Get Busy and Temperature.
More exciting for younger audience members might be the first high-profile live performance in the UAE from Arabic boyband The 5. The hotly hyped pan-Arab reality TV stars have yet to pull off a major live performance since appearing as finalist in last year’s season of X Factor Middle East.
Joining the boys that night is Nabulsi - another former X Factor Middle East contestant - and UAE teen sensation Ester Eden, who arrives fresh from releasing a new single Here We Go, alongside producer Shaun Warner.
The biggest name of all rolls around on the final night, Saturday November 26, when Lebanese superstar Nancy Ajram performs. One of the Arab world’s most famous faces, 33-year-old Ajram released her first album when she was just 15, and has gone on to win three World Music Awards. After close to two decades in the music industry, Ajram is also remembered for her influential role as the first female ambassador for the Middle East and North Africa by Unicef.
Earlier on Saturday there will be more local talent from funk-rock troupe Bull Funk Zoo, who recently celebrated the release of second album Dangerous Radio.The line up was announced by promoters Flash Entertainment, organisers of the annual Yasalam festivities which surround the F1 weekend. Another slew of acts will be announced in early November. Judging by last year’s headliners, we could see a dash of Bollywood glamour and more urban-music orientated acts.
Previous Beats on the Beach acts also included Faithless, J Cole, Missy Elliot and Saad Lamjarred.
Billed as the “largest citywide entertainment festival run by any international race host city”, other Yasalam attractions include the popular F1 FanZone and the colourful Urban Art Zone, both set to brighten up Abu Dhabi Corniche.
For a fourth year, Yasalam also hosts the annual get Driver Fit programme, which aims to tag healthy living to a motorsports theme with a series of events leading up to the race weekend.
The seven-week programme culminates in the Get Driver Fit Challenge on November 17, which brings a giant obstacle course, a “Muscle Beach” and a variety of fitness classes at the GDF Fitness Zone to the Corniche.
Away from the Corniche, the race weekend itself takes place between Friday November 25 to 27 at Yas Marina Circuit. Headlining the After Race Concerts at Du Arena – which are open to race ticket-holders – are The Chemical Brothers on Friday, Lionel Richie on Saturday and Rihanna on Sunday. For ticket packages and more information see
rgarratt@thenational.ae
