Live Nation Brining Music to Dubai

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Those who fetch $130 for a barrel of oil can call the tune these days. And it seems the tune is becoming so catchy that even Madonna, the original Material Girl, might be singing soon in this rich Gulf city-state, the Associated Press reports.

Flush with oil dollars, Dubai is no longer satisfied with being just a business, tourist and sports mecca. It’s trying to boost its prestige further by pouring money into entertainment to lure the music industry’s priciest stars.

Santana’s February concert in Dubai was sold out. Last week, Jon Bon Jovi performed in Abu Dhabi, the Emirates’ capital just a short ride down the coast.

Justin Timberlake, Elton John, Pink, Aerosmith, Destiny’s Child and the Gypsy Kings have all entertained Western, Asian and Arab expatriates in the last few months in this string of seven semiautonomous states in the Persian Gulf. Music fans regularly fly in from Cairo, Beirut and elsewhere across the Middle East to hear their idols.

But a Madonna concert — if it happens — would take the musical glitz to a new level.

Earlier this month, the Dubai-based Gulf News daily and the tabloid 7 Days reported that the pop diva would come to Dubai this year on a tour organized by a Los Angeles-based events company, Live Nation, to promote her new album, “Hard Candy.”

Madonna might perform twice, the newspapers reported, citing event organizers familiar with the plans — at a public concert and at a private party, a first in her decades-long career. The price tag for the performances: more than $20 million, the papers said.

So far, however, Madonna’s publicists are publicly staying mum.

Nasim Tabatabaei, marketing and public relations manager for Live Nation Middle East, based in Dubai, said Madonna was still putting her tour together.

“She had offers from everywhere, and that could include the Emirates,” Tabatabaei told The Associated Press.



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