Attending the opening was His Excellency Sheikh Thiab bin Zayed Al Nahyan, member of the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi, as well as Sheikh Shakhboot bin Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan and other members of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi.  Al Habib Ali Zain Al Jifri , Secretary General of the Board of Trustees for the Al Mahabbah Awards and Sheikh Hamza Yousef, religious consultant for the festival in addition to a tens of religious leaders and artists from around the world.

The Festival was opened by Dr. Amal Al Qubaisi, member of the Federal National Council of Abu Dhabi with Egyptian singer Ahmed Ibrahim performing a moving ensemble of "Mohammed Ya Rasul Allah" followed by a speech by Sheikh Abdullah welcoming everyone to the festival.

The opening ceremony was concluded with the opening of the exhibition at the Al Raha Beach Theatre where a variety of artistic works depicting love for the Prophet Mohammed were on display.

After a brief break, the first concert of the three-day festival, the 'Youth Concert' was underway with a slew of performers from all around the world taking to the stage singing unique and inspiring songs for the Prophet Mohammed. Among the performers were Emirati singer Mohammed Al Mazem, Egyptian singers Hamada Helal and Tariq Fouad, Macedonian Nasheed artist Mesut Kurtus, Malaysian Nasheed group Raihan and Canadian duo The Sound of Reason.

Bringing the first half of the concert to a close was South African Nasheed artist Zain Bhikha, joined by his African drummer and four back-up vocalists who are most famous for being the African singers in the famous Disney cartoon "The Lion King." Zain sang two songs, one of which "Peace Train" about peace and Islam was written by Yusuf Islam a number of years ago.

Next in the line up for the night were performances by the nine nominees in the song category.  Saudi Arabian Hashem Baroum began with his nominated song "La Taqoul." Next on stage were Abdelrahman Mohammed singing 'Sallu ala Khair Al Anam', Maamoun Elmiligy singing 'Khair el Bariya', Christian Bell with 'Othran Mohammed', UK group SHAAM singing 'Sallallahu ala Mohammed' which got stars Ehab Tawif and Mohammed Henedi singing and clapping along to the song.  Ahmed Hamdi sang his song 'Gebreel' followed by The Brothahood with their song 'Light Upon Light' and Osama Al Safi singing 'Youseer A Qalb.'

The last of the nine nominated performers and the most highly anticipated of them, Native Deen from the USA, performed two songs The first 'Zamelouni' is a song about the Prophet Mohammed and his wife Khadij, while the second, the song that garnered them a nomination, 'Tala'a Al Badru', is one of the most famous traditional Islamic songs to which the group added their own lyrics. Their outstanding performance brought the audience to their feet in a standing ovation cheering for the American band.

Audiences were given the opportunity to vote live from the interactive voting pods in the theatre, for their favorite nominees with results being added to the final judges' votes where three nominees will be chosen to compete in the Closing Ceremony on April 26 at 7:30pm at Al Raha Beach Theatre.

-Ends-

For high res pictures and interview requests please contact Hana Al-Hirsi, hana.alhirsi@pyramedia.biz, Mobile: +971 50 818 7518

Hana Al-Hirsi
Head of International Press & Publicity
Pyramedia FZ-LLC
Mobile: +971 50 818 7518
Fax: +971 2 6330 600
Email: hana.alhirsi@pyramedia.biz
Website: www.pyramedia.biz

© Press Release 2008

 

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