Entertainment | Celebrity

Madonna to perform in Abu Dhabi

Despite the impending June heat when she lands on our shores, organisers are confident of a record attendance

By Kelly Crane, Senior Reporter
Published: 07:00 February 8, 2012

Image Credit: AFP
Singer Madonna (right) performs with Redfoo and Sky Blu (left) of LMFAO during the NFL Super Bowl XLVI game halftime show on February 5, 2012 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. It's official. Madonna will perform on June 3 and 4 in Abu Dhabi on Yas Island.

She may be the Queen of Pop but she steps out on stage come rain or shine.

An outdoor concert in the UAE in June will be a sweaty affair but organisers of Madonna’s Abu Dhabi leg of her World Tour 2012, Flash Entertainment, say the weather is no excuse for missing the show on June 3.

“Audiences of more than 60,000 gather to see an artist like Madonna in rain, hail, snow, humidity and heat,” said a Flash spokesperson.

“Madonna is a legendary performer and the weather shouldn’t stop anyone seeing her in the UAE. The tickets are such great prices and it saves travelling.”

Flash also advise UAE residents to buy their tickets early as they are expected to sell out.

“We expect many tickets to sell to international guests who will travel to see their idol.”

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Madonna will brave the heat along with an estimated audience of more than 45,000 at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Arena, Yas Island, this summer on June 3.

Tickets, priced just Dh350 to see one of the biggest names in the music business go on sale later this month on February 27 and demand is expected to be extremely high.

Her long-rumoured show in the capital will be just her second stop on the Madonna World Tour which covers arenas, stadiums and special outdoor sights from the Plains of Abraham in Quebec to Australia, London, Paris, Milan and Berlin.

The full tour schedule was announced on Tuesday by Live Nation and can be viewed in full at www.madonna.com

Speculation has been building for months after a ‘leaked’ document appeared on the internet with similar dates to those now officially announced.

Madonna’s phenomenally successful Sticky & Sweet Tour, which began in 2008, reaffirmed her status as one of the most successful touring artists of all time.

The historic tour included such incredible touring feats as a 70,000 seat sell-out in Werchter, Belgium, a 76,000 seat sell-out in Helsinki (the largest show ever in Finland by a solo artist), 40,000 tickets sell-out in Oslo, Norway, and 72,000 tickets sold out in one day in Tallinn Estonia.

Other record breaking ticket sales around the globe include 650,000 tickets sold in her series of South American dates, 72,000 tickets at Zurich’s Dübendorf Airfield - the largest audience ever assembled for a show in Switzerland, 75,000 tickets in London and four sell outs in New York’s Madison Square Garden (60,364 tickets).

The announcement of Madonna’s 2012 World Tour follows an extraordinary week which along with Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime performance saw the release of Madonna’s new single, Give Me All Your Luvin’, from her highly-anticipated new album MDNA on Live Nation Entertainment/Interscope Records - scheduled to be released on March 26th. MDNA is already No. 1 on iTunes in many countries including the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Canada, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Tickets will be available at thinkflash.ae and all Virgin Megastores across the Middle East.