Muscat: There’s no campaign in Oman opposing Canadian teen sensation Justin Bieber’s show, which was scheduled for May 6 but now stands cancelled.
There have been reports in the international media that Bieber’s Muscat show was cancelled due to opposition from people in Oman.
However, here in Oman there are no signs of opposition.
“Alive Entertainment regret to announce that the Oman show will no longer take place,” according to a posting on the website justinbieberoman.com, created by the Oman organisers.
“I only saw some Tweets in English about the show and its cancellation, there has been nothing about it in Arabic media and not even in local web forums,” Turki Al Beloushi, a journalist who runs the most popular Arabic news portal in Oman — albaladoman.com — told Gulf News.
Gordon MacKenzie of Alive Entertainment was not available for comment when contacted by Gulf News on phone. He did not reply to an SMS.
According to sources in the event management industry, the local organisers were finding it tough to garner sponsorship to cover the cost, especially in the wake of a controversy and subsequent protests triggered by a member of Jason Moran’s jazz band.
The band member recited verses of the Quran during a concert at the Royal Opera House in Muscat (ROHM), sparking protesters outside ROHM before a concert by an Indian artist.
It is also learnt from reliable sources in the event management industry in Oman that the tickets were not selling as expected since they went on sale from April 2. “The ticket were priced too high for the Oman market,” said an experienced event management expert in Oman on the condition of anonymity.
Alive Entertainment announced that the ticket money would be refunded to fans in Oman or they could exchange them for a newly added Dubai show on May 5.
