Blogosphere: November 24

Gulf News web editor Adam Flinter plunges headlong into the blogosphere to find out what bloggers from the Middle East and beyond have on their minds

Reliable sources have informed me that there was a bit of a bash in Dubai late last week. It must have been a small, intimate affair, with just a few close friends invited, because despite the hype it didn't make much of a splash in the local blogosphere.

Were bloggers in Dubai a little passé about the whole Atlantis party? Or still in awe about the (amazing/obscene — delete as per your opinion) multi-million dollar bash?

For those who aren't used to superlatives being thrown around like confetti on a daily basis, this was a serious party. The party of the century, according to some observers. And at $20 million (Dh73.4 million), it certainly should be.

"The party was visible from space, the event will hit the Guinness World Records for the biggest fireworks ever. Well, as crazy as it looks, it's impressive and spectacular,'' said the Jazarah.net blog (http://jazarah.net), whose overall opinion was hinted at in the url which contains the word "wow''.

Countless other blogs from around the world picked up the mega-party, and of course, all mentioned the global credit crunch in the same breath.

Among them was the travels around the world blog (http://travelsaroundtheworlds.blogspot.com) who said: "Shrugging off the global financial crisis, Dubai overnight toasted a new luxury hotel with a $20 million bash attended by film stars and sporting greats and marked by a spectacular fireworks display.''

And of course, no party can be complete without accompanying party related gossip. Specifically in this case… who got the biggest room.

Merry making

It was supposed to be Oprah apparently, but she didn't show… So was it Branson? De Niro? Nope… they were all outdone by King Khan according to all the gilma (http://allthegilma.blogspot.com).

"SRK accompanied by wife Gauri were booked into the very lavish and extremely expensive suite in Dubai's Atlantis Palm Jumeirah. In fact the suite, which costs a mere 18 lakh rupees [Dh132,214] a night, was initially booked for Oprah Winfrey, but once she pulled out from the event, those that hold the purse strings made sure it went to Shah Rukh.

"The exclusive suite, suspended between the resort's two towers, was the venue of a lot of merry making between King Khan and the likes of Janet Jackson, Robert De Niro, Kylie Minogue, Michael Jordan and Wesley Snipes, Lindsay Lohan, Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen. Arjun and Mehr Rampal and Farhan Akhtar also joined buddy SRK.''

Not a bad little party-ette that.

The Go Smell the Flowers blog(http://gosmelltheflowers.com/archives/6476) was one of the blogs adopting a more questioning tone, wagging its finger and saying: "This firework display appears to have reached every corner of the globe with a MISSION ACCOMPLISHED as all that money went up in smoke. I ask you, did you see or read about the event where you are, AND what else could that money have been spent on?''

Staying in Dubai, the UAE Community Blogspot (http://uaecommmunity.blogspot) continued with the more direct outlook, asking, "One would wonder who in his right mind would spend $30 million in the midst of a global recession just to inaugurate a hotel?''

Sol Kerzner perhaps? Although he actually spent $10 million (Dh36.7 million) less on Thursday's party… But even he has admitted that he would think twice about doing something on this scale again.

But after the party, comes the clean-up, and for ordinary Dubai-ians life goes back to normal.

One of the most relevant posts about Atlantis came from Loft 965 (http://loft965.com). No mention of billions of dollars or Kylie.

Simple and salient: "The opening of Atlantis was a great spectacle, I have to say. The palm came to life. I have never seen such a display of fireworks. But, it wasn't fun swimming in a beach the next day with pieces of firework cardboard floating around. The environment, anyone?''