The Dubai Opera will pay tribute to late celebrated Egyptian singer Abdel Halim Hafez with a hologram show on May 13 and 14, as part of the city’s Eid Al Fitr festivities.
Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment announced in cooperation with New Dimension Productions (NDP) and MBC Group as the organisers, that the 90-minute show will feature some of the singer’s most popular songs.
Hafez, who died in 1977 aged 47, is hailed as one of the greatest Egyptian musicians, along with Umm Kulthum, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Mohamed Fawzi and Shadia.
NDP will use hologram technology and artificial intelligence to create a high-resolution 3D model that matches Hafez’s face and body movements. For the show’s audio content, NDP extracted his voice over five months to produce vocals of the highest quality and purity, which will be supported by a live 28-person band.
“The first-ever full hologram event to feature Abdel Halim Hafez, a true legend of Egyptian popular culture, the innovative and immersive live show will be a fitting tribute to the star and his family,” Ahmed Al Khaja, CEO, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), said in a statement.
Mohammed Shabana, Abdel Halim Hafez’s nephew, expressed his happiness at his uncle’s music being revisited on such a scale.
“Despite his passing 43 years ago, he remains a firm favourite with music lovers across the Middle East,” he said in a statement.
To protect and guarantee intellectual property rights, and as a commitment to Abdel Halim Hafez, NDP cooperated with rights holders from the family and heirs of the late artist, the association of authors, composers, publishers and government institutions in Egypt, to obtain all permits and approvals necessary. The Abdel Halim Hafez hologram event follows the success of a hologram show by the late artist Umm Kulthum by NDP and MBC Group in Dubai in 2019.
Don’t miss it!
The concert will be held on May 13 and 14. Doors open at 9.30pm with the show starting at 10pm. Tickets, starting from Dh350, are available online.
