Spanish hunk — sorry, world-class pop star — Enrique Iglesias popped and rocked Abu Dhabi on Friday as part of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after-race concert series, Yasalam.
He was fashionably late and didn’t start the show until after 9.30pm; however, that didn’t stop the du Arena crowd, which had a particularly high number of women present for some reason, from giving him a very warm and loud welcome.
Dressed in black low-rise jeans — that occasionally revealed his red underwear — a red t-shirt and his trademark cap, he kicked off the show with a very energetic performance of his 2014 hit I’m A Freak followed by I Like How It Feels.
As he repeatedly ran up and down the stage, even off the stage to get closer to the audience, jumped up and down and got the crowd to put their hands in the air, two points came to mind: Firstly what type of exercise regime does he have to keep this physique so flawless? And secondly, is he really 40 years old?
It really makes one wonder why people who look Iglesias are never your next-door neighbour. But the singer — who has sold over 130 million records — didn’t let one daydream for long as he teased the crowd with his moves.
Twenty minutes or so into the show and having performed a couple of his old classics, Heartbeat and Bailamos, which the crowd sang the chorus to, he took a seat and apologized for being late. His apology was met with loud cheers and screams from fans who had by this point completely forgotten that he was even late.
Determined to give back some of the energy he had been receiving, he asked the audience “who wants to come up here and sing with us?”
Naturally, there were a lot of volunteers. He picked out a fan, 30-year-old Mohammad from Iran, to join him on stage to sing Ben E King’s Stand By Me, but not before joking around with the fan on stage about his age and telling him “you look like me”. Iglesias didn’t even seem to mind Mohammad’s repeated attempts to embrace him with hugs and kisses for the duration of the song.
The giving back did not end there; having changed into a white t-shirt, he jumped off stage and took fans’ mobiles to take selfies as he performed his famous Escape.
Of course the evening would not be complete without the song that made him the superstar that he is today, Hero. He decided to perform this one close to the audience at the back of the arena and in a hoodie, perhaps to cover his sweaty white t-shirt. The crowd loved him for it.
He ended the show with a couple of Spanish songs, including Bailando from his tenth studio album, Sex and Love.
tabloid! was at the backstage VIP lounge to try and catch up with star but he jetted off to his hotel straight after the concert. He is travelling to Russia to continue with the rest of his world tour.
However, his band did make an appearance and they were the nicest, most down-to-earth people you could ever meet.
Band member Alex Feder told tabloid! “that was aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawesome, love Abu Dhabi,” as he dared us to count how many ‘A’s he had used in ‘awesome’. He said they were all really happy to be back in the UAE.
*Did you know?
The star performers at this year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix have a special VIP lounge backstage. It’s a place for them to relax pre- or-post show (the bar is managed by Dubai club Mahiki), as well as pick up some goodies. Run by Global Communications Agency (who also do the Dubai International Film Festival gift lounge), it’s where brands give away free samples of their products to the stars. This year’s brands include Lacoste Eyewear, Monkey Cookies, Divine Beauty Lounge, skincare brand Eisenberg, locally designed trucker caps Caliente and Ayaso Boutique.
