Jeddah: American singer Mariah Carey and Dutch DJ Tiesto performed a concert for the first time in Saudi Arabia at a beautiful outdoor arena at King Abdullah Economic City in Jeddah on Thursday as part of the ongoing first European Golf Tournament.
Young, enthusiastic Saudi men and women came in droves to see the international stars perform.
The concert kicked off with Carey entering the stage dressed in a black shimmering dress singing her popular pop song ‘It’s Like That’ to cheers from the crowd.
She then stole the hearts of thousands of music lovers yelling “We love you Mariah” when she sang and danced to ‘Shake it Off’ from her 2005 album ‘The Emancipation of Mimi’. Carey then sang her 90s hits ‘Love Takes Time’, ‘Make It Happen’, ‘I Don’t Wanna Cry’, ‘Hero’ and ‘Dream Lover’ as the crowed swayed and waved their phone torches.
“This is one of my favourite songs and I dedicate this song to you,” she told the crowd when she sang one of her greatest hits, ‘Always Be My Baby’, and followed it with ‘You Are Beautiful’.
Carey also sang ‘Distance’ from her latest album ‘Caution’, encouraging the crowd to sing with her. The crowd was then blown away when Carey sang ‘We Belong Together’ and hit the high whistle notes at the end. Her performance ended with a mellow ‘Music Box’.
After a 30-minute break, DJ Tiesto, also known as the godfather of EDM, stormed the stage and played an energetic opening to the deafening screams of the crowd.
As the night moved on, the crowd danced to his beats until the wee hours of the morning. A display of fireworks, 3D smoke effects and colourful laser shows enthralled the audience.
“It doesn’t feel like we are in Jeddah. It’s so surreal,” said Marwan Mehdi.
Sara Ali, a young Saudi national who came with her friends to attend the concert, excitedly told Gulf News: “We have been waiting for years for such amazing global icons to perform in our country. I’m so glad that it’s finally happening and I just can’t wait for such concerts to take place.”
