Saudi pop star Mishaal Tamer feels ‘honored and grateful’ ahead of sold-out London gig
Singer tells Arab News his fans in the city have a special place in his heart but he owes his success to people all over the world who have embraced his music
He says his debut album, “Home is Changing,” out in October, is a tribute to the changes and reforms that have swept through the Kingdom in recent years
Updated 17 May 2024
Zaynab Khojji
LONDON: Saudi singer Mishaal Tamer said he feels honored to be performing his first headline show outside Saudi Arabia in London and is grateful to his fans there for their support.
Speaking to Arab News ahead of his sold-out gig on Friday at Camden Assembly, a live music venue and nightclub in Chalk Farm, Tamer said his fans in London will always have a special place in his heart.
“The people attending the show in London have been with me from before the starting line and I really appreciate that,” he said of the 220 people who will attend the event. “I will love those people forever and they will be in my heart forever.”
Tamer also thanked his fans in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the world, saying he owes his success as an independent artist to them.
“The kids that are back home and the ones abroad that have found me have been supporting me,” he said. “This would be impossible without them. I am grateful to the fans for listening to the music and sharing it.
He told how he was approached by two fans in a restaurant after arriving in the UK, which helped him realize how his profile was growing.
“One of them was Saudi, the other wasn’t,” Tamer said. “When I looked at that, it made me realize that not only was this bigger than I expected for me, as an artist, but that what we’re doing is bigger than me.”
His debut album, “Home is Changing,” is due for release in October and he said it is a tribute to the changes and reforms that swept through the Kingdom in recent years.
“There are so many opportunities that keep popping up, so many cool new things,” he added. “People have the freedom and creativity to make the world around them and the environment around them, to shape it into what they see in their heads.
“It feels almost like every other country is decaying whereas the Kingdom is growing and that feeling makes me proud.”
The evolution of Saudi Arabia “sets an example of always being hopeful for the future and having a positive attitude,” Tamer said. “And I think the optimism that we have right now in the Kingdom is a beautiful thing.”
Victoria Beckham drops capsule collection with Mideast retailer
British singer and designer launches in Dubai with influencers
Beckham expresses ‘joy’ over women here wearing her designs
Updated 6 sec ago
Arab News
DUBAI: British fashion designer and singer Victoria Beckham hosted an intimate dinner in Dubai this week with some of the city’s leading style influencers to celebrate her exclusive capsule collection with Middle Eastern online luxury retailer Ounass.
The collaboration includes a dedicated pop-up at the Ounass Maison, located in Dubai’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Jumeirah.
It features a curated selection of Spring/Summer 2025 pieces, including designs created specifically for the Middle East. The collection is also available online.
“So excited to be here in Dubai to celebrate my capsule for @ounass,” she wrote on Instagram. “Coming here and seeing how Emirati women are wearing my clothes and making them their own brings me so much joy.”
The dinner was attended by several fashion influencers, including Karen Wazen, her sister Andrea Wazen, Dima Al-Sheikhly, Dana Hourani, Sossi Wartanian, Jessica Kahawaty, Deema Al-Asadi and Rym Saidi.
Guests posed for photos with Beckham, who wore a shiny silver-white satin dress featuring a one-shoulder design, soft draping across the bodice, and a gathered detail at the hip that flowed into an asymmetrical hem. She completed the look with clear pointed heels.
Beckham attended the event with her youngest daughter, Harper Seven, 13, who matched her mother in a sleek, floor-length satin gown in a light silver shade.
Harper’s dress featured thin spaghetti straps, a straight neckline, and a smooth, fitted silhouette. She completed the look with a black clutch.
Victoria was not the only member of the Beckham household making fashion headlines this week.
Her husband, football legend David Beckham, is also making a foray into the fashion world with the announcement of a major new collaboration.
In Spring/Summer 2025, BOSS will launch “BECKHAM x BOSS,” the brand’s first collection co-designed with David.
The pieces will draw inspiration from the star’s personal style, and promises to blend modern tailoring with heritage influences.
“We have been very much looking forward to this launch and are more than excited to see how these pieces are received by our end consumers,” said Daniel Grieder, CEO of Hugo Boss, in a statement.
“This collection is based on our strategic priority that product is key and our goal to seamlessly dress our customers for every occasion with our brands.”
Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Timur Bekmambetov pick eight UAE stories to lead screenlife rollout
Updated 29 April 2025
Hams Saleh
ABU DHABI: Ben Ross, CEO of Image Nation Abu Dhabi, joined Kazakh-Russian film director and producer Timur Bekmambetov on Tuesday at the Culture Summit Abu Dhabi to discuss screenlife, a pioneering format developed by Bekmambetov that is coming to the region for the first time.
Screenlife is a style of filmmaking where the entire story takes place on a digital screen — through text messages, video calls, social media and other everyday apps — reflecting how people communicate in today’s tech-driven world. Notable examples include the horror film “Unfriended” (2014) and the mystery thriller “Searching” (2018).
Ben Ross (L) and Timur Bekmambetov (R) at the Culture Summit Abu Dhabi. (AN Photo by Mohamed Fawzy)
In the session, Ross and Bekmambetov announced that they have selected eight stories from UAE filmmakers to bring to life after the launch of the Screenlife Program in June 2024, which aims to help UAE citizens and residents master this new format and create authentic narratives with global resonance.
“We were drawn to it because it is so innovative and so forward-thinking,” Ross told Arab News. “We enjoyed the screenlife movies, and it just felt like a natural step to evolve it into this region.”
Bekmambetov emphasized the universality of digital communication. “The digital world is the same universally. There is a different cultural element … but every family has a WhatsApp chat with hundreds of people on it. My family in Kazakhstan have one, and the internet in Abu Dhabi is the same,” he told Arab News.
He said that the format is “socially very impactful” and can give voice to those often left out of traditional cinema. “Because it costs nothing, you can tell stories about your individual life with no money. It will help us to engage very different storytellers.”
Ross noted that the selected projects reflect a wide range of stories. “Every story that we have chosen ... stood out in its own way. There’s a huge variety being told — it’s not formulaic.”
Bekmambetov also noted that Muslim women lead very different lifestyles, saying, “maybe screenlife will bring their stories to life,” to which Ross added that some of the stories currently in development already do.
Kehlani responds to concert cancellation over ‘anti-Israel sentiments’
Updated 29 April 2025
Arab News
DUBAI: US singer Kehlani has taken to social media after her appearance at Cornell University’s annual campus concert was cancelled due to her pro-Palestine stance.
Last week, Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff announced he was withdrawing the R&B singer’s invitation to perform at the event due to what he called “antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments.”
“Unfortunately, although it was not the intention, the selection of Kehlani as this year’s headliner has injected division and discord into Slope Day,” Kotlikoff wrote last week, referring to the concert.
“For that reason, I am rescinding Kehlani’s invitation and expect a new lineup for a great 2025 Slope Day to be announced shortly.”
He continued: “In the days since Kehlani was announced, I have heard grave concerns from our community that many are angry, hurt, and confused that Slope Day would feature a performer who has espoused antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments in performances, videos, and on social media. While any artist has the right in our country to express hateful views, Slope Day is about uniting our community, not dividing it.”
In a new Instagram video responding to the cancellation, Kehlani said: “I am being asked and called to clarify and make a statement yet again for the millionth time, that I am not antisemitic nor anti-Jew. I am anti-genocide, I am anti the actions of the Israeli government, I am anti an extermination of an entire people, I’m anti the bombing of innocent children, men women… that’s what I’m anti.”
The 30-year-old, a frequent collaborator with the Jewish Voice for Peace group, added a caption, stating: “I know you’ve seen Cornell University cancelled my show, and now there are attempts at other cancellations on top of the cancellations I’ve already experienced over the past year. If you want to cancel me from opportunity, stand on it being because of your Zionism. don’t make it anti-Jew. this a played out game. all this because we want people to stop dying. I hope this helps.”
‘Bridgerton’ star Nicola Coughlan talks Palestine support
Updated 29 April 2025
Arab News
DUBAI: Irish actress Nicola Coughlan – who rose to fame for her role in Netflix hit series “Bridgerton” – was awarded the Commitment Prize by French media company Konbini at Canneseries, where she also gave a career talk.
During the hour-long masterclass, Coughlan spoke in depth about not only her work on shows like “Derry Girls” and “Doctor Who,” but also her support of Palestine.
“There is a factor of ‘it’s better if you say nothing’ because our job is to entertain you,” said the actor when asked about speaking in support of Palestine, according to a report by Variety. “My dad was in the Irish Army, which is a peacekeeping force. My family lived in Jerusalem and Syria in the 70s, so it’s something that is in my bones. We are talking about right or wrong, about children being bombed in their beds. I wouldn’t accept that anywhere in the world.”
The actor, who was given the award for being a “talent actively making a change well beyond television,” continued by highlighting how there has “always been a connection between Palestine and Ireland,” and that the two countries have “shared ideals and struggles.”
“Any country in the world that was facing this, I would talk about it. It’s not difficult. For me, the killing of innocent people is never right,” she said.
Coughlan just landed her first BAFTA nomination for her role in “Big Mood.”
“I never got to play anyone like her before, because she is quite cool, in a way. It’s a comedy that morphs into a drama. It bends the genre. She’s difficult, she’s funny.”
Focus on AI rise in creative industries at Culture Summit Abu Dhabi
Updated 28 April 2025
Saffiya Ansari
ABU DHABI: Industry leaders gathered at the 7th Culture Summit Abu Dhabi on Monday to discuss the rise of artificial intelligence in creative industries — and what it means for the future.
Panelists at the event, held at Abu Dhabi’s Manarat Al-Saadiyat, included Riyad Joucka, founder and principal architect at the Middle East Architecture Network, a practice based in Dubai.
Others included Stephen King, senior lecturer at Middlesex University Dubai; Imad Mesdoua, director of government affairs for the Middle East and Africa at Spotify; and Dr. Patrick Noack, executive director at the Dubai Future Foundation.
The panel examined AI’s impact across multiple creative fields, exploring the opportunities AI presents as well as the challenges that arise when employing machine intelligence.
Joucka was keen to emphasize the importance of using AI as a tool to “extend human creativity,” rather than replace it.
“I see technology as an important tool to extend human creativity and knowledge, and not necessarily as a substitute for the human touch in design,” he said, adding that human-AI collaboration was the ideal creative journey from ideation to finished product.
Mesdoua echoed the importance of the human touch at Spotify, saying “there are two ingredients to the Spotify secret sauce, one is personalization … and the other one is discovery.
“Personalization is to a large extent driven by AI and technologies and algorithmic advances … it makes sure that your app fits you like a glove. The other ingredient to the secret sauce is what we call discoverability.
“And what that means is every now and then on your Spotify app, you will get a suggestion for a song or an artist or genre that you might not have typically listened to, and that’s largely the work, not solely, but largely the work of human editors.”
The panel examined AI’s impact across multiple creative fields, exploring the opportunities AI presents as well as the challenges that arise when employing machine intelligence.
(AN Photo by Mohamed Fawzy)
That is “very important, particularly for diversity,” Mesdoua noted, adding “a big part of the work that the editors are doing to make sure that up-and-coming genres are being spotlighted and playlisted to global audiences in a unique way.
“So AI can reflect the user, but editors can help recommend new things to users.”
While human curators are key to promoting international music to global audiences, Mesdoua did note the importance of AI in the music industry, saying one of the most important positives is lowering the barriers to entry.
“If you think back to 70 years ago or 80 years ago, becoming a really established musician required you overcoming a ton of barriers and hurdles, particularly on the infrastructure side of things.
“You had to have an expensive studio at your disposal … now you can be all by yourself in your room with amazing AI software and amplify whatever creative spark you have in your mind and really go from ideation to production super-fast.”
It is something Noack was more cautious about, though, with the executive director at the Dubai Future Foundation saying “a barrier to entry is not necessarily a bad thing.”
“I think a lot of people come into space that is not necessarily their calling or (they do not have a) high level of skill and suddenly they know how to do something and they’re the expert in this space.”
A litmus test for good AI, he added, is “whether it can be switched off or rolled back.”
Taking into account differences between various creative fields, the panelists took a nuanced approach and discussed whether AI’s influence was similar across sectors.
There was one warning repeated across various creative fields — including architecture, marketing, education and music — panelists warned that practitioners need to “know when to stop and when to bring the human element back into creativity,” as per Joucka.
Running until April 29 and organized by the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, the three-day summit includes policymakers, artists, scholars, and innovators.
The theme is “Culture for Humanity and Beyond,” focusing on the intersection of culture, technology and global governance.
