By Sports Reporter/Doha
Qatar 2015, 24th Men’s Handball World Championship, is packed with surprises.
On Monday, spectators at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall were treated to a live concert by multi-award winning singer Kadim al-Sahir after the Qatar vs Slovenia match.
After Qatar won the match, the lights went dim and a few minutes later al-Sahir stepped out of darkness and into the limelight.
“It’s almost like a dream for me. On any other day, I would have bought a rather expensive ticket to watch him sing and today, I am getting to see him live here at throwaway prices. Can anything beat this?” said a fan, who was at the venue to watch the Qatar vs Slovenia match.
The 57-year-old iconic singer from Iraq has established himself as one of the most successful singers in the history of Arab world.
Al-Sahir, who started his career in the 1980s, is not only famous for his romantic ballads, but he is also considered as one of the leading singers in Arab and folk pop, and Arab classical music. His popularity can be best judged by his official Facebook page (www.facebook.com/KadimAlSahir.official) that has close to 10 million likes.
Among his recent albums to rise up the charts are ‘Al Rasm Bel Kalimat’ (Drawing with Words), which was released in 2009 and ‘La Tazeedeeh Lowa’a’ (Don’t add to him anguish), which released in 2011.
And it isn’t just the Arab World, which has been mesmerised by al-Sahir’s soulful singing and music, for he has niche audiences across the globe.
His live concerts in USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Australia and England have been hugely popular.
Al-Sahir was also part of the ‘Live from Rome’s Circus Maximus’ to Italy in 2004. The concert, which was hosted in Rome, also saw the likes of Carlos Santana, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones and Andrea Bocelli. Then, famous international producer Quincy Jones had warmly introduced the Iraqi singer to 500,000 of those in attendance.
