MANAMA, 20 May 2006 — Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram wowed fans in Bahrain Thursday night when she sang to a packed hall, scoring her second successful performance in Bahrain in almost three years despite Islamist MPs efforts to stop the event.
The 23-year-old superstars’ performance came after almost three years following her first one in Manama, which sparked riots and clashes between police and a small group of youths after Islamist MPs from the Asalah bloc (Salafi Sunni) and Al-Menbar Islamic bloc (Al-Akhwan Sunni) tried to block the show.
Islamic MPs failed again earlier this month to stop Thursday night’s performance, prompting them to go after the Lebanese based radio station Sawt El Ghad (Voice of Tomorrow) that also broadcasts from Bahrain, for helping organize the show.
Conservative Arabs believe that Ajram’s performances are provocative.
“We always loved Nancy and her being here shows that ‘they’ — meaning Islamist — are not the only one’s with rights in this country,” one female fan said during the show.
Ajram’s show attracted fans from across the Gulf who turned out to see her perform as part of a tour that will also take her to UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt, and Jordan.
