Dubai’s At It Again!
November 20, 2008. Circle the date because you won't see another night like this; at least until the next mega-million-dollar party. The folks behind the groundbreaking Palm Jumeirah island unveiled one of the biggest nights of the year to launch the flagship resort: Atlantis. The 1,559 room ocean-themed resort was home to three days of celebrations culminating with an amazing extravaganza. In case you missed it (and you probably did, as you had to be one of the 2,000 invited guests wearing custom-designed blue and gold handmade Taj Taj bracelets), here are some of my favorite moments.
The Scene
Picture 113 live actors and dancers, 200 dinner tables lit by 3,000 candles and 208 lanterns. Now picture 7,200 square meters of carpet covering the resort’s beach. At least. 5,000 burgundy carnations, 700 Monstera leaves and 100 cans of glitter completed the resort’s sparkling transformation.
8:00 p.m.
Red Carpet Arrivals
Like at so many Hollywood premieres, they arrived one-by-one in their Armani suits and haute couture gowns: Charlize Theron, Lindsay Lohan, Mary-Kate Olsen, Petra Nemcova, Agyness Deyn, Dame Shirley Bassey, Rani Mukherjee, John Abraham, Mischa Barton, Robert DeNiro, Janet Jackson, Preity Zinta, Gosha Kutsenko, the Duchess of York, Michael Jordan, Boris Becker, Bipasha Basu, the Dubai royal family and Lily Allen.
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| Charlize Theron |
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| Ghada Adel and Robert DeNiro |
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| Janet Jackson (with some dude) |
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| Lindsay Lohan |
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| Ahmad Helmi and Phaedra |
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| Mary-Kate Olsen |
11:25 p.m.
The Concert
Kylie Minogue opened her 60-minute performance with “On a Night Like This,” wearing a black and gold Jean-Paul Gaultier creation, while best selling Middle Eastern pop sensation, Nawal Al Zoghbi’s performance lead a crescendo into the climax of the evening.
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| Kylie Minogue |
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| Nawal Al Zoghbi |
1:10 a.m.
The Fireworks
Bollywood star, Priyanka Chopra rose from the stage as the Goddess of Atlantis released the world’s largest ever fireworks display, completely lighting up 43 km of palm-shaped shoreline and illuminating the entire island with more than 100,000 specially designed pyrotechnic devices.
