The entire Palm Jumeirah island and its flagship resort Atlantis, The Palm were lit up in a spectacular fireworks display tonight, marking the official launch of the iconic landmark and its flagship resort. Music legend, Kylie Minogue, made her debut Middle East performance, alongside Middle-Eastern pop sensation, Nawal and Bollywood star, Priyanka Chopra, at the exclusive event for over 2000 guests from across the globe including: 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. The highly-anticipated party was hosted by international hotelier, Sol Kerzner, Chairman of Kerzner International and H.E Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman of Nakheel, the developers and operators of Atlantis, The Palm, to introduce Palm Jumeirah and the Atlantis brand to the world.
The fireworks display, designed and created by international pyrotechnics expert, Grucci, stretched across the full 520 kilometres of Palm Jumeirah, lighting up the entire island and Atlantis resort, creating a display visible from space. Custom-made shells had been shipped in from across the globe, creating a light spectacle, set off from over 716 firing locations around the island including 400 balconies at the resort.
The display followed an unprecedented high definition video illumination sequence introduced by Bollywood star, Priyanka Chopra, who rose from the stage as The Goddess of Atlantis. Designed by Marie-Jeanne Gauthé creative director for Jean Michel Jarre in Paris, the visual display used the 200 metre-wide Royal Towers as a canvas to visualise the story of Atlantis, making it the most ambitious HD video projection on a standing surface.
Kylie Minogue opened her 60-minute performance with "On a Night Like This," wearing a black and gold Jean-Paul Gaultier creation, designed specifically and exclusively for the occasion and closed with 'Better, The Devil You Know.'
