Elissa and Wael Jassar

Thursday, July 23, 2026

Al-Jazirah - Wael Al-Otaibi:

In Jeddah, the story does not end with the final note, nor does the song's impact fade when the stage lights go out. There are cities that grant an artist more than just a wooden platform, an audience that goes beyond applause to participate in creating the moment, and memories that make returning there an extension of an endless encounter. From this city that knows how to listen to music and give it another life, Lebanese star Elissa and star Wael Jassar are preparing to meet their audience in an evening that combines emotion and Tarab, featuring two Lebanese voices and a Saudi audience that has long given Arabic song a wide space of love and celebration.

The two stars will meet on July 31 at the Abadi Al Johar Arena, as part of the Jeddah Season events, sponsored by the General Entertainment Authority, in a concert that restores the presence of emotional song and brings together two artistic experiences that have managed to approach the consciousness of the Arab public, not only through words and melodies, but through the personal stories and shared memories that the song carries.

As for Elissa, Jeddah does not seem like a fleeting stop on her concert map; the city holds a special place in her heart. She has spoken of it with clear affection, describing its people as 'as warm as Lebanon's weather and loving life,' while expressing the energy she finds in her audience there, affirming that 'Jeddah's audience takes me to joy.' Perhaps this phrase sums up the nature of a relationship that transcended the boundaries of the stage—a relationship between an artist who found in her audience an echo of her feelings, and an audience that found in her voice a space to reclaim a part of their own story, until the encounter itself becomes a kind of shared joy.

This relationship does not come from a vacuum; Elissa has expressed on various occasions her deep appreciation for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and her Saudi fans have remained present at numerous artistic and humanitarian milestones, confirming the breadth of her fan base in the Kingdom. Over the past years, she has continued her presence in the Saudi musical scene, holding concerts in various cities and locations, from Riyadh to AlUla, amid widespread interaction with her musical archive that has made emotion and romance permanent features of her experience.

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With every return, Elissa does not seem to be starting her relationship with her audience anew; rather, she is resuming an ongoing story, built on a song the audience knows, a memory awakened by the melody, and an interaction that gives the artist the feeling that the distance between the stage and the hall has vanished. The audience here is not content with being mere listeners, but becomes part of the song itself, responding with their voices and giving it a life that transcends the time of its performance.

Jeddah has a uniqueness that makes it more than just a venue for hosting concerts. It is a city shaped by the sea, through which various cultures, languages, and memories have passed, until diversity has become part of its soul, and music has become one of the languages through which it expresses itself. In a city like this, a song is not just a fleeting performance; rather, it enters the fabric of the place, transforming into a space for encounter and a shared memory between the artist and the audience.

As for Wael Jassar, he comes to Jeddah bearing an artistic experience that chose emotion and Tarab as the path to the Arab audience, and with a voice associated with songs that accompanied generations of listeners. He described the Saudi audience as 'sophisticated and fond of authentic art,' a testimony that encapsulates his appreciation for an audience that sees the song as more than just a fleeting musical product; they see it as part of their memory, mood, and soul.

Here, two different expressive experiences meet, yet they share a belief in the song's ability to reach the human soul. From Elissa's romance to Wael Jassar's Tarab, the upcoming evening appears as a space to return to songs that have been linked in the public consciousness with love, nostalgia, absence, and waiting—and to a time when a song was capable of becoming a companion of the moment, the memory of a phase, and the voice of a personal story.

Therefore, the evening seems to be more than just a musical encounter between two stars; it is a moment where two voices from Lebanon meet with a Saudi audience that has contributed, in recent years, to reshaping the relationship between the Arab artist and the Saudi stage. Today, a concert is not measured solely by the number of attendees or the names of the participants, but by the impact it leaves—when music transforms into an experience, the stage into a space for encounter, and the audience into a partner in creating memory.

The two stars are expected to present a bouquet of their most prominent works that have shaped their presence in the Arab consciousness, in a night that oscillates between emotional song and romantic Tarab, reviving works that are not merely heard, but evoke the stories lived by the audience with every melody and word.

The concert comes as part of a series of artistic experiences presented by Benchmark, by hosting the most prominent Arab singing stars in the Kingdom, in a scene that keeps pace with the growing cultural and entertainment movement witnessed by Saudi Arabia. It affirms that Jeddah does not merely host art, but provides it with an audience capable of turning a song into an event, a concert into a memory, and the return into a new date with joy.

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