Maz Jobrani live in Muscat

Most of you may already know, but in case you didn't, Maz Jobrani is coming back to Muscat for another comedy gig, this time on his I come in Peace tour. Tickets are RO 20 and are available in all the usual outlets.

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Winner of Chris Tucker

Alive Entertainment and Hi FM are bringing Chris Tucker to Muscat for 1 night only from 8pm on this Monday (4th March) at the City Amphitheatre (which is the one by Mumtaz Mahal / Left Bank). It's an 18+ only event, and tickets come in 4 tiers - RO 25/35/45/55 depending on how close to the stage you want to be.

Tickets are still on sale at the Bose store in QCC, HI FM in MGM, MacKenzies in MSQ and ConneXions in MCC. But one lucker reader has won 2 RO 35 tickets to the event!

Congratulations to Eliza! Your number got drawn!

Check your email for instructions on how to claim your free tickets!

Thanks everyone else for entering!

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Winner of the free tickes to Taboo + David Vendetta

This Wednesday, Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas, David Vendetta, and Micah the violinist are performing at the Shangri-La amphitheatre from 8pm (gates open 6pm). Tickets are still available at RO 20 for general admission and RO 40 for VIP admission.

There is a facebook event page with all the latest information here.


Now time to announce the winner!

Congratulations to Solly! Your number got drawn!

Check your email for instructions on how to claim your free tickets! - Solly please get in touch with me because your email account is full and not accepting emails. If I don't hear from you by tomorrow morning I'll draw again!

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Justin Bieber live in Muscat - 6th May

Well the rumours are indeed true, and as of 7:00am this morning the media embargo has been lifted and I can finally blog that the Bieber is coming to Muscat, courtesy of Hi FM and Alive Entertainment. The tickets are not on sale yet, and you can get more information from the official website for this event: www.justinbieberoman.com

I can tell you that the event is being held at the ROP stadium in Wattayah, and that it is an all ages event and that there are a number of different bands for pricing, as yet to be finalized, but I understand the cheapest tickets are in the RO 35 region - but don't quote me because they haven't finalized this at the time of writing this!

More news soon, as well as some free tickets to give away :)

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Win 2 free tickets to Chris Tucker

As you may be aware by now, Chris Tucker is coming to Muscat for 1 night only on the 4th March at the City Amphitheatre, brought by Hi FM and Alive Entertainment. Tickets are going on sale this Monday - I expect them to go pretty quickly!

And I have a pair of tickets to give away to this awesome gig (thanks Daz & Gordon) - I can't wait to see him perform, it's going to be great.

As always, it's really simple to get your name into the draw to see if I will pull your number out of my near-famous al fair bag full of numbers. Either send me an email with the following subject line: "I want Chris Tucker tix" to my usual email address (mrsythe[at]gmail[dot]com) or leave a comment here - if you leave a comment here, please be sure to leave an email address for me to contact you should you be the winner!

Thats it!

Bon chance!

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Win 2 tickets to Taboo / David Vendetta / Micah

On the last Wednesday of the month, Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas, David Vendetta, and Micah the violinist are performing at the Shangri-La amphitheatre from 8pm (gates open 6pm). This is yet another Alive events and Hi FM party, and they are so kind to keep giving me stuff to give away to you!

Tickets are on sale from this Sunday from the usual outlets (MacKenzies, HiFM, etc) and will cost RO 20 for general admission and RO 40 for VIP admission.

There is a facebook event page with all the latest information here.

If you would like to win a pair of tickets to this event, all you have to do is email me with the subject:

I want Taboo!

Send the email to my regular address, mrsythe[at]gmail[dot]com - or you can leave a comment here saying you'd like the tickets - if you do though, please leave an email for me to contact you on should your number be pulled from the magical Al Fair bag of numbers!

Bon chance!

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Justin Currie - The winner

The latest Alive events and Hi FM gig, Justin Currie (the front man and singer of the famous 80s band Del Amitri)which is the first of a series of live & unplugged events and is this Wednesday, 6th February from 8pm, doors open at 7pm set in the Oman Auditorium of the Al Bustan Palace Hotel.

Now it's time to announce the winner of the 2 free tickets to the gig:

Congratulations to:

Axel Merx - check your email :)


Tickets are still available and cost RO 15 and are on sale at all the usual spots: OUA Retail MQ: MacKenzies cafe & deli MQ: HIFM at Muscat Grand Mall or Bose in QCC.


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Justin Currie live & unplugged in Muscat - win free tickets!

Alive events and Hi FM are back at it, this time they are bringing Justin Currie the front man and singer of the famous 80s band Del Amitri is the first of a series of live & unplugged events showcasing talented singer songwriters set in the Oman Auditorium of the Al Bustan Palace Hotel.

The gig is next Wednesday, 6th February from 8pm, doors open at 7pm.

Tickets cost RO 15 and are on sale at all the usual spots: OUA Retail MQ: MacKenzies cafe & deli MQ: HIFM at Muscat Grand Mall or Bose in QCC. Tickets are on sale now.

However, with this being ze blog, I have a pair of tickets to give away to a lucky reader. All you need to do to get in the draw for the free tickets is leave a comment here, or send me an email (mrsythe [at] gmail [dot] com) with the subject line: I want Justin Currie - remember, if you decide to leave a comment here, please ensure there is a way for me to contact you should you be the winner!

Bon chance!

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Happy 5th Birthday to HiFM and well done MRFC

I hope you all had a great 3 day weekend?

A tip of the hat to Hi FM for hitting 5 years in Oman since starting their live broadcasts - in those 5 years I think they've gone from strength to strength, and even with the launch of new competition, they have retained their position in the market as the No. 1 radio station in town, winning awards as well.

Also, this weekend, the Muscat Rugby Club mens 1st XV went up to play Doha in the first of the Gulf Conference Cup defence games Muscat will be playing in the next couple of months. They secured a victory of 17 to Doha's 12. Muscat won by scoring 2 tries (both by Connor Quaid) which were converted, as well as a penalty kick too.

More soon.

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Sean Paul - The winners

Well record numbers of you put your names into the hat for the chance to win 1 of 2 pairs of VIP tickets to see Sean Paul live in Muscat this coming weekend on Wednesday November 7th the InterCon gardens. Yet another gig here in the capital produced by Alive Entertainment and Hi FM. Tickets are RO 20 and RO 40, and on sale in all the usual locations.

There is also a Facebook event page here with all the latest information.

However, for some lucky readers, it won't matter how much the tickets are or where they on sale, because I've got 2 pairs of VIP tickets to give away and now it's time to announce the winnners:

Congratulations to "regien" and "m.o.n.d" you have both won a pair of tickets to the event, an email has been sent to you with instructions on how to claim your tickets :)

For the rest of you, thanks for entering... stay tuned for more ticket giveaways soon!

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Win 4 VIP tickets to Sean Paul

Time to give away more swag! This time I've got 4 VIP tickets to the fan pit to see Sean Paul on the 7th November at the InterCon gardens. Yet another gig here in the capital produced by Alive Entertainment and Hi FM. Tickets are not yet on sale but they will be RO 20 and RO 40, and on sale in all the usual locations. I'll update you when they go on sale :)

There is also a Facebook event page here with all the latest information.

Seeing as I have 4 tickets to give away, I'll give away 2 pairs of tickets to 2 winners.

Same rules as always, and if you decide to comment 50 times you still only get your name in the draw once, same with emailing me more than once - you only get one entry into the draw!

If you want to comment here, leave an email address for me to contact you on, if you want to email me, simply send me an email to mrsythe[at]gmail[dot]com and make the subject "I want Sean Paul".

It's that easy!

Now, while on the topic of free swag, today is the last day to get your name in the draw to see the Ministry of Sounds' Nathan C live this Thursday at the Jabreen ball room in the InterCon. To get in on the draw simply click here and read!

Bon chance!

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It's time for me to announce the winner of the 2 VIP tickets to see The Fray this Wednesday the 10th October from 7:30pm. A very special thank you to Hi FM and Alive Entertainment for giving me the sway to give away again!

Tickets are still available at RO 20 for general and RO 40 for the fanpit. All the information is available on the Facebook page.

The tickets are on sale now and can be purchased from:

HIFM MUSCAT GRAND MALL
OUA RETAIL MQ
MACKENZIES DELI MQ
AL GHAZAL - INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL
 

Congratulations to:

"rodricks.marlene" - applicant number 92 was just pulled out of the Al Fair bag full of numbers by the fabulous Mrs Sythe.

An email has been sent to you with instructions on how to claim your free tickets! For the rest of you... have you entered into the draw for the Ministry of Sound next weekend?
More soon!

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Free tickets to the Ministry of Sound on October 18th

Well I mentioned this on my facebook wall a couple of days ago, but now I'm talking about it here. The Experiment, who brought us Hed Kandi last year, are bringing the Ministry of Sound to us this year. October really does seem to be the month where we're spoilt for choice when it comes to entertainment here in town.

Ministry of Sound's very own DJ Nathan C is coming to Muscat on Thursday the 18th October at the Jibrin ballroom at the InterCon. Doors open at 10pm, tickets are RO 20, and there are VIP tables available as well, but these must be booked by calling 9236 9801 and cost extra. Tickets will go on sale next week at the Hi FM studios in the MGM and also at the InterCon box office.

Now Nathan C is a busy boy, being a resident at the Ministry of Sound in London - the very next day after he spins here in Oman, he's back in the Ministry the next 2 nights (Friday and Saturday). And some fans of Hi FM's weekend house music offerings may recognize who he's spinning with on Saturday.... Roger Sanchez in his trademark Release Yourself series.

So if you like the kind of stuff you hear every week on Hi FM's Release Yourself shows, you're gonna like what Nathan C serves up. In fact you can listen to a bunch of his mixes by heading over to his Soundcloud account.

And because the very nice people at The Experiment are awesome, I've got 2 tickets to this event to give away! And you can't even buy the tickets yet!

To get in the draw, same rules as normal - leave a comment here (but if you do make sure there's an email address for me to contact you on) or send me an email with the subject "I want the Ministry" to my regular email address which is on the top right of my blog here - mrsythe[at]gmail.

Bon chance!

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Win 2 VIP tickets to see The Fray live in Oman

Wow. What a busy few weeks its been on the entertainment side of things here in Muscat? Hi FM and Alive Entertainment are at it again with The Fray coming to Oman (the InterCon gardens) on Wednesday the 10th October from 7:30pm. Tickets are RO 20 for general and RO 40 for the fanpit. All the information is available on the Facebook page.

The tickets are on sale now and can be purchased from:

HIFM MUSCAT GRAND MALL
OUA RETAIL MQ
MACKENZIES DELI MQ
AL GHAZAL - INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL

Now, thanks to our friends at Hi FM and Alive Entertainment, I have even more tickets to give away! This time it's 2 VIP tickets to the gig, and one lucky winner will get the pair.

All you have to do is either leave a comment here (be sure to leave an email address) or send me an email with the subject "I want The Fray" to mrsythe[at]gmail. That's it!

Bon chance!

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Winner of free tickets to the Proclaimers

Thank you everyone for entering into the competition for the free tickets (thank you very much Hi FM and Alive Entertainment)  for this weekends gig at the InterCon gardens. There are still a few tickets available, you can get them from:

HI FM - Muscat Grand Mall
Mackenzies Deli - MQ
Bose Store - Qurum City Centre
OUA Retail outlet MQ

Congratulations to:

"Mojolina" - applicant number 26 was pulled out of the Al Fair bag full of numbers by the fabulous Mrs Sythe and informed to me over the phone just a few minutes ago!

An email has been sent to you with instructions on how to claim your free tickets!

More soon!

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Win 2 free tickets to The Proclaimers

As you probably already know, Alive Entertainment and Hi FM are bringing their second entertainment event of the month, The Proclaimers, to Muscat this Thursday (27th September) from 7:30pm at the InterCon gardens. Now my sources tell me that the gardens being used are the ones around the corner from the usual spot and next to the health club - hence the smaller number of tickets on sale. So it'll be nice to know that there wont be thousands of people trying to get into, and then out of, the event (and the crazy traffic associated with it).

Tickets are RO 15 and are available from the following locations:

HI FM - Muscat Grand Mall
Mackenzies Deli - MQ
Bose Store - Qurum City Centre
OUA Retail outlet MQ

However, for a lucky reader of ze blog you can win 2 tickets right here thanks to the lovely boys and girls at Hi FM and Alive Entertainment. All you have to do is either email me (email address is on top right hand corner of the blog) or leave a comment here on this blog post. If you decide to leave a comment here, then please ensure there is a way for me to contact you should you be the winner!

That's it! I'll announce the winner on Wednesday!

Bon chance! 

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Al Murray free tickets winner...

Thank you to all of you who entered the competition for free tickets to see the pub landlord, Al Murray, tomorrow night at the Bustan Palace.

The event is sold out, so these are the last pair of tickets available to the general public :) So a very special thank you to Hi FM and Alive Entertainment.

Congratulations to:

"me in muscat" - web commenter number 2's number was pulled out of the Al Fair bag full of numbers by the fabulous Mrs Sythe and informed to me over the phone just a few minutes ago!

An email has been sent to you with instructions on how to claim your free tickets!

More soon!

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Radio wars: The Clone Wars

Well the results of my most recent radio poll are in, and we did something new this time around: we used Facebook Questions to conduct the poll. This meant that I could control the voting by ensuring people were not voting more than once, but it has the drawback that only Facebook users voted, and those that voted could be seen by everyone - a bit of a privacy issue that I'm not really very comfortable with. So the search continues for me on how best to collect your votes.

On with the results:

Radio Sultanate of Oman took 6.03% of the vote (12 votes)
Merge  took 39.20% of the vote (78 votes)
Hi FM took 47.74% of the vote (95 votes)
Arabic took 1.01% of the vote (2 votes)
CD/MP3 took 6.03% of the vote (12 votes)

A total of 199 votes - down from the last radio poll where we had 266 votes, but at least I know there were no double-votes this time :)

Being the third time we've voted on our preferred radio station, I thought it's enough data for me to plot a graph... and here it is:

Click to make this bigger!

Straight away you can see 2 things: Hi FM lost a lot of votes, and Merge gained more votes in the same period. Hi have suffered from the reduced number of votes more than Merge has. The overall number of people still listening to MP3's is less as well. The Ewoks over at Sultanate of Oman 90.4 have made a small increase in listeners - indicative of at least a steady audience. And that is really the crux of my choice of blog title: The Clone Wars.

I remember when Merge launched, there was a lot of talk about targeting a different audience than Hi FM, along with merging different cultures into the big Sabco melting pot that was Merge FM. And I guess to a point, they have done this: every hour or so there is the odd Arab-themed track and the way-back playback of the 80's (lately I've heard U2 with or without you a few times!). However, the over-whelming majority of the music is pretty much exactly the same as Hi Fm. Hence: The Clone Wars.

Darren & Chris found their outfits slimming

It certainly seems that by mixing in the odd Hindi or Arabic track, along with the odd 80's retro track, people seem to enjoy the blend, and more of you are switching on to Merge. I contacted some of you who voted on Facebook and asked you what it was you liked about Merge, and Hi FM for that matter. Interestingly, it seems the general reason for people liking Merge or Hi is the music - of course there are fans of the radio presenters, but the overwhelming majority of you don't really care about the radio presenters, unless they are annoying you.

Personally, I've found myself switching stations a lot more frequently recently - if Hi are playing a track I don't like, I'll switch to Merge or 90.4 Oman FM. I've noticed Hi FM have commercialized their output heavily. One might say too heavily, I don't know - but people seem to be switching over to Merge in greater numbers, and this could be a key driver for the switchover.

It's not all a one way street though, Hi have copied Merge in some things to, most notably the 10am-noon segment (Merge's At work network) is now the same as Merge - pre-recorded and not "live" (Darren seems to be providing the voice links between songs, which can be done easily). In a change to Merge though, Hi have now got live DJ coverage up to midnight, with Marcus Monopoli driving the show from 8pm to midnight - Merge just has pre-recorded shows in the same time slot, with the Muscat drive ending at 8pm.

Interestingly, on 90.4 there are also live shows up until midnight (or possibly after). I had a good giggle listening to the 90.4 presenter the other night with his American-British accent; he was trying to give away a prize and wanted someone to call in with the name of the CEO of the Oman Football Association - the first guy who called didn't know and just wouldn't hang up, then a girl rang in and announced that she didn't know the answer but she had just baked some cookies and would he like some? Classic, I can honestly say I was very entertained by it all. I've no idea if the presenter (their website - yes I finally found it - looks like it's not been updated since 2002 and so I've no idea of the guys name) ever did manage to give away his prize, but perhaps he got some tasty cookies!

Hi FM continue to dominate the market and still have the largest audience. Their branding is also more readily recognized and present in our lives around the Capital (sorry those of you from outside Muscat!). This last winter, Hi have been involved in a number of large concerts with world-class acts and have diversified their brand as a result. Hi FM are obviously a radio station, who also dabble in live concerts and comedy events. Merge on the other hand, have not really competed on this front, with a few exceptions: Hed Kandi & Yanni.

Hi FM are technologically more advanced than any of the competition: There's an iPhone and Android app for listening to their radio stream which have a handy track log of songs played. In addition to this, Hi FM employ true RDS (Radio Data System) which allows them to scroll small text messages on radio receivers capable showing the name of the track being played, or the Radio Presenter currently on air. Neat. The people at Merge tell me they have the same technology but have chosen not to use it at this time.

Hi FM also continue to have regular news broadcasts whereas Merge doesn't, however, it is apparent that the current news broadcasts provided by Hi (from Feature Story News) are "yesterdays" news in many cases. Quite frequently I hear the exact same news broadcast driving home at the end of the day as I do when I'm driving to work that morning, so the news, in my opinion could be improved upon. Some of the people I contacted after their votes in the poll also said the same thing: The news is nice, but out of date. The only other broadcaster in this race who give the news is of course the loveable Ewoks at 90.4 Radio Sultanate of Oman, except 90% of their news consists of who His Majesty sent cables of greetings to that particular day.

Faiq over on 90.4 has focused even more on playing music from the 60s/70s and 80s and is still steadfastly dishing out free dinners at the Radisson and other hotels on his breakfast show - and I have to admit I sometimes switch him on in the mornings on my way to work if I'm not in the mood for pop music.

So will Hi FM alter their music line up as a result, or will they stay on their current format? Personally I don't see anything wrong with slipping in an occasional retro track - it seems to work with the diverse audience here. Will Merge start broadcasting news (I asked this question at their launch and they confirmed they had planned to) and will 90.4 invest in a new website?

Hi FM has a website and a facebook group
Merge has a website and a facebook group
Sultanate of Oman Radio 90.4 has a website

More soon - and for those interested, Oman lost to Senegal last night, 2-0. Shame.

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Did you vote yet?!

A small post today - I've been running a poll on the Facebook page for this blog to establish what radio station your all listening to here in the Sultanate. Currently more than 125 of you have voted so far, and I'm amazed so many of you have already taken the time to share your opinion. If you would like to add to the poll to strengthen the data we're collecting, then please head over to the FB page and vote! It's certainly generating some very interesting results!

This weekend see's both Bollywood Rocks and Sunidhi Chauhan at the Qurum Amphitheater - I'm still running a competition to give away 2 VIP tickets to see Sunidhi Chauhan this Friday with special thanks to npa Events and Hi FM - I'll announce the winner tomorrow. So last chance to get your name in the hat - you gotta be in it to win it! If you just want to purchase your tickets, they are RO 7, 20, 40 (VIP) and there are also a select number of VVIP tickets available as well. Tickets can be purchased from the following LuLu outlets: Darsait, Wadi Kabir, Bousher and Barka.

As regular readers already know, I already gave away 2 Gold level tickets to see Bollywood Rocks this Wednesday evening, thanks to the organizer Roar Entertainment. Tickets are still available for purchase at Puranmal, Kamat, Pizza Hut, Bollywood Chaat, Tongue Teasers (at Lulu's in Bowsher), Bawarchi and Fusion. You can get more information by calling 9979 3036, 9979 2434 or 9979 3102.
Tickets are at RO 5/- RO 10/- / RO25/- / RO45/- VIP

More soon.

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Win 2 VIP tickets to see Sunidhi Chauhan next Friday

Well it seems that the Muscat International Film Festival - Bollywood section is getting pretty popular these days, what with the world premiere of Agent Vinod slated to happen on the 25th March (we'll just overlook that IMDB notes a world-wide release date of 23rd March and move swiftly on).

So, first there is the Pritam gig on the Wednesday night, and now npa events have announced that they are bringing Sunidhi Chauhan to the capital for 1 night only on Friday 30th March. My good friends at Hi FM have generously donated 2 VIP tickets for a lucky reader to win right here on MM.

Tickets to this event are on sale now, and there are a few different prices.. RO 7, 20, 40 (VIP) and there are also a select number of VVIP tickets available as well. Tickets can be purchased from the following LuLu outlets: Darsait, Wadi Kabir, Bousher and Barka.

For your chance to win the 2 VIP tickets (worth RO 80) to this concert, its the usual rules: Either leave a comment here, or send me an email. My email address is in my disclaimer, on the top right hand corner of this blog - mrsythe [at] gmail [dot] com. If you choose to leave a comment here, please make sure there is a way for me to contact you if you are the winner!

Bon chance!

le fin.