Lebanese singer Hiba Tawaji performs in Saudi Arabia's first women-only concert

Nisaa FM: - Saudi Arabia has allowed a female singer to perform solo at a public concert for the first time in the country’s history. The performer by choice was Lebanese singer Hiba Tawaji, who dazzled Riyadh in a female-only concert on Wednesday December 6.

Tawaji performed to a packed audience at the King Fahd Cultural Centre. Ms Tawaji reiterated the sentiment between songs, saying: “This is my first time in Saudi Arabia and I received a warm welcome and I am honoured to be one of the first women to sing in the theatres of Saudi Arabia.”

Thousands attended the historic, all-women event and danced to renditions of Celine Dion, as well as Arab classics.

"I came especially from Jizan to watch this concert," said Nafees Awad, a university student from the southern province, more than 950 kilometres (590 miles) from Riyadh. "We are so happy to watch such a concert, it's the first time", she added.

Easing some of the tight restrictions on women

The concert highlights how the kingdom is easing some of its tight restrictions on women. Under the country's strict guardianship system, a male family member – usually the father, husband or brother – must accompany or grant permission for a woman's study, travel and other activities.

The social reform, part of Prince Mohammed bin Salman's "Vision 2030" programme for a post-oil era, stems partly from an economic motive to boost domestic spending on entertainment as the kingdom reels from an energy slump.

International observers see the moves as consolidating Prince Mohammed's grip on power and point to the fact that human rights abuses, not to mention the state's bloody intervention in the war in Yemen, continue unabated. But at home, the pledges to reforms the Kingdom's unwieldy bureaucratic systems and return to "moderate" Islam, in Prince Mohammed's words, have been mostly welcomed. 

"It's good that women's existence is being recognised," Salma, a university student, said at the concert.

Sources: www.independent.co.uk and www.alaraby.co.uk