Everybody Loves Tarkan

Posted by Steffan Matrak from Moscow, Russia

Tarkan's open air arena shows continue hitting news wires across the country for the fifth and sixth appearances of his September run.

On Tuesday evening's fifth event, pop singer Cem Belevi was in the audience, and was quoted as saying that "everybody loves Tarkan" and he was sure the show would be amazing.

Meanwhile, singer Sibel Can posted a video on Instagram of Tarkan blowing kisses from the stage during his performance from her daughter's visit on Monday.

Tarkan has shared more photographs from Yiğit Eken's lens on Facebook, this time from his Monday and Tuesday shows, selecting his favourites to repost on Instagram.

Tarkan@Harbiye: An Electrical Atmosphere

Tarkan's record breaking concert series hit sold-out status before the actual show dates, indicating how excited people have been this year to see him.

On top of that, the shows have set a new attendance record at Harbiye's Cemil Topuzlu Amphitheatre.

Istanbul's most popular summertime 70-year-old outdoor venue, popularly known as the Harbiye, is the city's only open air arena and holds an official capacity of approx 4,000-4,500 people. It can cram in just under 7,000 with what are known as "ladder seats" and standing room only tickets.

This means that close to 80,000 people will have seen Tarkan perform across July and September, but most importantly, Tarkan loves his fans and it comes across in his shows.

UPDATE: Final tally of 100,000 >>

Crowds can be restrained in music-focused cities, but Tarkan's shows charge the atmosphere to see celebrity and fan alike participate in the excitement of what feels like a rock concert.

Sixth Show of Sex Symbols

For Thursday evening's show, and Tarkan's sixth, the crowd saw a "dream team" of sex symbols from the Turkish screen gather in the front row. The star pedigree in the front row generated a lot of press space and social media buzz, and interest from the crowd that evening.

Turkish actor and model Burak Özçivit and his wife Fahriye Evcen, actresses Serenay Sarıkaya and super fan Ezgi Mola danced the night away to a repertoire of new and old pop classics, grabbing photo opportunities with Tarkan from the stage.

On camera, before the show, Burak Özçivit spoke about his excitement and how he enjoyed listening to Tarkan's songs, his favourite being Ölürüm Sana.

At one point during the show Ezgi Mola screamed her love for Tarkan, making her friend Serenay Sarıkaya giggle, the press reported.

Another Tarkan Collaboration?

News in the press also write that female Romani singer Kibariye was in the audience for the sixth show.

Tarkan showered attention on close friend Kibariye from the stage, who told reporters that another collaboration with Tarkan was in the works.

Tarkan collaborated with Kibariye in 2006 on a duet to a cover version of one of his tracks. He also appeared in the music video with Kibariye.

That followed a cover of the Turkish megastar's hit track "Arada Bir" (Metamorfoz, 2007), with Tarkan lending backing vocals.

In other news, Tarkan has been mentioned in an interview with homegrown hip hop's Sagopa Kajmer, who confesses he has been to a Tarkan concert, and at the beginning of his career his mum had wanted him to produce songs like Tarkan.

Ironically, Kajmer's 2002 "S.K.T.R.N.G.D.N." (F.C.K.F.F) was a call for the "bitches of pop to fuck off", with Kajmer's rant poking fun at the lyrics in Tarkan's songs.

Finally, pop bitch newbie Aleyna Tilki talked Tarkan in a recent interview. When asked what she thought of Tarkan and Sezen Aksu, she replied that Tarkan symbolised reason and Aksu the heart.

"When they come together it's amazing," Tilki said.

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