Hollywood star Terrence Howard, who plays Lucious Lyon in Lee Daniels' hit Fox TV drama Empire, took to the piano at Global Gift Foundation Gala dinner on December 12, hosted in association with the 2015 Dubai International Film Festival.
Joined by Palestinian singer Omar Kamal, Howard debuted a new song he wrote after arriving in Dubai.
Kamal, who also performed solo at the event, told The National: "I knew Terrence was going to play the piano tonight, but our performance wasn't planned. We just met each other for, like, 10 minutes during the soundcheck for tonight, and he told me he'd been working on a new song in his hotel room last night, so we just started singing together and playing around with it. It seemed to work so we ended up on stage together."
This was the third edition of the GGF Gala to be held on the sidelines of Diff. It took place at the Four Seasons Resort on Jumeirah Beach, and raised money for a number of charities, including Dubai Cares and the Eva Longoria Foundation. The former Desperate Housewives star co-hosted the event.
An public auction raised US$187,000 (Dh690,000). A silent auction also took place, with diners invited to bid for a range of items, including a signed story board from 1983’s Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi – which had a reserve price of $2,800. The winners of the silent auction will be informed in the next few days.
Other celebrities in attendance included English actor Rupert Everett and Creed star Michael B Jordan, as well as locals including Layne Redman, Nayla Al Khaja and the ubiquitous gala dinner host Tom Urquhart.
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