Sally in Istanbul: Tarkan!

Those of you who have been subjected to my "cheesy" music tastes have probably heard Tarkan somewhere along the lines. He's Turkey's most famous pop star, and I discovered him when I was in a Middle Eastern restaurant in Cambridge, England, before I ever came to Turkey. I heard it playing and I was like, wow, who is this, and I immediately ordered a CD on eBay. The majority of his albums are in Turkish but one of them, my favorite, is in English. He really caters his music to all audiences, with up-beat pop music to slower more traditional Turkish songs. Unlike America's pop stars, he doesn't get involved in scandals and he barely comes onto TV. Watching his music videos is a riot though - he pretty much thinks (or knows? He is pretty attractive...) he's the sexiest person on the planet. Here's one of my favorite songs, I really recommend hanging in there until after the 2 minute mark so you can see his priceless shirt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aWgPyECWz4

As some of you may know, Istanbul is the European Capital of Culture for 2010 (along with 7 other cities). You can read more about it here: http://www.en.istanbul2010.org/index.htm Anyway, to officially begin this, many events were held on Saturday the 16th, one of which was a free Tarkan concert! A group of 6 (all foreigners) went and stood in the cold rain to watch. He started early, we weren't smothered by a crowd at all, and he really really puts on a good show - the best way I can put it is that it really seems like he loves performing - he's so happy and comfortable up on the stage. Ok, and I actually didn't see him because we were too far back and there was some equipment in the way, but there were big screens. We were surrounded by Turks so excited and in love with him, it was great. It was a fun night and I'm glad I went.