Jordan Times
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Official declaration ceremony to be broadcast live on Saturday
Jordanians across the country will be able to view the global countdown for the New 7 Wonders of the World when the final results are
broadcast live from Lisbon on Saturday.
Petra, which has been running for a spot in the international contest along with 20 other landmark sites around the world since March last
year, secured and maintained its position among the top 10 finalists over the past four weeks.
Acting Managing Director of the Jordan Tourism (JTB) Board Michel Nazzal told the media yesterday that although voting patterns can alter
Petra’s ranking before the deadline, optimism remains high.
“The surge of voter support on both the local and international level has helped push Petra to its current position within the competition
and we hold a lot of optimism for a good outcome,” Nazzal said.
“We welcome the public to join in and watch the celebrations of the official declaration ceremony at three venues,” he added.
Screens that will display the live broadcast of the event are being set up in Jabal Al Qalaa, King Hussein Gardens and the Treasury in Petra,
according to the JTB official.
The event, which is taking place at Portugal’s largest venue, the Estadio da Luz stadium in Lisbon, will begin at 9:30pm Lisbon time
(11:30pm local time) and end at 11:00pm (1:00am local time).
The ceremony will include award-presentation appearances by Hilary Swank, Ben Kingsley, Bipasha Basu, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neil Armstrong and
Bertrand Piccard, and also feature performances by Chaka Khan, Jennifer Lopez, Jose Carreras, Alessandro Safina, Joaquín Cortés, and Dulce Pontes.
According to the New 7 Wonders organisers, some 60 million votes have been cast since so far since voting for the global campaign took off
in March last year.
Votes cast online, by phone and text messages have poured in from around the world since then, shifting rankings as various countries
promote their national monuments.
Jordan spared no effort with millions of votes cast by government and private sector entities, including ministries, schools, universities,
professional associations, hospitals and businesses.
The ancient Nabataean city of Petra has been in the top 10 along with Greece’s Acropolis, Mexico’s Chichen Itza, the Eiffel Tower, Easter
Island, Brazil’s Statue of Christ Redeemer and the Taj Mahal for the past four weeks.
Rome’s Colosseum, China’s Great Wall, Peru’s Machu Picchu and Petra have been among the leaders since January, while the Acropolis and the
Statue of Christ Redeemer made their way up from the middle of the field to the top level, according to latest tallies.
The New 7 Wonders campaign was launched in 2000 by Swiss film producer, author and aviator Bernard Weber to select the seven new wonders of
the world via the first global voting campaign.
Half of the profits generated will be donated to global good causes for restoration and preservation of monuments.
Nazzal said if Petra does make it among the top seven, a new marketing strategy will be initiated reflecting its new status as one of the
New 7 Wonders.
For now, with the summer season ahead, efforts are being geared to organise activities for visitors over the next two months.
Nazzal, who is also head of the Jordan Hotel Association, said a weekly programme outlining various cultural and recreational events taking
place in different parts of the Kingdom will be launched on Sunday to give guests an idea of how to plan their itinerary.
The programme will be distributed in hotels and furnished apartments as well as through newspapers.
In addition, student volunteers posted at the Kingdom’s border points will guide visitors on activities available in the country.
These efforts will complement others being undertaken in the country, such as the Greater Amman Municipality’s Summer Jordan campaign.