Jennifer Lopez set to make history with Kazakhstan concert

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Pop superstar Jennifer Lopez's upcoming concert in Kazakhstan could generate over $12 million in local revenue, organizers said Thursday, billing it as one of the biggest events in the ex-Soviet country's three decades of independence.

The "Jenny from the Block" singer will perform in the capital Astana on August 1 as part of her "Up All Night" tour, with government officials in the Central Asian country taking preparation seriously.

"It's the first time in the history of our country's independence that a commercial concert of this level is taking place," organizer Malik Khasenov said in comments published by the president's communication office.

Some 15,000 tourists are expected to pour into the country, with local revenue from the event estimated at 6.5 billion tenge ($12.6 million), Khasenov said.

Concerts by foreign stars are rare in Kazakhstan, a desert-covered country wedged between Russia and China.

"Logistically we are very far away. Each high-level star brings more than 20 trucks of their own equipment," the country's deputy tourism minister Yerzhan Yerkinbayev told reporters on Tuesday.

"To bring all these 20 long trucks to Kazakhstan, to hold a concert and send them back is so expensive that it is not profitable for any star or any organizer," he said.

He also expressed concern about a shortage of toilets along tourist routes, saying the country needed to build almost 200 more.

"We aim to reduce the number of complaints in the media about the condition of sanitary facilities or their absence to zero," he said.

Lopez's visit has also caused some tension with the local football club FC Astana, whose Astana Arena will be host to the concert.

The club is expected to play a Europa Conference League match there at the end of July.

After initially calling the event a "big problem," the club said Wednesday it recognized the importance of the event and would talk with UEFA about rescheduling the match.

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