Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Dubai Opera Ball


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   no consensus. and none likely to emerge by relisting again. StarM 02:16, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

Dubai Opera Ball

 * ( [ delete] ) – (View AfD) (View log)

As near as I can tell by Googling, this event has been held only in 2005 and 2006. The Vienna Opera Ball, as the original, is clearly notable, and because of its longevity the Viennese Opera Ball in New York is probably also notable; but this one has apparently not turned out even to be an annual event. There are news sources announcing the two years' balls, but I doubt that these establish notability. Deor (talk) 22:56, 25 October 2008 (UTC) 
 * Delete - no independent evidence of notability (both links come from a government-owned source). Merely being held by a member of the government is insufficient for demonstrating sufficient importance or notability of the activity. Ironically, the mention of the host in the article was an assertion of notability that keeps it out of speedy delete territory. B.Wind (talk) 02:22, 26 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Middle East-related deletion discussions.   -- • Gene93k (talk) 04:41, 26 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Keep. There are independent reliable sources available via a Google search: . Phil Bridger (talk) 11:35, 26 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Merge into the article Vienna Opera Ball, as it has been reported as being associated with or part of that event, and is already mentioned in that article. Raven1977 (talk) 21:27, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so that consensus may be reached. Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Ron Ritzman (talk) 00:02, 30 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Keep. The German-language references added recently seem to be in reliable sources. I think they establish notability. -- Eastmain (talk) 02:51, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Keep As per Phil and Eastmain (if I got here earlier, I would've said the same things as they did!) Ecoleetage (talk) 03:20, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Delete. A bunch of rich guys donned penguin suits and brought their wymmyn and performed a quaint 19th-century ceremony for their own amusement. Nothing wrong with that, but, uh, so what? Should Wikipedia have articles on, say, individual package tours? Tama1988 (talk) 11:49, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Keep. Many reliable sources establish notability. --Gene_poole (talk) 22:48, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment. Reliable sources establishing notability my whatever. Let's look at the independent reliable sources available via a Google search conveniently listed above by Phil Bridger: mywire.com/a/AlBawaba/Opera-Ball-comes-to-Madinat/777162?extID=10051 recycled PR fluff; themorningleader.lk/20060315/Assets/imgs/Hipmagazine/hip-10.pdf society page stuff; austriantrade.org/ae/news/local/archive/news_3858.en.jsp doesn't even pretend to be anything more than a PR release; dubaimagazineonline.com/opera.htm PR blather, in the future tense; zeit.de/2006/07/oe_draussen now this is a real newspaper, and a first-rate one to boot, but the page is unavailable ; salzburger-fenster.at/rubrik/lokales/0105/sandra-tanzt-auf-zwei-opernbaellen_255.html article about one Sandra Gitau that mentions this Dubai bash only in passing; tma-online.at/?id=2596 some travel company's advert for this do. Or is my comprehension of German even worse than I think? Tama1988 (talk) 09:14, 31 October 2008 (UTC) slightly amended 07:39, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment. Society pages may not be reliable sources for quantum physics or medieval history, but for society events they are perfectly acceptable, in the same way that sports pages are used as sources for sport, business pages for business and review pages for the arts. Also I just tried the link to Die Zeit again and it worked fine for me. Phil Bridger (talk) 12:06, 31 October 2008 (UTC)
 * The link works for me too, but what one finds at the end of it hardly constitutes "significant coverage" as described in WP:N. Whether any of the other cited sources do is debatable, I guess, but I wouldn't have nominated the article here if I thought they did. Deor (talk) 12:29, 31 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Except that society articles, as far as I'm aware, don't even attempt to investigate, evaluate, etc. (Would it be unkind to suggest that they're to actual society what horoscopes are to the actual future?) The writer simply says what the hostess says, or effuses. And another point: PDF linked to above, which I carelessly suggested was reporting (of a feeble kind), doesn't even purport to report on this momentous occasion. Instead, it announces it for the future: '"these 10 debutantes will also take part in the Dubai Opera Ball at the Madinat Jumeriah on March 16. For this great event, Emirates will fly 40 Austrian debutantes to Dubai who will open the ball together with the 60 local debutante couples. Stars of the Vienna State Opera Ballet will perform together with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at the event which promises to be a truly spectacular' evening which will bring old world European charm to Dubai. [etc. etc.]" So it's a mere press release. Tama1988 (talk) 07:53, 1 November 2008 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.