HONG KONG: Rock-pop sensation Kelly Clarkson showed fans in Hong Kong why she’s known as “the girl with the big voice”.
Despite having sold over 20 million records worldwide, Clarkson was surprised by the enthusiastic feedback during her first visit to Hong Kong.
She said: “I honestly didn’t expect anyone to really know me. So performing last night, I mean people were singing the lyrics to all the songs. So that was very inviting and welcoming.”
Clarkson was in town to promote her fourth album “All I Ever Wanted”, in which she co-wrote six songs.
The album’s sassy single, frankly titled “My Life Would Suck Without You”, broke records as soon as it hit the airwaves.
In just one week, it jumped from number 97 to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
So how does the singer describe the overall vibe or style of her new album?”
She said: “It’s very intense, I guess would be the big thing. I’m very intense, so I guess that’s probably why. We have some urban, dance and some singer-songwriter stuff.”
Clarkson got her big break in 2002 after being crowned the winner on the first season of “American Idol”.
Since then, she’s bagged two Grammys and two American Music Awards.
So how has American Idol changed since Clarkson was on it?
She said: “Our show was very new. Like no one knew what was going to happen. And nowadays I think there’s a lot of pressure on the contestants. Because they know what the cost is and they know what you can get from it. I think that freaks people out sometimes nowadays because they don’t want to lose it. But we were like, kids at camp!”
As for coming back to Hong Kong, Clarkson said she would love to do a full-scale concert the second time around. – CNA/vm
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May 30th, 2009 in
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SINGAPORE: One of Singapore’s living jazz legends, Jeremy Monteiro has spent more than half of his life in the music business.
But the 49-year-old pianist is not about to sit back and rest just yet as he’s about to set up a music school to groom future jazz talents in Singapore.
His latest project is a collaboration with a group of Singapore classical musicians, the Tang Quartet for the Singapore Arts Festival 2009.
He said: “Where playing is concerned, I’ve never stopped except once in the eighties I worked too hard when I was doing jingles and playing jazz at night that I collapsed from exhaustion and was in hospital for a few days and had to take a few weeks off because I just got too burnt out from working too hard.
“And then I’ve had tendonitis problems, I’ve got surgery twice on my elbow and wrist and also a bad tendonitis case about two years ago when I had to stop playing for two months. That’s the only time I’ve stopped.”
So what does the pianist do in his free time?
“I recently discovered the joys of cycling. I used to be an avid cyclist in my teens until my early twenties. I used to ride across Singapore sometimes from Jurong to Seletar Hills. And I left it in my early twenties and about three or four months ago, I started cycling again.”
Jeremy said before that there are only two kinds of music – good and bad music. But this perception of his has changed.
He added: “I don’t believe that there’s only good music and bad music anymore. I’ve reached a stage where there’s just music I understand and music I don’t understand.
“I do listen to some music by bands like Coldplay and actually a little bit of Beyonce. Not a big Kylie Minogue or Britney Spears fan though.
“Right now because I listen to so much music when I’m practising that when I get in my car, I hardly listen to music. I switch it off so I can have silence and I think silence is also a very important part for musicians because silence is the wellspring of creativity.”
Jeremy Monteiro has been conferred academic titles by the London College of Music and Singapore’s LaSalle College of the Arts.
But that has not stopped him from thinking about grooming the next generation of jazz musicians in Singapore.
He said: “I’ve just registered the Monteiro Music School and basically to being certified by the London College of Music and to be a teaching and examinations centre.
“You can start from zero and learn jazz. You don’t even have to learn classical music if you don’t want to and then go all the way to grade 8 and do your diploma levels. My reason for it is because there’s not enough feeder entities to feed good potential jazz musicians so I want to go to where the lack of training is. No one is addressing this. So I want to help these students who will then feed into SOTA, LaSalle and other tertiary institutions that have jazz programmes.”
Jeremy said that he is only going to be 49 years old but people think he’s in his mid-50s because he’s been in the music business for a long time.
“I first started out as a professional musician and as a producer in 1977. But then one starts to think more and more about legacy and what have you done to make a difference in the place you call home, and so I think this would be it,” he said. – CNA/vm
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May 30th, 2009 in
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NEW YORK : Huge US chain Toys “R” Us has bought the struggling New York children’s paradise FAO Schwarz in a move that will thrust the largest US toy store into the luxury market, the companies said in a statement Thursday.
Founded in 1862, FAO Schwarz is known for catering to the rich and famous, offering children’s birthday parties featuring mini Ferraris and all-night sleep-overs that run into tens of thousands of dollars.
The company’s iconic Fifth Avenue store also featured in Tom Hanks’ movie “Big,” in which the actor dances on its giant piano.
The flagship store attracts millions of visitors every year, but has run into problems, filing for bankruptcy in 2003.
In 2004, investment firm D.E. Shaw & Co. bought the store in a deal valued at about 41 million dollars.
At the time, chairman David Shaw said FAO Schwarz was more than just a toy store, “it’s a cultural treasure with a great deal of meaning to millions of children and former children.”
Last year, the upscale company entered into an agreement with Macy’s under which it would open 275 FAO Schwarz shops within its stores.
Macy’s had planned to expand the number to 675. Following the acquisition, Macy’s will close those stores.
In the statement Thursday, Toys “R” Us said it will continue to operate two FAO Schwarz stores, including the one in New York and one at the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The company will also run the FAO Schwarz Internet and catalog businesses.
“We have enormous respect for the FAO Schwarz brand and for the special place it holds in the hearts of children everywhere,” Toys “R” Us chairman and chief executive Jerry Storch said.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Toys “R” Us operates 1,500 stores in 33 countries. It reported net earnings in 2008 of 218 million dollars, compared to 153 million dollars the previous year, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
– AFP /ls
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May 29th, 2009 in
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