Day 3 at the Joburg Theatre to watch the Whitney Houston tribute show. Whitney Houston is Sharon Spiegel-Wagner’s favorite artist of all time. Sharon is also born in August. Happy Birthday great man, long live antakalipa, live long!
Sam and Stew have watched this four times and they don’t rule out a fifth. Best birthday ever, I can’t conceive of anything better. I never saw Whitney, however she taught me the greatest love of all. I have made up my mind, Belinda Davids is my favorite performer of all time. Belinda Davids is Whitney Houston maybe even better, sacrilegious, I know, I don’t know what to say after watching something like that. She is truly amazing!
After the show, I followed Belinda on all her socials because I want her to stay with me forever. So in love with Belinda Davids, that voice, the technique. She is so beautiful. She is perfect. I’ve never experienced anything like that, couldn’t stop singing and clapping. The audience didn’t want the show to stop, Belinda escaped. The greatest tribute show of all time, Showtime Australia the culprits.
It was an absolutely great show, some might say the greatest tribute show of all time. Yes, she sings Whitney songs but that’s Belinda Davids! Maybe even better, sacrilegious, but she’s transcended. Belinda Davids is so amazing. Perfection. She sings for the love and not because of fame or a fleeting experience. She is simply technical excellence.
Full house, the audience enthused and excited. Some of the songs performed are: Saving all my love for you, Greatest love of all, I have nothing, I will always love you, One moment in time, My love is your love, I am every woman, So emotional, I wanna dance with somebody and other timeless classics.
This has been the best birthday of my life. Thank you to God for the 30 years. SamSays on the credits. Whitney Houston is Sharon Spiegel-Wagner’s favorite artist of all time. Sharon is also born in August.
Congratulations Showtime Australia and the whole team for a great show and a deserved standing ovation.
I always liked Taylor Swift, especially in her country days. My earliest experience of her music was “Speak Now”. It has one of my favorite songs of all time “Never grow up”, an acoustic guitar-led ballad about time, youth, growth, nostalgia, life. It’s beautiful and personal, it always made me reminisce about my life, my experiences, my childhood, simpler times when everything made sense. The lyrics are so descriptive and vivid, the guitar strings you along the different perspectives. How I wish I lived in a loop where youth is forever, time stands still and the smiles lasted an eternity. It’s an emotive song, it’s tragic, life goes on and we all grow up. The album also contains “Mine”, “Sparks fly”, “Dear John” and another favorite of mine “Mean”. Her writing always distinguished her from everybody else, she writes with a lot of feeling and from real life experience, you feel her words anchored in reality. I always liked Taylor Swift and when she released her fourth album “Red”, I went to the music store and purchased the CD. I loved “Red”, it had “Starlight”, “Begin Again”, “Everything has changed”, “Sad beautiful tragic”, “The Last Time”, “Holy Ground” and “Stay, stay, stay”. It also had your chart toppers like “22”, “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”. It was great album, still love this album to this day, my last Taylor Swift album, I lost touch after “1989”, ironically, that’s when she really took off! She’s an icon now, selling stadiums is easy, topping charts is a given, platinum records automatic and four “Album of the year” Grammy awards – no one has ever done that period.
I always liked Taylor Swift, she’s the biggest gangster in the game, when she releases an album everyone else changes their release dates. She re-recorded her albums because the record company was playing hardball with her masters – ownership, they will never give you what’s due to you, exploitation is the name of the game. She took her publishing and re-recorded the music so she can own the masters. She redistributed the music as “Taylor’s version” and they sold better than before. She is the first billionaire with music as the primary source of income. The lesson? Ownership will make you a Billionaire. 14 Grammy awards and just about every conceivable award in music – Taylor Swift, the biggest gangster in the game.
Showtime Australia is having a Taylor Swift tribute show of different eras at the Joburg Theatre in April and Bronwen invited me for a meet and greet with the star of the show, Josette. She’s leaving for Australia in a couple of days to prepare for the show so it was imperative that I meet her. She’s pretty and she loves Taylor Swift. Her first experience of Taylor was at home on the internet, her broadband disappointing, she could only stream the first 15 seconds of “Teardrops on my guitar”, so she played it over and over again. Her favorite album is “Fearless” and the self-titled album. I love the fact that she has been with Taylor from the very beginning. The show is a blend of different eras, we had different costumes that dazzled with sequins to illustrate this. From the country days, to Red, to her current era. All in all, 7 eras, the show promises to be a great one. She’s enthused, there’s a sparkle in her eyes, she’ll be performing the music of a cultural icon and she’s still alive, Josette knows she has to bring it, there will be an expectation. She explained that she won’t go out of her way to be Taylor Swift, that’s not possible, she’s still alive, selling out stadiums in the process – no one is expecting that, she will perform as authentically as she can embodying Taylor’s stage presence and mannerisms and honoring her in the best possible way. It’s a tribute show of a cultural icon, one of the most influential people in the world, the biggest gangster in the game and Showtime Australia is behind it. This is going to be a great one, I can feel it.
Money, money, money, must be funny, in a rich man’s world. Money, money, money, must be sunny, in a rich man’s world. Yet another great production from Showtime Australia, yet another great pass from Bronwen and B-Sharp entertainment.
I was at the opening of the ABBA Dancing Queen concert hosted by Joburg Theatre. It was Abbasolutely Fabbaulous! I was with Sam and Mia, big fans of ABBA and it’s easy to see why. They were excited about the show but it was not just them. The excitement was in the air and it was contagious! Everyone was excited for this show. The atmosphere was 70’s like, with disco balls and retro music playing in the background before the show commenced. Everyone was in their 70’s outfits, sequins and sparkles were everywhere, it was dazzling! A full house, I love the Joburg Theatre, the experience was memorable. When we finally got inside the auditorium, there was an expectation. We were primed with classics from Micheal Jackson and the Village People – everyone was singing YMCA and that’s before the show! When the show finally commenced it exceeded all expectations. The lighting, the band, the performers, the costumes, it was all grand, we were in the ABBA world and it was awesome! The audience couldn’t stop singing and dancing. The show is interactive, the performers led the songs we were singing and encouraged us to let loose. The show was simply outstanding! Some of the songs performed were Dancing Queen, Waterloo, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!, Mamma Mia, Take a chance on me, SOS, Money, Money, Money, Knowing Me, Knowing You, Fernando, Thank for the music and other timeless classics! I loved Money, Money, Money, the performers encouraged the audience to participate and we all sang at the top of our lungs. The last song of the program, ” The Winner takes it all” was truly epic, it was mezmarrizing, it was fire – Dracarys!
Jessica Driver is Agnetha Falskoy, Andre Behnke is Benny Andersson, Jimmy James is Bjorn Ulvaeus and Giverny Allen is Anni-Frid Lyngstad. I even saw familiar faces from previous shows produced by Showtime Australia like Dale Ray who was Prince, I see you and Hi Nadine, she was in the Micheal Jackson HIStory Show! Outstanding show, we couldn’t get enough of it! Everything is perfection, from lighting, cheography, music solos, the singing is just out of this world – no hyperbole, go see for yourself, I’ll put my reputation on the line!
Congratulations Showtime Australia and the whole team and a deserved standing ovation!
I love Prince but Michael Jackson is the king of popular culture. That’s big, he defined an entire generation and transcended it for future generations. To this day, no one has had a bigger influence. Selling records was easy, literally the best selling artist of all time with sales of over 500 million worldwide. Inducted in the Rock n Roll hall of fame twice, the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, the songwriters Hall of Fame and the Dance Hall of Fame. That’s not all, 15 Grammy Awards, 39 Guinness World Records and lauded as the most Successful Entertainer of all time, period. Over a four decade career, his world record music achievements and publicized public personal life made him a global figure. His songs, stages and fashion proliferated visual performance for singers in pop music. His innovations changed the music video as an art form and popularized street dance moves including the moonwalk and the anti-gravity lean. His mere presence would send fans tumbling on the floor in concerts without him doing anything. Before even the shows commenced, paramedics would be heavily staffed and working hard attending to fainting fans tumbling on the floor. Jackson himself would be just standing on the stage like a statue amidst the hysteria and fans screaming at the top of their lungs. He didn’t have to do anything to elict a response from the crowd, his aura was more than enough, it was God-like and when he did perform, you understood why he was hailed the king. My first experience of Michael Jackson was “You Rock My World”, it was paradigm altering, the video with Chris Tucker was the greatest thing ever! It was so cinematic and grand. The story-telling, the fight scenes, the music, the dancing, it blew me away! Hooked, transfixed and mezmarrized with just the first listen. It was a movie. “You Rock My World” was awe-inspiring. It was my standard for a while until I worked backwards and discovered “Thriller”. I love Prince but Michael Jackson is the king of popular culture, the greatest performer period and that’s not even hyperbole. I’d like to go on record and apologize, I was too excited, “Purple Rain” is not better than “Thriller”, they are both art, both exceptional, executed by two of the greatest artists of all time.
I was at the opening of the Micheal Jackson “History show” concert at the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City. The lyric theatre is beautiful, those chandeliers take my breath away. Everyone was infected by the spirit of Michael. Gloves, sunglasses and white shirts were the order of the day. Outstanding show, Showtime Australia delivers yet another masterclass. Garth Field is super talented. He is the reincarnation of Micheal Jackson. He has stage presence, his aura is commanding, he moves like Micheal, sings like him, dances like him, drips of the King of Pop – he is the king of pop. Thank you Bronwen for the invite. First Prince and now Micheal Jackson, you have made my year. Never in a million years did I think I’d see Michael on the stage but it happened and it was like a dream. It was glorious. Sam said I’d love this one and she was right. SamSays on the credits. I was excited for this one weeks prior, I mean Micheal Jackson, the greatest performer of all time – it’s not even hyperbole. Garth did Micheal justice. Everything was Micheal Jackson standard, the show was perfection. From the lighting, the band, the stage, the sets, electric guitarist, the costumes, backup singers, Nadine, dancing, singing and the cheography. The dancers on the stage were simply unstoppable! Unbelievable chemistry and high energy, in sync and well coordinated like a military drill. The electric guitarist is legendary, I loved the solos. Everyone was amazing! Now I have the experience of being in a Micheal Jackson concert and there’s nothing like it, it is glorious. Every hit was masterfully executed on the stage by Garth Field and the team, from “Bad”, “Beat It”, “Thriller”, Smooth criminal”, “Don’t stop till you get enough” “Black and White”, “The way you make me feel”, “Human Nature”, “Billie Jean”, “Earth song”, “Man in the mirror”, “Heal the world”, “Rock with you” “and many other classics. We also had Jackson 5 hits. Every performance was my favorite, Garth is incredible, he is Michael Jackson! It was a Rock and Roll day and once again guitars prevailed. The audience loved the performances, we couldn’t stop dancing and singing. I almost died with happiness when I saw the anti-gravity lean, I saw it live but I still couldn’t believe it. The moonwalk is still the most legendary dance move ever! Probably the greatest concert I’ve ever experienced. They left everything out on the stage. Maybe I wasn’t the greatest Michael Jackson fan but I am after today. Congratulations Showtime Australia and the whole team and a deserved standing ovation.
Micheal is pretty great but if I had to choose, I am going with Prince. Prince inspired Nas, Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars Alicia Keys and Beyonce, he lives in their music. He is entrenched in the fiber of popular culture. I am going with Prince because of Eddie Murphy on “Coming to America”, they made a sequel 30 years later and his music still served as a soundtrack to the movie. He makes timeless art, art about love and beautiful girls. Going with Prince because of Electric guitars and ’80 synthesizers. Going with Prince because of “When Doves Cry”, still one of my favorite songs of all time, it gets me in the mood, I can’t help but to dance to it. Going with Prince because he was an amazing creative who in addition to serving as the lead vocalist, produced all his music. No seriously, Prince did everything! He played all the instruments, I am talking guitar, drums, sax and organs. He also chereographed the moves you see on stage. Going with Prince because his music was futuristic yet retro. Contradictory? Juxtaposition? Nah, listen to the music and you’ll understand, it never goes out of style. Going with Prince because of my two EPs, “Projections” and “the hero”, if I were to create a full length LP, it would have a Prince influence, I’d be over the top, talk about love and guitars would dominate. Going with Prince because of “Purple Rain”. “Purple Rain” is “Purple Rain”, self-explaintory, one of the greatest albums ever made and millions around the world have been conceived to it. Going with Prince because of his style, the androgynous sensitive artist and how his music makes me feel. I feel happy, I want to dance and I feel enveloped by love. Prince because I am a romantic. Prince because of “The most beautiful girl in the world”. Prince because of 1999! Prince because “Purple Rain” is better than “Thriller”. Opps! Don’t mean to be inflammatory, this is just one man’s opinion. I love Micheal, but if I had to choose, I am going with Prince, Prince is closer to my spirit.
Joburg Theatre hosted a Prince concert today, Sam put in the through ball and I finished off the move. Outstanding show! Amazing performer Dale Ray is. He is Prince in every sense! He sang like him, he danced like him, he even played all the instruments! No kidding! He played the Electric guitar, piano, sax, keyboard, drums and danced throughout. Great stage presence, he interacted with the audience and made us feel like we were a part of the show. I can’t believe it! I went to a Prince concert! It had all the enthusiasm, the lights, the band, screens, amazing sound, cheographed dancing, beautiful lady back-up singers and I was in unison with the crowd when we sang! It wasn’t a dream, it was live. We were on our feet, some on their knees and we sang to the top of our lungs and Prince himself validated and acknowledged our presence! Prince himself lead us into these songs. Dale Ray is Prince, he is Prince in every sense! “When Doves Cry” was second on the program, “I Would Die 4 You” somewhere, “Kiss” there, “Cream” of course, other classics and “Purple Rain” last, we should have demanded an encore, to stretch the moment a bit longer, stay in that spirit, dance and sing the whole night away. Congratulations to Showtime Australia for an amazing concert and the whole team for a great concert. Unforgettable. Memorable.
antakalipa 