International Diana Ross Website

Glitz and glamour at Marina Bay Sands opening

Posted: 23 June 2010 2209 hrs

SINGAPORE : It was a day of glitz and glamour at the opening of the Marina Bay Sands (MBS).

Grammy award-winning star Kelly Rowland - the headline act of the outdoor concert - wowed the crowd.

She was among the artistes who put on a power-packed performance on Wednesday.

The slight drizzle did not dampen the mood, and it was a real musical fiesta there with the likes of singers JJ Lin and Kelly Rowland performing.

But the main highlight has to be the legendary Diana Ross who performed on Wednesday night to 2,500 selected VIPs at the Sands Grand Ballroom.

Guests to the grand opening were also treated to a dazzling display in the sky, parachute jumps, as well as a Tower Climb competition at the Marina Bay Sands.

21 professional climbers scaled one of the three 55-storey hotel tower of Marina Bay Sands. The race is part of MBS' opening festivities.


"I am definitely excited. This is such a milestone for Singapore and it puts us on the world map when it comes to entertainment and tourist industry," said Singapore celebrity Andrea De Cruz.

"I am very excited to be here to perform. Looking at the crowd, it really is such a huge deal, so I am amazed by everything," said Sylvia Ratonel, a finalist of the Singapore Idol 2010.

But some VIPs found themselves stuck in a queue which snaked out to the road.

"I'm surprised to be standing at the side of the road, queuing. But such is the nature of the event. I suppose it's packed and everyone wants to be here. We have to go through security and this is the process," said Michael Palmer, MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.

However, guests were impressed with the grandeur of the integrated resort. And there's no doubt that it's already a Singapore icon. - CNA /ls

Original Source : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1065222/1/.html

Diana Ross coming to Palace Theatre for greatest hits tour

Michelle Kim  2010-06-22 17:05:18

ALBANY -- Pop and R&B icon Diana Ross will be performing at the Palace Theatre in Albany this September as part of her "More Today Than Yesterday" greatest hits concert tour, the venue announced Tuesday.

The concert is scheduled for September 15th at 8 p.m.

Ross helped shape the Motown sound of the 1960s as lead singer of The Supremes before crossing over into a solo career in music, film, television and Broadway.

Tickets for the show go on sale 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 30th, at prices of $119.50, $89.50, $79.50, and $59.50. They will be available at the Palace Theatre box office at 19 Clinton Ave., online at www.ticketmaster.com, or charge-by-phone at 800-745-3000.

Below is a press release on Ross and the tour released by Palace Theatre Tuesday:

Diana Ross is an American Icon. During the 1960s, she helped shape the Motown Sound as lead singer of The Supremes, before leaving the group for a wildly successful solo career.

During the 1970s and through the mid-1980s, Ross was among the most successful female artists, crossing over into film, television and Broadway. She received Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her 1972 role as Billie Holiday in “Lady Sings The Blues,” for which she won a Golden Globe award. She has won multiple American Music Awards, garnered twelve Grammy Award nominations, and won a Tony Award for her one-woman show, “An Evening with Diana Ross,” in 1977.

In 1976, Billboard magazine named her the "Female Entertainer of the Century." In 1993, the Guinness Book of World Records declared Diana Ross the most successful female music artist in history with a total of eighteen American number-one singles: twelve as lead singer of The Supremes and six as a solo artist. Ross was the first female solo artist to score six number-ones. She is also one of the few recording artists to have two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame-one as a solo artist and the other as a member of The Supremes. In December 2007, she received a John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Honors Award.

Since the beginning of her career with The Supremes and as a solo artist, Ross has released 67 albums and sold more than 100 million records.

Diana Ross  " More Today Than Yesterday: The Greatest Hits Tour"
Presented by Ed Atamian/Elite Entertainment, Inc.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 8 pm
 

Tickets for this event go on sale Friday, July 9 at 10 am.

DIANA ROSS is an American icon. During the 1960's, she helped shape the Motown Sound as lead singer of The Supremes, before leaving the group for a solo career on January 14,1970. Since the beginning of her career with The Supremes and as a solo artist, Ross has sold more than 100 million records.

During the 1970's and through the mid-1980's, Ross was among the most successful female artists, crossing over into film, television and Broadway. She received the Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her 1972 role as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues (for which she won a Golden Globe Award).

She has won awards at the American Music Awards, garnered twelve Grammy Award nominations, and won a Tony Award for her one-woman show An Evening with Diana Ross (1977). Billboard magazine has previously recognized her as the "Female Entertainer of the Century." In 1993, the Guinness Book of World Records declared Diana Ross as the most successful female music artist in history with a total of eighteen number-one singles in the US: twelve as lead singer of The Supremes and six as soloist. Ross was the first female solo artist to score six number-one singles.

This feat puts her in a tie for fifth place among solo female artists with the most number ones on the Hot 100. She is also one of the few recording artists to have two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; one as a solo artist and the other as a member of The Supremes.

In December 2007, she received the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Honors Award. Including her work with The Supremes, Diana Ross has released a total of 67 albums.

The Diana Ross More Today than Yesterday: The Greatest Hits Tour makes its only New York area stop for one night only - for what promises to be a night to remember!

Watch a video of Diana Ross singing Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

Here’s hoping Diana shows up

Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at 6 p.m.
Diana Ross will be at Humphrey’s (fingers crossed).

Let’s hope the second time is the charm for Diana Ross, who is scheduled to bring her “More Than Yesterday” tour to town Friday at Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay.

Yes, that’s the same Humphrey’s where this pioneering pop-soul singer and 1988 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee was supposed to perform in 2002, before her entire West Coast tour was abruptly terminated without explanation. Her Humphrey’s cancellation came a year to the month after the implosion of her ill-fated “reunion” tour with two latter-day members of The Supremes, the classic Motown vocal group that scored 11 No. 1 pop hits between “Where Did Our Love Go” in 1964 and “Someday We’ll Be Together” in 1969.

That less-than-Supreme reunion trek was to have included a San Diego Sports Arena date, for which the top ticket price was $253 (more than double the $115 being charged for Ross’ Humphrey’s show tomorrow). But a diva is as a diva does, and Ross has long embraced her inner diva. “I don’t even understand what the diva (controversy) is, really, because I think it’s a positive thing,” she told me in a Union-Tribune interview that previewed her 2004 Civic Theatre concert.

So, expect lots of glittery outfits during her show at Humphrey’s — Ross was doing the multiple costume-change thing when Lady Gaga was still in (non-adult-size) diapers. Expect lots of hits from her Supremes’ days and solo career, as well as a concert-closing tribute to Michael Jackson, Ross’ doomed protégé. And expect, perhaps, some unexpected backing musicians (Ross’ 1991 Starlight Bowl show featured two former Frank Zappa band members in her brass section).

But don’t expect to hear anything “More Than Yesterday” from Ross, 66, who aptly describes this tour as being “all about memories.” Then again, when you have so many golden memories to provide, why even think about tampering with them?

Diana Ross-Touch Me in the Morning

CD/Download/Album News Posted: 2010-01-01
SOURCE: JazzWax by Marc Myers

This syndicated blog entry appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers. All rights reserved.

Diana Ross
It's a mistake for jazz fans to compare Diana Ross to jazz vocalists. Ross' intonation, timbre and roots all come from a completely different place. Her Lady Sings the Blues (1972) drew praise from jazz circles, and it was a big seller. But to me, Ross as Billie Holiday always felt inconceivable and forced. Too much lady, not enough blues. Rather, I much prefer Ross in her zone, notably on her early solo albums--where she delivered a pleading, kittenish sound on medium-tempo soul-pop ballads. Sadly, jazz fans have ignored her contribution, citing a lack of vocal depth or sincerity. These tags are completely unfair, as is evident with the newly released and remastered Touch Me in the Morning (Expanded Edition).

The 1973 album was Ross' fourth studio recording removed from the Supremes and her most mature studio package up until that point. Today we think of Ross as a first-name star performer--like Barbra or Cher. But in the early 1970s, Ross' solo bid was fragile at best and could go either way. As the liner notes to this new CD set point out, Ross would open most of her live dates at the time by saying, “Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 'let's-see-if-Diana-Ross-can-do-it-by-herself show.' “

Questions about Ross' ability to click with audiences certainly were merited. But her slow start hardly was her fault. Little strategic thinking had been done to forge an image for her, as is evidenced by the unevenness of her initial Motown LPs. Clearly, the label assumed that stardom would kick in for Ross eventually and that Motown's resources were better trained on other acts.

But when Ross (Lady Sings the Blues) lost out to Liza Minnelli (Cabaret) at the 1972 Academy Awards, Motown founder Berry Gordy had had enough. Rather than continue to let Ross twist artistically in the wind, Gordy wisely crafted an image for her as a relaxed contemporary legend--not a struggling wannabe or square jazz heir. Ross' projects underway were immediately shelved, including Blue (more jazz), To the Baby (too middle-age), Diana and Marvin (too second fiddle) and Live at Caesars Palace (too premature).

Instead, it was bullet time. To achieve a solid standing on her own, Ross needed a crossover hit album that resonated with blacks and whites, with women and men. Women needed to see Ross as a strong fighter with passionate needs while men had to perceive her as sexy and desirable. And whatever image was created, it had to stick with her for years and not have to be re-made with the next release. The result was Touch Me in the Morning, an album with five top producers headed by Gordy. The title track reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and the LP hit No. 5 on the Billboard Albums Chart.

The album's approach was similar in some ways to the sound pioneered with great success by Karen and Richard Carpenter on A Song For You (1972), also their fourth release. There was a soft urgency to their delivery, a layered choral approach that hit the mark on Hurting Each Other, Goodbye to Love and I Won't Last a Day Without You. The difference is that Ross' delivery packed more heat on the soulful side compared with Karen Carpenter's tightly wound, ice-cool perfection.

The opening track, Touch Me in the Morning, was written by Michael Masser [pictured] and Ron Miller and instantly established Ross as a strong-sexy woman. Side 1 built steadily from there, with All of My Life, We Need You and Leave a Little Room, closing with the Carpenters' hit I Won't Last a Day Without You written by Roger Nichols and Paul Williams. Side 2 included a mix of originals and covers. There was Little Girl Blue for lingering fans of Lady Sings the Blues from the shelved Blue album and John Lennon's Imagine. There also were three tracks plucked from the To the Baby project.

For years, To the Baby remained a phantom album. Recorded while Ross was pregnant, the project was meant to be a collection of songs for her young children. Said Ross in a 1975 interview paraphrased in Andrew Skurow's liner notes: “When I'm away, I'd like them to be able to put on a tape or record so they can listen to me, or hear me say something positive to them while I'm away, and they'll know that it's okay that I have to do what I have to do."

Fortunately, To the Baby has finally made it out of the vault and onto the second CD in this set. It's a gorgeous, gentle collection of tender songs recorded with enormous love and passion. Included are The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Got to Be There and Marvin Gaye's Save the Children.

As this new set demonstrates, Ross in 1973 was a beautiful singer of medium-tempo soul-pop ballads. She added warmth and passion to the pop female-vocal genre at a time when male groups dominated the charts and robust singers like Carly Simon and Helen Reddy owned the brassy space and Roberta Flack dominated on the bedroom ballad.

For me, it's a joy to hear this album again after so many years, particularly Touch Me in the Morning, I Won't Last a Day Without You and Michael Randall's organic Leave a Little Room. It's what radio music sounded like at the tail end of the soul era, before dance music from Philadelphia, Detroit and South Florida changed everything. Ross needs to be revisited by vocal fans and taken more seriously.

JazzWax tracks: Diana Ross' Touch Me in the Morning (Expanded Edition) from Hip-O Select is a two-CD set that's available only here. I don't know whether there are plans to add the album to iTunes and other on-line retailers. Rather than play like a collection of singles, there is a concept feel to the album and a What's Going On symmetry that brings all of the tracks together. For those who like to mix albums in iTunes, Touch Me in the Morning works well shuffled with Dusty Springfield's Dusty in Memphis (1969). Both have a morning coffee feel.
JazzWax clip: Here's Diana Ross singing Touch Me in the Morning from a TV special in 1999...