For your central Jersey real estate needs: JudyNJHomes.com
or Katharine McPhee's Excellent Adventure
WOW, 4 hours of superstar entertainment was enjoyed by 20,000 fans last night at Mandalay Bay. It may not have competed with the big adventure at her homecoming in LA two years ago, but it was quite tiring, but great and unforgettable experience. After arriving at Mandalay Bay, picking up my precious ticket at Will Call( yes, people were standing by hoping to buy a ticket(show was soldout) and successfully getting in will my small digi camera(don't know how the pix will turn out) I braved the souvenir stand to purchase a t-shirt (David Foster and Friends on the front and the list of all the performers with Katharine McPhee on the back). Finally getting to my seat(surprised at finding it was just five rows up from the main floor and two sections from the stage) I settled in awaiting with excitment the concert to begin! Finally, at 8:15 pm the lights dimmed and Andre Agassi appeared and proudly introduced and recognized the contributions of David Foster's children's foundations. The Man arrives to wild applause playing his signature theme song from "St. Elmo's Fire." Kenny G joins in; David sings, yes he can sing, joined by 4 Vegas showgirls becuz we're in Las Vegas! Predicting great success, David intros handsome American Idol Michael Johns still wearing his finale tux. I'm noticing the huge camera booms shooting skyward to the left and right. There are cameras on the mid floor and a huge teleprompter in the middle of the floor for the stars who forget their lyrics. It was a necessary distraction, cuz this concert and Katharine are going to DVD! Katharine's fav, Brian McKnight comes on for two songs. Woot, the moment I've been waiting for finally comes. As David gives her a warm intro and the crowd greatly cheers her(quite a few fans were there) Katharine McPhee appears at the top of the stairway, walks down to where he is seated at the piano(he accompanied everyone with the full orchestra). Ah, Katharine looks, as ever, beautiful and elegant in her formal length black evening gown embellished by a row of ruffles down the center. Dunno the designer. maybe Mizrahi?? She begins "Unforgettable" the song she sang at her wedding, but suddenly stops and says, "wait, this is Natalie Cole's song....and tells the audience to look up at the screen that filled the background of the huge stage.
Barbra Streisand appears to wish David continued success and thank him for all his support. He produced her successful Broadway album which includes "You'll Never Walk Alone and the beautiful "Somewhere" from West Side Story. Well, of course, our girl, Katharine sings "Somewhere" slowly and beautifully and she receives more great applause and enthusiastic "Wows" from David and "...that's the music she was born to sing". David's baby, 18 yr. Renee Olstead sings. She has been guided by him since she was 13 yrs old?? Cheryl Lynn wakes up everyone with the rousing "To Be Real"? accompanied by a group of dancers. Did you know David has 5 daughters and 4 sisters; he proudly introduced them. A video showed a history of David singing with Celine, Olivia Newton John and with his first group, singing "Wildflower"? which country star Blake Shelton also nicely performed. Then, Boz Scaggs, San Francisco's fav son, came on to sing a couple of songs he and David wrote together like, "Love, Look What You've Done To Me" from John Travolta's hit "Urban Cowboy". Eric Benet, formerly married to Halley Berry, sings, umm, "Wrap Your Chocolate Legs Around Me." Then, longtime friend and collaborator Peter Cetera(Chicago) performed "Your the Inspiration" and "The Glory of Love" both co-written with David. Did ya know Peter wrote and performed, "If You Leave Me Now" which Kenny Rogers first turned down and then became a gigantic hit for Chicago. The moment that 20,000 fans have been waiting for arrives. Superstar Andrea Bocelli is greeted with thunderous applause; Bocelli is the ONE who many, many had paid $$$$ to see!!! Handsomely attired in his summer white evening jacket Andrea sings, "Amapola", the Olympic song David and daughter Amy wrote and CHFIL WITHOUT Katharine He follows with an encore not written by David, "Funiculi, Funicula". At this point, I am exceedingly disappointed thinking, Katharine will NOT be singing with Andrea this time. And oh, I was wishing that their duet would be on coming DVD too!! Well, our wishes were granted. David greets Katharine appearing lovely and elegant in another beautiful floor length white satin? gown. Can't see her lovely gams, but after all, this is a formal occasion. And we hear the opening notes and they perform, "THE PRAYER", Woo Hoo. They are greeted by the first standing ovation of the evening. Folks, I can't wait to see the DVD video on this one. Katharine made us Mcphans very proud. She has achieved so much in just two years. Just think how much more she will become with David Foster's guidance! INTERMISSION I called Goody with details so far about Katharine and the show. Wished he and you could have been there! William Joseph, described by David as like himself performed a dramatic style of music at the piano.
Superstar Celine Dion then appeared via video praising and thanking David for writing her the megahits, "The Prayer" with Andrea Bocelli, "Tell Him" with Barbra Streisand and "The Power of Love". She was away being honored by the government of Canada. Congrats Celine! Kenny "Baby Face" Edmonds, also a friend of Katharine's performed.
The program was long, but props must to given to David for keeping it together with humor, some will be bleeped out and his winning charm. He's been doing this for almost 40 years!
Michael Buble, a popular crowd fav and David's find sang my fav, "Home" alone and with Blake Shelton. I wish Michael would cut out some of his chatter like, "There's Amy(David's daughter) and I'm going to marry her...we'll have real Foster kids". Is that a joke or what. I thought he was already married. Michael should just stick to singing his excellent music. Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner via video praise David for contributing two hits, "I Have Nothing" and "I Will Always Lpve You" to their movie, "The Bodyguard". Well, this is the intro to the WOW performance of David's newest baby, Charice. She brings the audience to their feet with "I Have Nothing" and "I Will Always Love You" and the "Your Gonna Love Me" sung by Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls". Well, I watched Charice through binoculars and folks, she is the real deal. What poise and voice she expressed for someone so young. Clearly, she gives 110% and the audience stood and cheered. It was awesome. "Who's the one person who could follow that? asks David. The Grobanites answer back, "Josh, Josh!!!" He performs two songs Italian which elicits another "WOW" from David who comments of the spectacular growth in 12 years of his find. " He's now a superstar filling up venues like this." He sang, "Smile",just OK for me, "You Raise Me Up" my fav and ended with himself on the piano singing, Paul Simon's "Bridge Over Troubled Water". Brian McKnight first joins followed by all the stars who have performed during the evening. It's four hours later, 12:00 midnight and oh, there she is again, gorgeous Katharine is standing with Andrea Bocelli who I thought had already left 11/2 hrs ago.
Gad, I thought this was suppose to be 2 hrs, not 4 hrs(half a work day); I was getting tired of listening and taken notes after 3hrs. Some of the audience started to leave then and more so while Josh was performing. Not complaining, just tired...
Cuz, I was truly one of the lucky ones to see this concert and Katharine again. How great is that. And she was awesome and made us all proud once again.
Hey, I see our Katharine is in the finale line between guess who......Andrea Bocelli to her right and David Foster to her left.
YES, Katharine McPhee is clearly living her dream "with a little help from my friends," especially her friend, David Foster.
If any of my pics came out, I'll post them later.
Thanks for the review Minnie! I can't wait to see videos of Kat's performances.
Did you get to meet kat?
Are there any videos yet?
Here is the recap from the las vegas review journal
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal CONCERT REVIEW: Foster's secrets on display Show honors songwriter, producer By JASON BRACELIN REVIEW-JOURNAL
His songs always seem to sprout wings and not only fly too close to the sun, but swallow it whole.
He favors singers with voices so big, it's as if they were trying to smuggle a gospel choir in their lungs.
For David Foster, more is always more, and why nibble when you can gorge? If the guy was a chef, he'd weigh 500 pounds.
Instead, Foster's a well-decorated songwriter and producer who has seemingly notched that number of hits over his 35-year career.
On Friday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Foster revisited his extensive canon with more than a dozen singers whose careers he has helped shape, from neo-classical pop superstar Josh Groban to honey-voiced R&B crooner Brian McKnight to former Chicago frontman Peter Cetera.
At nearly four hours long, with a 15-minute intermission, the show was every bit as outsized and extravagant as Foster's works have long proved themselves to be. The $2 million production was taped for a TV special to air on PBS this winter, as well as a corresponding CD/DVD release.
The evening underscored the secret to Foster's success: He's a penultimate craftsman, a guy who seldom seems to pay much heed to genre distinctions because the basis for a hit is largely the same in all of them.
He traces the shared genealogy of seemingly disparate forms of music -- say, country and R&B -- by applying the same principles of songwriting to each one: a meticulous production done with the precision of a surgeon wielding a scalpel, an emphasis on melodrama and a love for the kind of soaring voices that aren't satisfied until they're resting on a bed of clouds.
As such, his works have been dismissed as maudlin by some, and Foster is well-aware of this.
"Most people that know me know that I haven't been in an elevator for 30 years," he wrote in the program for the show. "Some people would say that's because I don't want to hear my own music!"
Sure, it's some indulgent stuff at times, but then again, a glass of chardonnay is indulgent compared to a can of Coors Light and Foster's musical decadence is tailored for pop epicureans. It's the audio equivalent of eating prime rib for breakfast.
And there was plenty to feast on during this night.
Backed by a mammoth band that included members of the Las Vegas Symphony, Foster occupied center stage at his piano while a rotating cast of singers joined him to belt out a jukebox worth of songs you know by heart.
They ranged from his first hit (stirring ballad "Wildflower," sung by country singer Blake Shelton) to foot stompin' funk (Cheryl Lynn's "Got To Be Real") to neo-jazz swing (a dapper Michael Buble purring through "Save The Last Dance For Me" like a kitten getting its belly rubbed).
The show was highlighted by a series of dramatic duets, such as former "American Idol" contender Katharine McPhee joining operatic Italian crooner Andrea Bocelli for a heart-in-the-throat version of torch song "The Prayer;" Shelton and Buble trading lines on the wistful "Home" and Groban and McKnight teaming up on Simon and Garfunkel standard "Bridge Over Troubled Waters."
Speaking of which, Groban was the night's main attraction, especially for the many in attendance with silver hair.
When Groban tore into his signature "You Raise Me Up," audience members leapt to their feet like they had just won at bingo.
If Groban is one of Foster's most renowned discoveries, this night truly belonged to a newer one, doe-eyed 16-year-old Filipino belter Charice, whose voice is like a jetliner taking off from her sternum.
She turned in a stunning rendition of Whitney Houston-by-way-of-Dolly Parton hit "I Will Always Love You," singing with such power and poise, it was hard to believe that she wasn't even yet alive when the song originally became a hit on "The Bodyguard" soundtrack in 1992.
"Tonight, a star is born," Foster gushed after her brief set, another grand sentiment from a man defined by them.
Based from the reviews, both Kat and Charice rendered stunning performances. However, Charice was not the finale. She sang right before Josh Groban.
Do you know that Clive Davis had a chance to sign up Charice? She and her mom went to NY last January 10 to talk with Clive Davis. I believe nothing came out of the talks though. Maybe he preferred Leona Lewis. Well, his loss is David Foster's gain. This girl just keeps on getting better and better every day. And considering that she did not have any formal voice lessons and she grew up in poverty, given the proper training and exposure, I am sure she will go a long way...
IMHO, Charice and Kat are much better than Leona Lewis. They have totally different singing styles and both of them will make DF proud. Not sure if David Foster signed up Charice already. She is still based in the Philippines and there has not been any news about her signing a contract with David Foster.