The Canadian Press - ONLINE EDITION
Michael Caine, Elton John among 400 guests for private Elizabeth Taylor memorial service
FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2008 file photo, Elizabeth Taylor speaks during the 26th Annual Macy's Passport to Fashion gala in Santa Monica, Calif. Family and friends of Taylor gathered on the Warner Bros. lot on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, for a private memorial service seven months after the death of the Hollywood legend to commemorate her life and career, some of which played out at the studio. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
BURBANK, Calif. - Colin Farrell, Michael Caine and Elton John joined family and friends of Elizabeth Taylor during a private memorial service for the Oscar-winning star.
Son Michael Wilding told the 400 people gathered Sunday in a theatre at the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank that it was especially meaningful to have so many friends on hand to celebrate his mother's spirit.
The Academy Award-winning star of "Butterfield 8" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" was 79 when she died on March 23 of congestive heart failure in Los Angeles.
Spokeswoman Sally Morrison says Farrell hosted a service, which featured memories of the violet-eyed beauty.
"Virginia Woolf" director Mike Nichols put together a touching video message, grandson Rhys Tivey played "Amazing Grace" on the trumpet and John performed "Blue Eyes."
T Bone Burnett produces live album with Elvis Costello, Elton John and many more
http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/news/Speaking_Clock_Review/44974/p1/
HITMAKING record producer and Christian, T Bone Burnett, brought together a host of mainstream stars last year for a live recording now released on the album 'T Bone Burnett Presents The Speaking Clock Review'. Recorded at New York's Beacon Theatre, the album features, among others, Elvis Costello, Elton John, Gregg Allman, Leon Russell and bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley. All proceeds from sales of the album are to benefit the Participant Foundation which supports music and arts education in American public schools.
Elton John And Sen. Bill Nelson Urge Congress To Maintain Funding For HIV/AIDS Medication
First, patients who lose their assistance and are forced off HIV medications could develop drug-resistant strains of HIV — which may well be more difficult to manage.
Second, denying treatment to low-income, HIV-positive people will most likely result in increased transmission of the disease. A recent, groundbreaking study by the National Institutes of Health demonstrated that people living with HIV who receive effective drug treatment are 96 percent less likely to pass the virus on to their uninfected partners.
Third, while HIV/AIDS medications are expensive, the emergency room and hospital care required by people who do not receive them is far more costly.
While Congress debates funding levels for the next fiscal year — President Obama asked Congress to increase funding for AIDS medications to $940 million in the next fiscal year, but a Senate appropriations subcommittee has only approved $900 million — HHS has recently released $1.89 billion in grants through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. Approximately $1.213 billion will be sent to states and territories under Part B of the Ryan White Program, with $813 million of that total designated specifically for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). ADAP is a national initiative funded by the federal and state governments and run by the states that provides prescription drug coverage for low-income people with HIV/AIDS. As of October, 7,409 individuals in 10 states were waiting to sign up for the program.
Meanwhile, health advocates continue to fight against cuts to health care programs that HIV/AIDS patients rely on. Earlier this week, House members from California met with CMS Administrator Donald Berwick and urged him to deny the state’s request to cut $1.4 billion from Medicaid, the single largest source of coverage for people with HIV.
Call it the circle of life: many kids who saw 'The Lion King' in theaters when it opened in 1994 can now take their own kids to see it when the 3D version hits the cineplex on Sept. 16. (The film hits both standard and 3D Blu-ray on Oct. 4.) Of course, it's hard to believe there's a generation that has never been exposed to 'The Lion King'; since the landmark Disney cartoon debuted, it has spawned an industry that's included two direct-to-video sequels, a TV series, several video games and a long-running Broadway musical.
To celebrate the 17-year history of 'The Lion King,' Moviefone has unearthed 17 things you might not have known about the furry film fable, including which Oscar-nominated song Elton John thought would kill his career, the supposed secret "sex" scene, what that chant at the beginning of 'Circle of Life' means, and a precedent-setting blast of warthog flatulence.
1. Originally, the movie was going to be called 'King of the Jungle,' until the filmmakers realized that lions live on the savanna, not in the jungle.2. Initially, the film was not going to be a musical, but rather, a more realistic, National Geographic-type story. It was lyricist Tim Rice -- who'd worked with Disney on 'Aladdin' -- who suggested adding songs and hiring Elton John to compose them.
3. The film's writers referred to the film in private as 'Bamblet,' noting the similarity between their movie's plot and those of 'Bambi' and 'Hamlet.'
4. Conservative activists objected to a scene where particles in the night sky supposedly spell out, for an instant, the word "SEX." The animators have said that they were actually spelling out the abbreviation "SFX" (for "special effects") as a signature of their work that would be visible only to viewers with sharp eyes (and fast thumbs on the pause button).
5. For inspiration, the animators and artists spent two weeks in Africa, visiting Hell's Gate National Park in Kenya. They also had real lions brought into the animation studio, under the supervision of Jim Fowler, of TV's 'Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.'
6. The song 'Hakuna Matata' originated with a phrase the animators heard from a tour guide during their African trip. Tim Rice heard the phrase (which, as every fan knows, means "no worries") and noted its similarity to 'Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo' from Disney's 'Cinderella,' and he turned it into the film's comic centerpiece. Elton John, however, was afraid the tune would mark a low point in his career. "I sat there with a line of lyrics that began, 'When I was a young warthog," John said in 1995, "and I thought, 'Has it come to this?'"
7. Hans Zimmer, who eventually won an Oscar for composing the instrumental score, brought aboard Lebo M, a South African composer and singer he'd worked with on the film 'The Power of One.' (A self-imposed exile from the apartheid regime, Lebo M was parking cars in Los Angeles when Zimmer met him.) It's Lebo M who added the African choral passages to the score, including the famous 'Circle of Life' chant that opens the movie.
8. Lebo M's 'Circle of Life' chant, translated from Zulu, means, "Here comes a lion, Father/Oh yes, it's a lion/We're going to conquer/A lion and a leopard come to this open place."
9. Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella, who were co-starring on Broadway in 'Guys and Dolls,' auditioned together, hoping to play hyenas. But the filmmakers liked their chemistry and cast them instead as Timon and Pumbaa, the meerkat/warthog comic relief duo. For the hyenas, the filmmakers initially wanted Cheech and Chong , but the stoner comedy duo had broken up by the time the movie was made. So the filmmakers stuck with Cheech Marin but used Whoopi Goldberg instead of Tommy Chong.
10. 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' was almost a comic duet for Timon and Pumbaa, but Elton John balked. As a traditional love ballad, marking Simba and Nala's romance, the song became one of three from the film nominated for Oscars (along with 'Hakuna Matata' and 'Circle of Life,') and it won the Academy Award for Elton John and Tim Rice.
11. A musical number called "The Morning Report" didn't make it into the film (it was replaced by dialogue), but it was used in the Broadway musical and was included in the 2002 IMAX re-release and the platinum-edition DVD, accompanied by newly created footage.
12. 'The Lion King' marks the second time that James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair played royal parents of an African prince. The first time was 'Coming to America,' where they played Eddie Murphy's dad and mom.
13. When Simba (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas) tells Scar (Jeremy Irons), "You're so weird," and Scar replies, "You have no idea," the reference is to a nearly identical exchange between Ron Silver and Irons during the latter's Oscar-winning turn as Claus Von Bulow in 'Reversal of Fortune.'14. While the characters in the movie are all hand-drawn, computers were used for assistance in some sequences, notably, the wildebeest stampede. In that sequence, a computer multiplied several hand-drawn animals into hundreds and created random paths for them. The resulting two-and-a-half-minute sequence took more than two years to create.
15. 'The Lion King' was the highest grossing movie worldwide in 1994, with a total of $772.6 million grossed around the globe. It's also the top-grossing hand-drawn cartoon of all time and the fourth-biggest animated feature of all time (behind CGI features 'Shrek 2,' 'Toy Story 3,' and 'Finding Nemo') in the U.S.
16. For a long time, 'The Lion King' held the record as the best-selling home video release, having sold 30 million copies on VHS.
17. Pumbaa was the first Disney character to fart.
Elton John and Van Morrison Top Bill Clinton’s Favorite Songs Playlist
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/elton-john-van-morrison-bill-clinton-playlist/
Kevin Winter, Getty Images
Elton John and Van Morrison have turned up on former President Bill Clinton’s Top 20 Songs of All Time playlist. While you won’t hear ‘Ace Of Spades,’ ‘Sex Bomb,’ or even ‘Space Truckin” on the former president’s iPod, you will hear a cool variety of sounds that lean toward jazz, folk and gospel. Favorites from Willie Nelson and Simon & Garfunkel stand next to artists like Miles Davis and Nina Simone.
Our 42nd president has always had a connection to the music he loves, from having Fleetwood Mac play his inaugural gala, hanging around with Bono or famously tooting his own horn (literally) on the Arsenio Hall Show all those years ago.
On Oct. 15, Mr. Clinton celebrated the tenth anniversary of the William J. Clinton Foundation with the “Decade Of Difference” event. Held at The Hollywood Bowl, it featured a wide variety of performers including Kenny Chesney, Stevie Wonder, and Linda Tripp, I mean Lady Gaga.
The foundation, with offices located in NYC, Boston and Little Rock, was established with the stated mission to “strengthen the capacity of people throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence”.
Rock on Mr. Prez!
Bill Clinton’s Top 20 Songs of All Time:
Mickey Magnum – ‘In The Presence Of Jehova’
Miles Davis – ‘My Funny Valentine’
Nina Simone – ‘I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free’
John Coltrane & Johhny Hartman – ‘My One And Only Love’
Zoot Sims -’Summertime’
Mahalia Jackson – ‘Take My Hand Precious Lord’
Igor Butman – ‘Nostalgia’
Judy Collins – ‘Chelsea Morning’
David Sanborn – ‘Harlem Nocturne’
Phil Coulter – ‘This Town I Loved So Well’
Van Morrison – ‘Brown Eyed Girl’
Carly Simon – ‘You And I Get Along So Well’
Stan Getz With Bahai – ‘Charlie Byrd’
Simon & Garfunkel – ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’
Sarah McLachlan – ‘Angel’
Elton John – ‘Philadelphia Freedom’
Willie Nelson – ‘A Song For You’
Joan Baez – ‘Winds Of The Old Days’
John Williams – ‘Concierto De Aranjuez’
PHOTO FLASH: James Cameron Visits Broadway's The Lion King
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| Chaunteé Schuler, James Cameron, Adam Jacobs, and Josephine Cameron (Courtesy of Disney Theatrical Productions) |
Oscar winner James Cameron and his daughter Josephine attended the Broadway production of The Lion King at the Minskoff Theater on Wednesday, October 12. Afterwards, father and daughter posed for photos with cast members Chaunteé Schuler (Nala) and Adam Jacobs (Simba).
Based on the 1994 Disney animated film, the stage musical features Elton John and Tim Rice's music from the film along with three new songs by John and Rice; additional musical material by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Taymor and Hans Zimmer; and music from "Rhythm of the Pride Lands," an album inspired by the original music in the film, written by Lebo M, Mark Mancina and Hans Zimmer.
Cameron won an Oscar for his direction of Titanic, and was Oscar-nominated for his work on Avatar. Among his many other film credits are the Terminator films, Alien, and The Abyss. As previously reported, he is collaborating with Cirque du Soleil on a new 3D movie.
For tickets and more information on The Lion King, click here.
Elton John live
http://www.gianlucacavallini.com/2011/10/elton-john-live.html
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| La postazione di Elton John, con i 4 monitor Clair Bros |
Sir Elton John non usa IEM (li ha provati in passato ma pare abbia detto non sono abbastanza rock'n'roll...). La sua postazione è servita da ben 4 wedge Clair Bros, due classice 12 AM e due monitor custom. Una coppia è usata per la voce e l'altra per il mix della band, il volume è impressionante, pare intorno ai 120 dBA misurati all'orecchio. Ovviamente il suono del piano (vero) proviene da campionatori attraverso un opportuno sistema MIDI.
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| FOH, lato sinistro |
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| FOH, lato destro |
Exclusive: Jordan Miller & Elton John Freeing Britney From Conservatorship in 2012
http://www.breatheheavy.com/exhale/viewthread.php?tid=436860
Sitting in my seat at the Elton John Ballet. http://neogaf.net/forum/showthread.php?t=448681 |
| Member (Yesterday, 02:54 AM) | Sitting in my seat at the Elton John Ballet. #1 About to start. Will give updates. Thingsidoformywife.gif Anyone else seen it?  |
| bow down to the Kings in Raider hats (Yesterday, 02:55 AM)  | #2 Hold me closer, Tony Danza |
| (Yesterday, 02:56 AM)  | #3 Wait, so is it a ballet set to Elton John songs? That sounds awesome! |
| Member (Yesterday, 02:59 AM)  | #5 Don't let your son go down on me. |
| Member (Yesterday, 03:06 AM) | #8 Update: three spottings of rhinestone glasses so far. Scarves here in abundance. Woman heavy crowd. They seem excited. |
| Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation. (Yesterday, 03:12 AM)  | #9 Originally Posted by funkmasterb:
Obviously the wrong crowd for an Elton John con--oh, ballet. Okay, maybe a woman thing. Dude, it's Elton John. Just zone out and let his music take over for you. You don't even have to pay attention to the dancing. |
| Member (Yesterday, 03:19 AM)  | #10 Let us know when you go to see Kathy Lee. |
| Member (Yesterday, 04:10 AM) | #11 Holy fuck! (intermission) This is amazing! Picture small scale Michael Jackson style concert+ burlesque show + international standard ballet It basically follows his life. Each song takes a section. So far we've had his rise to stardom, backstage prep, embracing homosexuality, and his drug addiction. Fucking awesome. At one point 'Elton' was on an ivory piano playing three feet above the stage on a rotating platform while three men in leather thongs air humped and twenty of the most gorgeous women ever dance in a circle around them all. Elton at that point was wearing nothing but a red velvet cape, and a 3 foot tall crystal chandelier on his head. In the other song discovering his homosexuality the end the song with him being SPITROASTED! I thought the old lady infront of me was going to keel over. 3 rhinestones out of 3 so far |
| Member (Yesterday, 04:13 AM) | #12  Rise to stardom (not my pic) |
| Member (Yesterday, 04:13 AM)  | #13 Originally Posted by Guzim:
Agreed. I would watch that. One of the best concerts I ever saw (well, one of the few) was the Billy Joel and Elton John tour back in 2001. |
| Member (Yesterday, 04:17 AM) | #15  Costumes from the piano bit |
| Member (Yesterday, 04:18 AM) | #16 Last edited by funkmasterb : Yesterday at 05:58 AM. |
| Member (Yesterday, 04:27 AM)  | #18 The things you do for your wife? It sounds like you're enjoying it more than her. |
| Member (Yesterday, 04:27 AM)  | #19 Originally Posted by I H8 Memes:
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| Member (Yesterday, 04:28 AM)  | #20 Elton John jams. |
| Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation. (Yesterday, 04:30 AM) | #21 Originally Posted by cacophony:
Hey now, nothing wrong with being into Elton John but not being in Elton John. ;) |
| Member (Yesterday, 04:36 AM)  | #22 Don't let your Son go down, on me! |
| clairvoyancy is no excuse for trollin' (Yesterday, 04:53 AM)  | #23 Originally Posted by Neuromancer:
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| Member (Yesterday, 06:04 AM) | #24 Hah! ok, it's over. Man, add a little clockwork orange vibe into what I was describing earlier. Anyways, this thing was the FUCKING BOSS. To be really clear, I like elton john, just thought the ballet would be super lame.  Things I did not expect to see, but DID at the ballet tonight: - Rollerskating nun - 7" tall drag queen - Cheerleader uniforms - Rocket man thongs with blinking led crotch landing lights    Last edited by funkmasterb : Yesterday at 06:09 AM. |
| Member (Yesterday, 06:30 AM) | #25 |
