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NEW YORK POP, JAZZ & CABARET
Culture Club audition new singers
Culture Club topped the charts around the world in the 1980s.
Auditions are being held in New York for singers to join Culture Club, with the 1980s pop band planning to re-form and tour without original vocalist Boy George. Manager Tony Gordon said the group were looking for three or four "young, great singers" to join former band members Jon Moss, Mikey Craig and Phil Pickett. "We cannot replace George - that's going to be an impossibility," he said. Mr. Gordon added that a TV company was interested in following the new band, with a world tour possible next year. The new line-up could also record new songs, he said. "We want to keep the brand but give it an uplift and make it fun - great fun," he said. "Culture Club music was always joyous. We need that right now - we need a nice, happy band." Hits: Mr. Gordon said there had been an "amazing" amount of media interest in the plan since he posted an internet advertisement for singers. "It's much more than I expected - I am thrilled by it." He said he hoped to launch the new-look band at a London party next month. The move comes days after a US judge criticized Boy George - real name George O'Dowd - for failing to pay a $1,000 fine or begin five days' community service after falsely reporting a burglary. A hearing on 26 June will decide whether he broke the terms of his sentence. Culture Club had a string of hits in the early 1980s, including Karma Chameleon, which topped the UK and US singles charts. NEW YORKER PAMELA LUSS ON THE RISE
Expect to read and hear a lot about New York's rising star Pamela Luss. She is making a big buzz. In STARS ILLUSTRATED magazine, Maximillien de Lafayette wrote: "With her luxurious and sparkling voice, blended in rich musical orchestration, Pamela Luss is on her way to stardom. She has all the ingredients of an accomplished singer. No questions asked. For this vivacious and delightful Jazz singer, the future is bright." The Stars Illustrated asked Luss: "What makes Pamela Luss, so different from other sparkling stars?" and she answered: "Everyone wants to feel unique and special, but it really isn’t productive for me to worry about being different. It’s more natural for me to depend on my strengths and continuously challenge myself by trying new and different approaches and new material. Maybe, staying true to yourself and not being overly affected by what’s in fashion is one way of being different. You can study great vocalists without being a copycat. People may look somewhat alike or sound somewhat alike, but each of us is unique." Pamela Luss' talent is refreshing and multidimensional. Her personality is sparkling. Her voice is superb. She will make headlines.- By Shoshanna Rosenstein |
DONNA BYRNE: VOCAL ELIXIR. PURE MAGIC! By Maximillien de Lafayette
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Pamela
Luss
DONNA
BYRNE; pure magic. She shines on and off stage, because she is real and
tenderly powerful. How real is she? Does she bring life, real life to
stage, or does she perform just like a diva? "Absolutely, I bring to
stage, my own life and humanity. I avoid lyrics that I can bring nothing
to. I almost approach the music with the same technique as a method actor.
I've had to pay some dues so I might as well use them to my musical
advantage. I don't have a drop of Diva blood in my veins." told me Donna
Byrne. New York is buzzing with neon, billboards and singers. Chanteuses
are everywhere. Some tremble in their solitude and faded glorious past.
Others steam on stage and steal the show. Some are harassing their booking
agents, "lazy, lazy, inefficient is my manager" said dethroned diva Z. " I
have a bad publicist" shouted Diva X. And "I am doing great, gigs,
engagements, busy schedule, I couldn't ask for better..." exhilarated Diva
Y. New York's cabarets are crazy packed. Adventurers, hustlers,
resourceful gigolos, boring three piece suits executive at the bar zipping
Martini and sinking in bowls of cashews...schmoozer and cruisers looking
for action and desperate hot chicks who just landed here, fresh from Iowa
and Walla Walla. And there, at the very end of the shrinking bar, a few
genuine music lovers and cabaret connoisseurs yearning for encores. The
cabaret chanteuse is on stage. She is grabbing the mic, leaning against a
strategically positioned baby grand on stage. She wants to look dramatic,
a Mata Hari type, a shadow of Marlene Dietrich. So the black piano is OK,
it adds a mystic to her performance...Deja vu?! You bet your gazebo...it
is part of the show, part of the trade, part of the craft and part of the
persona of the performer... sometimes
it works, sometimes it doesn't. But the show goes on. C'est la vie! But
when Donna Byrne appears on stage, gigolos get serious and rethink their
priorities. Characters in boring three piece suit stop chewing on cashews
and begin to listen. Schmoozer and cruisers stop to cruise and booze, they
are taking by what they hear...the whole damned joint becomes a serious
place, a place for music instead of meat market. Who in heavens is doing
the re-makeup of the joint? Queen Martha or loud Trump? None of the above.
It is the voice of Donna Byrne with all its bursting and powerfully
nostalgic fragrance, the warmth of Donna herself and the class she ads to
the place. So forget for now about New York's neon, billboards, the buzz
and the complaints of maniac divas, and enjoy the show of Donna Byrne. She
is a knockout. You paid a heavy nifty cover charge to get in? It is
perfectly alright, because Donna is here and Donna is going to send you to
heaven. Me? To hell, because all my friends are there, but, hey Contessa
Miranda Esmeranda, and Rudy Valentino, don't worry, I am taking with me
Donna's CD. A great voice is an asset but not enough! A performer needs
three more things; stage presence and Donna Byrne wrote the book on this;
improvisation that flirts with and transcends lyrics and music. Donna is
known for her innovative and creative improvisation. One of her trademark
is
SEE
HOW De LAFAYETTE WORLDMEDIA CAN PUT YOU ON THE MAP!
21,000,000 people could read about you.