“HITMAN: David Foster and Friends” CD/DVD will be released on November 11, 2008 by Warner Bros.
The event was the star-studded David Foster & Friends concert held Friday, May 23 at the Mandalay Bay Event Center. It was an almost fourhour musical extravaganza that featured tour de force performances from Foster’s friends such as Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Michael Buble, Katharine McPhee, Charice, Renee Olstead, Peter Cetera, Brian McKnight, Babyface, and Boz Scaggs.
Here’s the CD/DVD track listing:
Disc 1:
1. Love Theme From St. Elmo’s Fire (Kenny G.)
2. Home (Michael Buble and Blake Shelton)
3. I Have Nothing/I Will Always Love You (Charice)
4. Bridge Over Troubled Water (Josh Groban and Brian McKnight)
5. Somewhere (Katharine McPhee)
6. Look What You’ve Done To Me (Boz Skaggs)
7. Wildflower (Blake Shelton)
8. Hard To Say I’m Sorry/You’re The Inspiration/Glory Of Love (Peter Cetera)
9. The Prayer (Andrea Bocelli and Katharine McPhee)
DVD content:
Act I
1. Andre Agassi Intro
2. St Elmo’s Love Theme (Kenny G.)
3. Can’t Help Falling In Love (David Foster)
4. Beauty/Man In Motion (Michael Johns)
5. Mornin’/After The Love Has Gone (Brian McKnight)
6. Video (Barbra Streisand)
7. Somewhere (Katharine McPhee)
8. Through The Fire (Renee Olstead)
9. Got To Be Real (Cheryl Lynn)
10. Wildflower (Blake Shelton)
11. Video (Urban Cowboy)
12. Love Look What You’ve Done (Boz Skaggs)
13. Jo Jo (Boz Skaggs)
14. Chocolate Legs (Eric Benet)
15. Hard To Say I’m Sorry/You’re The Inspiration/Glory Of Love (Peter Cetera)
16. Amapola (Andrea Bocelli)
17. Because We Believe (Andrea Bocelli)
18. The Prayer (Andrea Bocelli and Katharine McPhee)
Act II
1. Asturias (William Joseph)
2. Video-Because You Loved Me (Celine Dion and David Foster)
3. I Swear (Babyface and Kevon)
4. Feeling Good (Michael Buble)
5. Home (Michael Buble and Blake Shelton)
6. Save The Last Dance (Michael Buble)
7. Video-Bodyguard w/Kevin Costner
8. I Have Nothing/I Will Always Love You(Charice)
9. Alla Luce del Sole(Josh Groban)
10. Bridge Over Troubled Water(Josh Groban with Brian McKnight)
11. You Raise Me Up(Josh Groban)
12. Got To Be Real(All)
The David Foster official biography “Hitman: Forty Years Making Music, Topping the Charts, and Winning Grammys” will be also released in November 2008. A 272 pages hardcover book that every David Foster fan should pre-order it !
We’ve been contacted by David Foster and the Warner Music Group guys who are working on the forthcoming DVD of the David Foster & Friends special Vegas event.
They asked if we could post here a message asking fans who attended that event to send us photos they might have taken at the show or backstage for a possible inclusion on the DVD in a special “fan gallery.”
If you are willing to help David, send your photos to hitman143@hotmail.it and we’ll immediately forward them to WMG.
From FYI Music News:
ROBIN LEACH (LUXELIFE @ Las Vegas Weekly)
Pint-sized Charice entered the stage through a video screen of Whitney Houston’s blockbuster Bodyguard soundtrack medley. Charice’s extraordinary voice morphed out and over Whitney’s brilliant perfection and to be honest with you I couldn’t tell where Whitney ended and Charice began. It brought the audience to tears and their feet for an unbelievable standing ovation!
At the stars’ after-party in Wolfgang Puck’s Lupo Italian restaurant at Mandalay Bay tiny Charice told me: “This was the biggest day of my life. I can’t believe I was on stage with all those superstars. This is all more excitement than I can think of and I don’t know where it is going to lead to but I’d like to stay here and have Mr. Foster make me into one of his stars.”
Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban and Michael Bublè were just three of the $20 million worth of superstar talent who came to sing the praises of their Grammy winning songwriter record producer David Foster. It took more than three years to organize the never-to-be-repeated musical tribute at Mandalay Bay with Andre Agassi, Brian McKnight, Kenny G, Katharine McPhee, Boz Scaggs, Blake Shelton, Peter Cetera and Cheryl Lynn.
In the end it was a 16-year-old Filipino singer who was discovered by talk-show host Oprah Winfrey on MySpace that stole the show.
Said David: “I got a call from Oprah about this 16-year-old girl and when Oprah calls you pay attention. Oprah has been monitoring this girl and is in love with this girl, as we all are. She is an extraordinary talent and became a MySpace sensation. Listen to her and you understand why immediately, she is a heaven sent angel who is one-day going onto super stardom.”
Even Josh Groban was blown away: “There is nothing like a great musical surprise. When you hear or see something that blows your mind for the first time is great. I was waiting to go on after her, which wasn’t a good thing but I was standing there with my jaw on the floor. She has one of the most beautiful voices I have heard in a long time.”
Over his tremendously successful more than three-decade music career my longtime pal David is a 14-time Grammy winner from 42 nominations. “In 35-years this is my proudest moment- my greatest achievement. This was the biggest of the biggest.”“In 35-years this is my proudest moment- my greatest achievement. This was the biggest of the biggest.” David told me at the after party. “It all came off perfectly, we succeeded better than we ever dreamed possible.” He also executed the soundtracks of the Ghostbuster and Footloose movies in addition to writing and producing hits for Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Natalie Cole, and Madonna.
Backstage he explained to us the three-hour tribute concert which was taped by PBS cameras for an edited 90-minute TV special this December and an eventual DVD and CD release. “I think we sent out the invitations at the turn of the millennium! It’s like a memorial to me while I’m still alive, a tribute concert after my death. Three of our previous dates collapsed on our attempt to do this. Originally we were going to do it at Lake Las Vegas with Celine, but now she’s on a world tour unable to be here. Everybody’s schedule is so crazy so trying to get all them together under one roof was pretty impossible but thanks to the artists and their managers we pulled it off. We are missing Chaka Kahn, Kenny Loggins, and Natalie Cole. Michael Bublè is on vacation after six years of touring and a hundred million in the bank, so I don’t feel too bad for him. Andrea flew from Italy just to be here. Everybody has given and given. There is someone here for everyone. You won’t get a lot of them, but enough, unless your favorite artist is me, then you have me all night. I love PBS. Most of the people up here have done specials for PBS.”
Three days of rehearsals went into the spectacular production and Josh Groban explained why they all wanted to pay tribute: “Everybody here has been affected by David’s genius. He’s like the patriarch to us younger ones who look up to him. David found me when I was 17 and he allows singers to let their unique voice show through. He has watched all of us through our specials and concerts and we take the applause for so much of the work that we do with David, so we are honored and thrilled to honor him. “
Michael Bublè explained David’s brilliance: “There is always room to grow as an artist, and to give the fans what they like about you too. I am not different than anyone else up here, but I am Canadian. David Foster is an icon to us. I was so nervous. When you are a kid in Canada and you tell your parents you want to be a singer, everyone tells you the same thing, we need to get you to David Foster.”
Tennis champion Andre Agassi who recruited David as his musical director for his annual Vegas Grand Slam benefit concerts added: “ He made it possible for us to raise $75-million over 12 years and from that we are recapturing public education. I’m just grateful; that he and I hit it off so many years ago. How do you not comer to honor him? He goes out there to alter the world, has raised millions and millions of dollars, he is an inspiration to me and the work that I am doing. “ David chimed in: “ I have asked Andre at least 5 times to sing 5 bars. He is a music junkie, he cannot sing and will not sing. “ Retorted Andre: I would be a good singer if I wasn’t tone deaf.”
“I don’t know how to work with singers that can’t sing.” David continued. “ They are 95 percent there without my help; I can push them that much more. Andrea Bocelli to me is Mozart.”
That meant I just had to ask Bocelli how David had added that 5 percent to his career. “I learned a lot. David loves music and especially in pop music I had a lot to learn and he has a huge energy said Bocelli. “I go around the world and I am tired and when he arrives I feel something in my body changing. He spent time at my house, we work all day, and then we have dinner and do music again. I am here for him and tonight will be a beautiful night of music.”
Kenny G added: “One thing we don’t want to overlook, David helps Andrea out here in Vegas, and he does hundreds of things for charity. We are not here because he helped us in our career and we are more famous and made more money, we are looking at a guy who does so much charity work, I am here to help him.”
Among the VIP’s at the after-party for the historic once-in-a-lifetime concert were celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, TV stars Suzanne Somers and her husband Alan Hamel, MGM head honcho Terry Lanni, Oprah’s producer Lisa Erspamer and a host of heavyweight music and TV executives.
David who is currently working on a new Katharine McPhee album summed up: “I selected some songs for Josh and Andrea that maybe they wouldn’t have selected, but the whole body of work is mine, I broke the rules at least two or three times tonight. My life is flashing before my eyes. Do other recorded producers get to do this? I don’t know why everyone is here, but it’s a great show.”
With those words, Grammy-award winning composer and producer David Foster officially welcomed Charice to the musical world. And with those words, Charice made it to the consciousness of the audience inside the jampacked concert hall, who trooped to Vegas to watch a tribute to the musical genius that is Foster.
The event was the star-studded David Foster & Friends concert held Friday, May 23 at the Mandalay Bay Event Center. It was an almost fourhour musical extravaganza that featured tour de force performances from Foster’s friends such as Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Michael Buble, Katharine McPhee, Peter Cetera, Brian McKnight, Babyface, and Boz Scaggs.
Charice, a day after the once in a lifetime show, was still on a natural high the following day when we had a chance to chat. She was the penultimate performer to take the stage and Foster introduced her as someone whose talent “you’ve never seen before”. She sang a medley of I Have Nothing and I Will Always Love You, from the movie TheBodyguard.
After her stellar performance, the audience rose to its feet and awarded her with a standing ovation. Trying to contain her tears, Charice exchanged high-fives with Foster.
Only three other performers received a standing ovation when they performed, and rightly so.
Foster received his the moment he entered the stage, Bocelli got his in each and every song he did and Groban got his standing ovation after his four-song set.
After her medley, Charice performed And I Am Telling You, the song that catapulted her into world-wide YouTube fame. With such poise, grace and precision, the young singer belted her way out of the Dreamgirls song and earned yet another standing ovation from the audience. Charice approached Foster and they hugged.
This was when the audience got up on their feet and cheered for the young singer. “That was just incredible. I can’t think of anybody who can top that,” Foster said, “Charice, don’t forget that name.”
…
Concert viewers are one in claiming that Charice more than delivered the goods that night.
According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, “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.”
In between the medley and her second song, Charice responded to Foster’s question about her and where she came from.
“I’m from the Philippines and I started singing when I was 4,” she said, and the Filipinos applauded wildly. “May mga Pilipino ba diyan?” she asked, and was met by louder screams.
…
The Others
Tennis legend Andre Agassi introduced Foster and said that it was a great honor for him to introduce one of the greatest musical talents of our time. “He started with a vision, then it became a calling, and now it is a movement,” Agassi said as he described Foster’s other passion aside from music.
The musician has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for his own foundation which assists families with children in need of organ transplants and other causes such as the fight against cancer and AIDS.
One by one, a cavalcade of stars happened and performed a song or two with the man of the hour.
Kenny G, Michael Johns, Brian McKnight, Katharine McPhee, jazz artist Renee Olstead, Cheryl Lynn, country singer Blake Shelton, Boz Scaggs, Eric Benet, Peter Cetera and Andrea Bocelli, who was the finale of the first part of the show.
The second half opened with pianist William Joseph, followed by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Michael Buble, then Charice and Josh Groban, who served as the evening’s finale, and as Foster said, “the only one person tonight who can follow Charice”. Groban performed five songs, including his signature hit You Raise Me Up and a duet of Bridge Over Troubled Water with McKnight.
“He is going to be around for a very, very long time,” Foster said of Groban. The illustrious Bocelli, who flew from Tuscany just for the show, had a larger than life stage persona and the audience just lapped at every song he sang. I had goosebumps listening to the man. To describe him as amazing would be an understatement.
He performed The Prayer with American Idol alum McPhee, who was just resplendent and captivating every time she appeared onstage. McPhee’s natural charm and her melodious voice are a potent combination. Michael Buble was the wild one in the bunch. He goofed around both in his performances and during the spiels. It was a welcome sight, especially for those who always see him in very formal clothes during very formal gatherings. He had spot numbers and sang Save the Last Dance for Me and his own duet, with country crooner Shelton as they sang their hit Home.
“I truly had no idea of the magnitude of his talent,” Foster said of Buble before he introduced the singer.
The $2 million one-night only musical event was filmed for broadcast this December on all PBS stations nationwide while the CD/DVD of the show will be released by Warner Bros. this fall.
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 scalpela 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 Bublè 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.
Filipino singing sensation Charice Pempengco is set to star with Andrea Bocelli, Alicia Keys, Josh Groban and John Mayer in a concert tribute to songwriter David Foster on Friday (Saturday in Manila) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The concert will highlight the luminous career of Foster, one of the music industry’s most celebrated producers. He will be honored by a historic one-night-only live concert, David Foster and Friends.
This special tribute to Foster — the man and his music — is set to take place at the Event Center at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
The show will also feature a host of acclaimed performers, including Michael Buble, Babyface, Kenny G, Katharine McPhee, Brian McKnight, Boz Scaggs, piano virtuoso William Joseph, Renee Olstead, and Cheryl Lynn.
Foster, along with these artists, will be performing some of his biggest hits.
During Foster’s 35-year career as a songwriter, producer and 14-time Grammy winner, he has discovered and nurtured the careers of scores of artists, as well as creating chart-topping hits for Barbra Streisand, Céline Dion, Whitney Houston, The Corrs, Chaka Khan, Madonna, Josh Groban; Earth, Wind and Fire; Natalie Cole, Michael Bublé and many others.
“I am honored to be recognized in this way by so many of the artists I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the past three decades,” Foster says. “Not only are they supremely talented, but I also consider them dear friends, so I’m really looking forward to getting up onstage and spending the evening with some of my favorite people in the world.”
David Foster and Friends will be filmed for broadcast in December on PBS stations nationwide. A CD/DVD of the show will be released by Warner Bros. Records this fall.
Foster entered the music business in l973, quickly establishing himself as a sought-after session musician and premier keyboardist. By the end of that decade and throughout the next, he ventured into writing and producing and worked with such artists as Chicago, Hall and Oates, The Corrs; Earth, Wind and Fire, and Kenny Rogers, among others. In the ’90s, Foster’s producing credits included Natalie Cole’s Unforgettable, Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You, Barbra Streisand’s Somewhere, Toni Braxton’s Un-Break My Heart and Céline Dion’s Because You Love Me.
Other Foster hits include I Have Nothing (Whitney Houston), Tell Him (Barbra Streisand/ Céline Dion), Through the Fire (Chaka Khan), Got to Be Real (Cheryl Lynn), You’ll See (Madonna), The Prayer (Céline Dion/ Andrea Bocelli), Hard Habit to Break (Chicago), You’re the Inspiration (Chicago), Hard to Say I’m Sorry (Chicago), When I Fall In Love (Clive Griffin/Céline Dion), Who’s Holding Donna Now (DeBarge), Stand Up For Love (Destiny’s Child), After the Love Has Gone (Earth, Wind and Fire), Man in Motion (St. Elmo’s Fire) by John Parr, The Only One (Lionel Richie) and Glory of Love (Peter Cetera).
Check out David Cavazos‘ album, to be released on May 13th by Warner Music Latin America.
His style is pop, r&b with a hint of jazz and he writes his own stuff too. David Foster and Humberto Gatica teamed again to bring the best.
David Foster has credits on Clay Aiken’s new album “On my way here”, released May 6th by 19 Recordings/RCA. Also his sister Jaymes Foster will once again be back executive producer.
The album includes the long-waited song “Lover all alone”, co-penned and produced by David: it was available only on iTunes.
Update May 8th 2008: David is also listed as playing piano on the track “The Real Me”.
Clay Aiken
“Lover All Alone”
[Clay Aiken / David Foster / Emanuel Kiriakou]
Maybe I’ve convinced myself I’ve really been in love
And I’ve been wrong, all along
For all I know, the feeling and the picture
That I’ve tried so hard to find isn’t mine
Could be, it’s all just a waiting game
Wanna share my everything…
Chorus:
And on my own, it’s hard to tell my heart it’ll be alright
This love it holds will one day find a home
As hard as love can be, it’s harder still, it seems
To be a lover all alone without love
Picking up the pieces makes me wonder if
I only build it all to watch it fall
The faster it can go away it means that less of me
Is gone to stay, and I’m OK
But lonesome tomorrow comes anyway
I’m alone for another day, another day…
Chorus:
And on my own, it’s hard to tell my heart it’ll be alright
That this love it holds will one day find a home
As hard as love can be, it’s harder still, it seems
To be a lover all alone without love
Repeat Chorus
A lover all alone without love
Maybe I’ve convinced myself I’ve really been in love
But I’ve been wrong, all along…
by BWW News Desk
Internationally-renowned vocalist Josh Groban released a brand-new live CD/DVD — titled Awake Live — on Reprise/143 Records on May 6th, 2008. Directed by Hamish Hamilton, Awake Live captures the Grammy Award-winning singer’s exhilarating performance at Salt Lake City’s EnergySolutions Arena before a sold-out crowd of 15,000 thrilled fans on August 28th, 2007. In its review of the tour, the New York Times raved that Groban has “the power to knock the arena senseless.”
While the DVD includes favorites from Groban’s three best-selling albums, including “Canto Alla Vita” and “Alla Luce del Sole” from his double-platinum self-titled 2001 debut, and “You Raise Me Up” and “Remember When It Rained” from the multi-platinum 2003 album Closer, the majority of the songs are from Awake, including the singles “You Are Loved (Don’t Give Up),” “February Song,” and “Lullaby.” Released in September 2006, Awake debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard album chart and has sold more than two million copies in the U.S. The DVD contains the entire 100-minute concert from Salt Lake City, as well as behind-the-scenes “Making of the Tour” footage. Groban launched the Awake tour in Verona, NY, in February 2007 and performed at sold-out arenas across the country before concluding the first U.S. leg in April 2007 in Las Vegas. After a European leg, the tour resumed in the States in July for 27 more North American dates through early September 2007.
Awake Live is Groban’s third live DVD, following 2002’s Josh Groban in Concert and 2004’s Live at the Greek. The Salt Lake City location was selected in honor of his first arena concert, which occurred in the same city. Groban also sang at the closing ceremony for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, a performance that was seen by more than two billion people.
While touring the world in support of Awake, the 27-year-old Los Angeles native also released a Christmas album, Noël, which not only spent five consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the album chart, but was also the top-selling album of 2007. In February, Groban performed at the 2008 Grammy Awards with Andrea Bocelli in a tribute to the late Luciano Pavarotti.
For more about Josh Groban, including information about an exclusive fan-club edition of Awake Live, please visit his official website, www.joshgroban.com.
Track Listings
Disc: 1
1. Mai
2. February Song
3. In Her Eyes
4. So She Dances
5. Un Dia Llegara
6. Pearls
7. Weeping
8. Machine
9. Awake
Disc: 2
1. You Are Loved (Don’t Give Up)
2. Mai
3. Un Dia Llegara
4. Un Giorno Per Noir
5. Now Or Never
6. So She Dances
7. February Song
8. Alla Luce Del Sole
9. Aurora (excerpt from The Sibelius Violin
10. Concerto) (Lucia Micarelli)
11. Kashmir (Lucia Micarelli Solo)
12. In Her Eyes
13. Pearls (Duet with Angelique Kidjo)
14. L’ultima Notte
15. Remember When It Rained
16. Lullaby
17. Weeping
18. Machine
19. Canto Alla Vita
20. You Raise Me Up
21. Awake
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