By Jay Lustig/The Star-Ledger
October 25, 2009, 1:29PM
The tour is called “David Foster and Friends.” And after more than 30 years as one of the pop world’s most successful songwriter-producers, Foster has plenty of friends to call on.
Peter Cetera (formerly of Chicago) and Philip Bailey (of Earth, Wind and Fire) were there when the tour hit the Prudential Center in Newark, Saturday. So were Deborah Cox, “American Idol” alumni Ruben Studdard and Michael Johns, and the quartet, the Canadian Tenors. But the closing slot went to a woman who has not released an album in the United States yet: Charice, a 17-year-old from the Philippines who is well known her own country, and is being mentored by Foster for worldwide stardom.
She has a big voice and, like another Foster protege, Celine Dion, projects a sense of steely determination when she sings. In this show, she was called on to belt out songs Foster has produced and/or co-written for divas Dion (”The Power of Love”) and Whitney Houston (”I Will Always Love You,” “I Have Nothing”), as well as her own Foster-produced single, “Note To God.” Her poise and vocal command were impressive, especially in light of her youth. She ended her memorable mini-set with “I Will Survive,” one of the few songs in the show that Foster didn’t write or produce.
As expected, it was an evening of clean-cut, immaculately crafted pop music. Foster never has been hip, but his knack for helping singers make the most of their talents — two of his recent finds are Josh Groban and Michael Buble — is beyond question.
Foster, 59, served as the show’s amiable host, and accompanied everyone on piano. At several points, he emphasized that this was the third show of his first tour, ever.
Johns sang two of Foster’s rock hits: “She’s a Beauty” and “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion),” recorded by the Tubes and John Parr, respectively. The show’s three backing vocalists, meanwhile, tackled the “West Side Story” ballad “Somewhere” (which Foster produced for Barbra Streisand) and “Got To Be Real,” his disco hit with Cheryl Lynn.
Studdard stood in for Al Jarreau (the swinging “Mornin’”) and All-4-One (the earnest “I Swear”), and brought a touch of blues grit to “Home,” a hit for both Buble and country singer Blake Shelton.
Cetera and Bailey sang some of the buttery pop-soul hits they have made with Foster, and also briefly touched on their non-Foster history — Bailey with an excerpt from “Easy Lover,” Cetera with “If You Leave Me Now.”
Foster will soon embark on his second tour, joining Andrea Bocelli to perform songs from Bocelli’s upcoming, Foster-produced holiday album, “My Christmas.” Stops will include the Izod Center in East Rutherford, Dec. 5.
Michael Johns singing “Man In Motion”David Foster and Friends NJ 10/24
Peter Cetera “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” at David Foster NYC 10/23
Michael Johns and Peter Cetera Hard Habit to Break
David Foster playing St. Elmo’s Fire theme song
David Foster and Friends: Ruben Studdard - I Swear
David Foster and Friends: Ruben Studdard - Home
David Foster and Friends (Chicago): Charice - Bodyguard Medley
David Foster & Friends (BOSTON): Charice - Somewhere Over The Rainbow
David Foster & Friends: Canadian Tenors - Halleluiah
David Foster & Friends (BOSTON): Charice - Note to God
David Foster & Friends (BOSTON): Charice - The Power of Love
Deborah Cox and Cody Karey “The Prayer” @ David Foster & Friends concert 2009 w/ Charice
David Foster and Friends - America’s Song - Boston 10/25/09
David Foster and Friends (New Jersey): Charice - “I Will Survive”
Deborah Cox - “Un-break My Heart” - David Foster & Friends Concert Tour, Chicago
Deborah Cox - “Through The Fire” - David Foster & Friends Concert Tour, Chicago
One of the first producers Celine worked with on her inaugural English album ‘Unison’ was David Foster. That sparked a musical relationship that has spanned decades. David has produced some of Celine’s greatest hits, including “All By Myself” and the timeless classic “Because You Loved Me”. Starting this month, David will hit the road for his 10-city David Foster & Friends Tour and Celine couldn’t be happier for him:
“Hi David! I really want to congratulate you on your first North American tour this fall! I’ve heard so much about it and it’s great that you’re celebrating your 60th birthday this way. It’s so great to see you bringing good music to all of us and discovering new talent. Best wishes and thanks again for everything we’ve done together.
NEW YORK - (Business Wire) Famed musical showman, producer and songwriter David Foster and some of his talented friends will be embarking on a 10-city tour of “David Foster and Friends” starting in Chicago on October 21st, including stops in New York, Boston, LA, Vancouver, Miami and other markets, it was confirmed today by Warner Bros. Records. In addition to such artists as Philip Bailey from the chart-topping Earth, Wind and Fire, Oprah protégé Charice, Chicago’s Peter Cetera and American Idol’s Michael Johns, fans can expect surprise visits at every show.
Foster, who has an unparalleled four-decade career producing, writing, discovering and nurturing some of the greatest talents in music, has added a special event to the “Foster and Friends Show” - a HIT MAN Talent Search for emerging artists that will take place in each city. Talent in each market will compete to be the next mega-artist by submitting video performances to NAMEDROP.COM. Following the pre-selection, radio and TV stations in their markets will air the selected video/audio clips and viewers/listeners will vote for the two finalists via station websites. The two finalists get to perform with Foster in front of a live audience during the Foster and Friends Concert. The audience and Foster will choose the final winner, who will be flown to Vancouver on November 8th for a final showdown in Foster’s home town.
With one of Hollywood’s most impressive phone books, Foster has yet to reveal which guests might visit him on stage during the tour. “Cher and Donny Osmond both surprised me in Las Vegas so I think people won’t be disappointed. I can certainly say each show will be very special and loads of fun. You never know what’s going to happen with this much talent on stage,” commented Foster who performed two sold out shows at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas recently.
Foster, a 15-time Grammy winner whose PBS Great Performances Special, “David Foster and Friends” was the highest pledged PBS show in history, will perform with his friends some of the hits that have paved the way for the many artists that he has worked with over the years, including Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Josh Groban, Celine Dion, Michael Bublé, Andrea Bocelli, Chaka Khan, Madonna, Chicago and The Corrs. Foster recently produced Seal’s critically acclaimed, “Soul” CD, Michael Bublé’s upcoming “Crazy Love” CD and a cut on Whitney Houston’s new CD. He is also in the studio with Oprah discovery Charice, who received five standing ovations during her recent performance in Las Vegas. David Foster’s current DVD/CD “Foster and Friends” is available on 143/Reprise Records.
Tour dates are as follows:
21-Oct Chicago, IL Wed Rosemont Theatre
23-Oct New York, NY Fri WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden
24-Oct Newark, NJ Sat Prudential Center
25-Oct Boston, MA Sun Agganis Arena
28-Oct Atlanta, GA Wed Fox Theatre
30-Oct Tampa, FL Fri St. Pete Times Forum
1-Nov Hollywood, FL Sun Hard Rock Live
5-Nov Los Angeles, CA Thur Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal City Walk
6-Nov San Jose, CA Fri HP Pavilion
8-Nov Vancouver, BC Sun General Motors Place
Teenage star Charice Pempengco was one of the many performers who appeared at a concert organized by David Foster on Saturday, May 9.
The 17-year-old joined Cher, Clay Aiken, Donny Osmond, Brian McKnight and Paul Anka at the David Foster & Friends concert at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas to raise money for the David Foster Foundation, an organization established by the legendary composer and music producer in 1986 to provide financial and emotional help to the families of children needing organ transplants.
During the show, Charice thanked Foster and Oprah Winfrey for their help in her career.
“I would like to mention these people who are very special in my life,“ she said. “First, he is my fan, my producer, my mentor. He taught me a lot of things and of course he is my hero — David Foster. And of course I want to thank Oprah for believing in my dreams and of course believing in me. Thank you so much. I love you both.“
Foster has a long history of charitable efforts to help children. In 1997 he was honored with the United States Children’s Choice Award for his work supporting research into children’s cancer, leukemia, and AIDS.
David Foster and Friends - Mandalay Bay 5/9/09 videos from YouTube:
“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.
In what promises to be the live concert event of the year, many of music’s most beloved stars, including Andrea Bocelli, Michael Buble, and Josh Groban, will come together on May 23rd to celebrate a man who has written and produced some of their biggest hits: David Foster.
“David Foster and Friends,” a one-night-only live concert to take place at the Events Center at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, will feature Foster performing the hits he has written or produced with many of the artists he has worked with over the course of his 35-year career. During that time, Foster has discovered and nurtured the careers of Groban, Buble, and The Corrs, as well as created chart-topping hits for such legends as Andrea Bocelli, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Madonna, Whitney Houston, and Chaka Khan.
“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.”
Foster entered the music business in 1973, quickly establishing himself as a sought-after session musician and the industry’s premier keyboardist. By the end of the ’70s, he had ventured into writing and producing, working with such artists as Earth, Wind and Fire, Chicago, Hall and Oates, and Kenny Rogers, among many others throughout the ’80s. In the ’90s, Foster’s producing credits included Natalie Cole’s “Unforgettable,” Barbra Streisand’s “Somewhere,” Toni Braxton’s “Unbreak My Heart,” Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” and Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me.” Foster is a 14-time Grammy-Award winner with an unprecedented 43 nominations, an Emmy-Award winner, and a three-time Academy-Award nominee.
“David Foster and Friends” will be filmed for broadcast in December on PBS stations nationwide. In addition, a CD/DVD of the show will be released by Warner Bros. Records this fall. Tickets for the show go on sale Saturday, April 5th at noon through Ticketmaster and the Mandalay Bay box office online HERE.
“David Foster and Friends,” a tribute to the celebrated composer/producer featuring Josh Groban, Michael Buble, Andrea Bocelli, Katharine McPhee and others, takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on May 23. Tickets are $175 and $275 and go on sale at noon Saturday at the Mandalay Bay box office, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South, and Ticketmaster outlets.
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