|
 |
| Millennium
Stadium |
For
this special benefit concert, UKMark and DutchMark headed of
to Cardiff again; not just to write this report, but also to
enjoy ourselves and have a great evening!
We
arrived early afternoon so we had plenty of time to check out the
newspapers to see what we could expect of this
evening. We were surprised to find so many features on Charlotte. We also went to the
Millennium Stadium and bought a
program.
At
about 6 PM, we arrived at the Millennium Stadium and made
our way to our seats. UKMark had bought tickets just after the
concert was announced, so we had very good seats; 7th row,
about 40 feet from the main stage. It was a very impressive
looking venue and the 35000 people or so made for quite an
atmosphere. The crowd were mostly teenagers and parents with
young
children.
| It's
show time:
The concert begins |
The
concert started with a big dance number from a musical (at least we
think this is what it was - the concert programme had been
improved considerably since the brochure was prepared some
weeks earlier.
'H'
from Steps and Josie D'Arby were there for the official concert
introduction.
It
was then time for the first in a long line of well known bands to
make their appearance. The unique thing about tonight's concert
was that you would see artists perform songs that you would
normally not expect them to perform. So we were in for some
big surprises! S Club 7 did two songs, Have
you ever and Bring him home
from Les Miserables. This last song was sung by Jo and John.
Next
was Kim Criswell singing the well known song Don't
Cry for Me Argentina from Evita.
Avery
Salsman was next with his rendition of the really funky song,
as Charlotte would say, called You're
Rocking the Boat from Guys & Dolls.
Heather
Nova flew over from Los Angeles to sing Losing
My Mind from Follies.
Midge
Ure, who organised this event, had selected the title
song from The Phantom of the Opera,
featuring Heather Nova.
We
had seen Russell Watson perform in July, during, during the Picnic with Pavarotti concert which also featured Vanessa
Mae and, of course, Charlotte. Russell sang another song from the Phantom called the
Music of the Night.
Ruthie
Henshall did a really beautiful rendition of Send
in the Clowns from A Little Night Music. This has
always been one of DutchMarks favourite songs.
A
group of children had been rehearsing on The
Lost Boys' Gang from the musical Peter Pan and did a
really excellent job. It was full of energy.
Midge Ure
appeared on stage again to talk to the audience about the Red
Hot Aids Charity and the BBC's Children In Need appeal. Raising funds for
these charities was after all the reason for this concert.
What
else could we expect from Atomic Kitten but to sing a song
from the well known musical Cats. They sang a really good
rendition of Macavity. We had no
idea these girls could sing so well!
Paul
Keating performed a high energy song called Positive
Role Model from Closer to Heaven.
We
knew Charlotte was only going to perform a few numbers but
this was a very special event in any case and we knew we would
enjoy the rest of the show as well. What we weren't prepared
for was just what a special performance Charlotte would give
her home crowd in Cardiff.
By
now you will all have seen Charlotte's costume for her first
two numbers. We loved it, but we will let the pictures speak
for themselves. For her first song, Charlotte sang Somewhere
from West Side Story, one of the tracks on her new CD
Enchantment (see our special feature).
Before
her next song, Charlotte chatted to the crowd for a few
minutes. She spoke of how great it was to be performing in
Cardiff in the Millennium Stadium and how she was really proud
to be Welsh. The crowd really loved this.
She
told us she was going to do a really different song from what
she normally sings called Don't Rain on
My Parade from Funny girl. She was going to use a very different
voice for this song, her "belter" voice! You really should have been there!!! This was a really unique
performance from Charlotte, looking and sounding like never
before. It
sounded really cheeky and her leather outfit complemented this
song really well.
With
a medley from 42nd Street
starring different artists, the first part of the show ended.
| After
intermission:
More fun to come... |
The
orchestra and a dance group started of after the intermission with
The Dance at the Gym the West
Side Story.
Blue
performed the next song, Something's
Coming again, from the West Side Story.
Next
was a medley of songs from Miss Saigon: The
Heat is On, The Last Night of the
World and Bui Dai,
performed by various artists.
Petula
Clark continued with Tell
Me It's Not True from Blood Brothers.
Of
course you could have expected a couple of songs from the
Musical Annie. A group of young children performed It's
a Hard-Knock Life followed by Tomorrow
performed by Kim Chriswell.
A1
appeared again and sang One Night in
Bangkok from Chess.
They
continued with a well known song from the Blues Brothers,
called Everybody Needs Somebody.
The audience went wild over this one.
Petula
Clark appeared one more time and sang With
One Look from Sunset Boulevard.
After
that, it was time for Steps. You could hear the release
of energy from some teenagers in the audience who had been
waiting to see their idols all night. They performed I Know Him So
Well from Chess, and Tragedy
from Saturday Night Fever.
Before
the grand-finale, Ruthie Henshall performed her rendition of the
title song of Mamma Mia, the ABBA
musical.
As
announced in the brochure, Charlotte concluded the evening with You'll Never Walk Alone
from Carousel. Charlotte was wearing a very attractive dress (see
the pictures below). About half-way through the song, all the performers
appeared again from the evening appeared again to join Charlotte on stage and
accompany her with the chorus.
The
children from Annie waved their goodbyes to the audience, and
the stars left the stage.
The
next couple of pictures give you an impression of the inside
of the Millennium Stadium. They also show the live orchestra, situated on the left side of the stage. As we
left the Stadium, we spotted two limousines which were probably
carrying some of the evening's performers.
Another
fantastic evening! We look forward to seeing it all over again
when it is shown by the BBC (in the UK) in November. Check the
site for local details.
-
Mark
and Mark (DutchMark and UKMark)
|
