Reported by a number of different sources in Ukraine, apparently Sir Elton John was to have been in Yalta on Saturday to sing for former President Kuchma's 70th birthday. Rumors have it that the price tag for such a little birthday gift was in the range of 5 million USD, however, this is not easy to confirm.
Though it wouldn't surprise me if Pinchuk wanted to make sure he stayed in his "father-in-laws" good books and paid for Sir Elton's second visit to Ukraine. Would it not been more constructive for such money to help the people of the flooded western regions of Ukraine. Obviously not!
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Showing posts with label Elton John. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elton John. Show all posts
Monday, August 11, 2008
Monday, June 18, 2007
The Sir Elton John Show - Who I want to see in Concert if I'm a Ukrainian Billionaire
Like almost two hundred thousand other people in Kyiv I headed down towards Maydan Nezalezhnosti on Saturday June 16 in order to see a living legend. Yes, at 60 years old one can consider Sir Elton John can be considered a living legend. I had earlier predicted that I would probably watch the concert on television, and I was right. With the number of people that were at the concert, there was no way that I was going stand, especially for what turned out to be a two hour and twenty minute gig, surrounded by thousands of Ukrainians who some day will be able to tell their kids or grand kids. "I saw Elton John on Maydan back in 2007!" Well that's if being at the concert really meant anything to them, or if they were part of the so many flocks of sheep in Ukraine that just go to events if they are free.
Whatever my comments are worth I would like to make a simple observation, which I believe will confirm my belief that the music listening public as well as those in radio in this country have a long way to go regarding understanding what has transpired in the international music industry over the last 40 years, and what good music is.
In any recording of concerts of Sir Elton John I've seen right from the first note his fans have sang along to all of his songs during the concert. While I can't say say that I know every single song of Sir Elton's but I definitely know the words to nearly all his early material released on his first albums Honky Chateau, Don't Shoot me I'm Only the Piano Player and Good Bye Yellow Brick Road. By the look on his face at times during his performance on Saturday, Sir Elton was surprised that practically no one was singing along with him during the songs that most Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers in the west grew up with to some degree or less.
One might be able to say, "Well Ukraine never had a chance to listen to that music!" OK if that is the excuse, let's not forget that the Iron Curtain fell over 15 years ago.
Who is it that forms the listening tastes of Ukrainians? To my knowledge there are some radio stations in this country that have a play lists of over 10,000 songs, out of that number there must be some other good music other than what actually gets played. So what am I getting at here... In short DJ's on those radio stations know very little about the music they have at their disposal. Some of the recorded concerts I have seen of Sir Elton have been in countries which were under the influence of the USSR where western music was not exactly given a green light, but at most of those concerts in those countries everyone was singing along.
Where as this wasn't the case last Saturday. Well there was one exception, those who were at the Drum watching the concert on Victor Pinchuk's Noviy Kanal.
While I never met her personally, the young woman who was with Sean Carr's guitarist Mick, whom I have met, was singing along to many of the songs.
Whatever my comments are worth I would like to make a simple observation, which I believe will confirm my belief that the music listening public as well as those in radio in this country have a long way to go regarding understanding what has transpired in the international music industry over the last 40 years, and what good music is.
In any recording of concerts of Sir Elton John I've seen right from the first note his fans have sang along to all of his songs during the concert. While I can't say say that I know every single song of Sir Elton's but I definitely know the words to nearly all his early material released on his first albums Honky Chateau, Don't Shoot me I'm Only the Piano Player and Good Bye Yellow Brick Road. By the look on his face at times during his performance on Saturday, Sir Elton was surprised that practically no one was singing along with him during the songs that most Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers in the west grew up with to some degree or less.
One might be able to say, "Well Ukraine never had a chance to listen to that music!" OK if that is the excuse, let's not forget that the Iron Curtain fell over 15 years ago.
Who is it that forms the listening tastes of Ukrainians? To my knowledge there are some radio stations in this country that have a play lists of over 10,000 songs, out of that number there must be some other good music other than what actually gets played. So what am I getting at here... In short DJ's on those radio stations know very little about the music they have at their disposal. Some of the recorded concerts I have seen of Sir Elton have been in countries which were under the influence of the USSR where western music was not exactly given a green light, but at most of those concerts in those countries everyone was singing along.
Where as this wasn't the case last Saturday. Well there was one exception, those who were at the Drum watching the concert on Victor Pinchuk's Noviy Kanal.
While I never met her personally, the young woman who was with Sean Carr's guitarist Mick, whom I have met, was singing along to many of the songs.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Elton John - AIDS awareness
A number of months back a good friend of mine told me that Elton John would be coming to Kyiv for a concert, though he wasn't sure of who was bringing Sir Elton in. First there was speculation that it was the mobile operator Life, and Ukraine's richest man Renat Akhmetov, after all last summer at around the same time we saw Canadian rocker Brian Adams in town. In the last week or two it has become perfectly clear that Victor Pinchuk was bringing him in as part of an AIDS awareness campaign that his foundation is involved in. There has been plenty of advertising, and the show will be broadcast live on Novyj Kanal.
I am certain that it will be sheer pandemonium no Maydan Nezalezhnosti tomorrow, after all it is not every day that knighted performers perform in Kyiv let alone Ukraine. And it is no surprise why. There are a couple of reasons. First and foremost Ukraine lacks appropriate venues for concerts of such a scale, in fact Kyiv lacks venues for some of its upcoming talent, and safety issues are something that organizers must always consider. I recall shortly after I arrived in Kyiv in 1999, there was a fatal incident in Minsk, Belarus in which 53 people died.
One of the second problems of well known groups coming into this country is the poorly developed audience awareness and how this effects promoters. A good example of this was the Chick Correa concert in Kyiv held at Palats Ukrainy, the organizers went into the red by $60,000. I'm not sure what Victor Pinchuk is paying Sir Elton, or whether the later is doing this as part of his goodwill work for AIDS Awarness, the case is clear until we have radio in Ukraine that not only promotes but educates listeners on the diversity of music in the world, and a number of excellent venues, Ukrainians will not have the opportunity to listen to some of the best in the world, and as a result become more aware of the world around them, and not just the of mostly second rate music that our 'big brother' ships south of his border.
When I started this musing I wasn't sure where it would lead. Maybe, I will watch the gig on TV, or maybe I will venture out close enough to Maydan to determine on whether Sir Elton will actually be singing live, and not a la Milli Vanilli.
I am certain that it will be sheer pandemonium no Maydan Nezalezhnosti tomorrow, after all it is not every day that knighted performers perform in Kyiv let alone Ukraine. And it is no surprise why. There are a couple of reasons. First and foremost Ukraine lacks appropriate venues for concerts of such a scale, in fact Kyiv lacks venues for some of its upcoming talent, and safety issues are something that organizers must always consider. I recall shortly after I arrived in Kyiv in 1999, there was a fatal incident in Minsk, Belarus in which 53 people died.
One of the second problems of well known groups coming into this country is the poorly developed audience awareness and how this effects promoters. A good example of this was the Chick Correa concert in Kyiv held at Palats Ukrainy, the organizers went into the red by $60,000. I'm not sure what Victor Pinchuk is paying Sir Elton, or whether the later is doing this as part of his goodwill work for AIDS Awarness, the case is clear until we have radio in Ukraine that not only promotes but educates listeners on the diversity of music in the world, and a number of excellent venues, Ukrainians will not have the opportunity to listen to some of the best in the world, and as a result become more aware of the world around them, and not just the of mostly second rate music that our 'big brother' ships south of his border.
When I started this musing I wasn't sure where it would lead. Maybe, I will watch the gig on TV, or maybe I will venture out close enough to Maydan to determine on whether Sir Elton will actually be singing live, and not a la Milli Vanilli.
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