Post by Susanelizabeth28 on May 14, 2004 20:06:31 GMT -5
Farewell to Cher - queen of the divas
Kevin Bourke
Cher play the Arena on May 17
LET'S face it, we've all grown terribly cynical about so-called
"farewell" tours. So there was some scepticism when Cher
called her world tour, arriving at the Manchester Evening News
Arena on Monday, May 17 "The Farewell Tour". But, it seems,
the lady's not for turning.
"I've become tired of the travelling, eating bad food and not
getting enough sleep," the soon-to-be-58-year-old recently
proclaimed. "I'm not kidding about `Farewell'. But I'm not
retiring. I'm planning another album.
"I'll never turn my back on singing but it's the last time I'll take
off around the world like this. It's too hard. The schedule would
break the back of a 25 year old, yet here I am at 57.
"Plus I know this is as good as I'm ever going to be, I'd rather
bow out at the top than have people say `Yeah, but she was
better last time around'."
Chums
Speaking of the many young pretenders to her throne, her
recent live shows have featured her challenging J-Lo, Britney,
Christina and all their little chums to "follow this, you b**ches".
Cue, of course, delirious applause from a devoted audience
that she characterises as "ladies, gentlemen and flamboyant
gentlemen!"
The North American leg of the `Farewell Tour' spanned 202
shows, including six massive sold-out nights at New York's
Madison Square Garden.
During the tour, which began in June, 2001 and did not finish
until early this year, Cher played to a remarkable 2.2m fans in
what became the biggest US tour ever by a female artist.
A two-hour TV concert special filmed at Miami was watched by
more than 17m Americans, their highest rated music programme
in almost four years.
"I toured so long in America I wasn't sure I would make it
overseas," she says. "I'm very proud of this show. I think I'm
going out on a high and I wanted to share it with all my UK
fans."
Charted
She has, as the publicity machine doesn't miss an opportunity
to remind us, charted consistently since the sixties.
Such longevity cannot be solely due to the skills of her various
personal and musical collaborators but she herself puts it down
to perspiration rather than inspiration.
"People far more talented than me have fallen by the wayside,
so I can't claim it's because I'm better than anyone else," she
candidly admits.
"All I can say is that I've been flexible and that's a big help
when it comes to survival. Whenever I've hit a dead end in one
area of my career, I've just tried my hand at something else.
"Singing, recording, TV, cabaret, stage acting, film acting,
directing - I've never been afraid to try something new, even if
it's out of necessity. Adapt or die, they say, and I really think it's
true."
Cher performs at the Manchester Evening News Arena on
Monday, May 17. Tickets are £35-£45 - to book, call 0870 060
1768 or visit the website below.
Kevin Bourke
Cher play the Arena on May 17
LET'S face it, we've all grown terribly cynical about so-called
"farewell" tours. So there was some scepticism when Cher
called her world tour, arriving at the Manchester Evening News
Arena on Monday, May 17 "The Farewell Tour". But, it seems,
the lady's not for turning.
"I've become tired of the travelling, eating bad food and not
getting enough sleep," the soon-to-be-58-year-old recently
proclaimed. "I'm not kidding about `Farewell'. But I'm not
retiring. I'm planning another album.
"I'll never turn my back on singing but it's the last time I'll take
off around the world like this. It's too hard. The schedule would
break the back of a 25 year old, yet here I am at 57.
"Plus I know this is as good as I'm ever going to be, I'd rather
bow out at the top than have people say `Yeah, but she was
better last time around'."
Chums
Speaking of the many young pretenders to her throne, her
recent live shows have featured her challenging J-Lo, Britney,
Christina and all their little chums to "follow this, you b**ches".
Cue, of course, delirious applause from a devoted audience
that she characterises as "ladies, gentlemen and flamboyant
gentlemen!"
The North American leg of the `Farewell Tour' spanned 202
shows, including six massive sold-out nights at New York's
Madison Square Garden.
During the tour, which began in June, 2001 and did not finish
until early this year, Cher played to a remarkable 2.2m fans in
what became the biggest US tour ever by a female artist.
A two-hour TV concert special filmed at Miami was watched by
more than 17m Americans, their highest rated music programme
in almost four years.
"I toured so long in America I wasn't sure I would make it
overseas," she says. "I'm very proud of this show. I think I'm
going out on a high and I wanted to share it with all my UK
fans."
Charted
She has, as the publicity machine doesn't miss an opportunity
to remind us, charted consistently since the sixties.
Such longevity cannot be solely due to the skills of her various
personal and musical collaborators but she herself puts it down
to perspiration rather than inspiration.
"People far more talented than me have fallen by the wayside,
so I can't claim it's because I'm better than anyone else," she
candidly admits.
"All I can say is that I've been flexible and that's a big help
when it comes to survival. Whenever I've hit a dead end in one
area of my career, I've just tried my hand at something else.
"Singing, recording, TV, cabaret, stage acting, film acting,
directing - I've never been afraid to try something new, even if
it's out of necessity. Adapt or die, they say, and I really think it's
true."
Cher performs at the Manchester Evening News Arena on
Monday, May 17. Tickets are £35-£45 - to book, call 0870 060
1768 or visit the website below.
