On Saturday night, ITV in the UK broadcast the Elton John special which was reported here earlier. The show was brilliant, lasting 90 mins with very few commercial breaks. Elton played several songs, including Abide With Me with the Black Dyke Mills Band and the Kingdom Choir; If The River Can Bend with the Kingdom Choir; Believe / Song for Guy with the Pet Shop Boys; Come Down In Time with Sting; Don't Go Breaking My Heart with The Spice Girls; and Something About The Way You Look Tonight, Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, Philadelphia Freedom, Can You Feel The Love Tonight, and Your Song.
The show was excellent - Elton was in great form, a lot better than he seemed on Conan O'Brien. He really pulled the p**s out of his guests (and himself). John Reid and David Furnish were in the front row along with Kiki Dee. The list of celebrities is endless. They all obviously enjoyed themselves.
Elton was funny coming out with some great one-liners. I think this is probably Elton's finest TV appearance ever, and it should help the album greatly in the UK, as it may have been ignored otherwise.
Brian also submitted this more detailed article:
A longer review, as promised
The byline "Elton John / Richard E. Grant" is not one which is easily recognisable as being associated with the classic songs of our time, but when the British actor handed Elton John the instruction booklet for his oven, a highly amusing an catchy melody ensued, entitled Conventional Oven Thermostsat. And this classic was written in a matter of five minutes on primetime British TV during Elton John's "An Audience With..." special for LWT.
The 90-minute special was commissioned by LWT before the recent tragic deaths of John's close friends Gianni Versace and Diana, Princess of Wales. He went ahead with the taping of the special the day after his Candle in the Wind 1997 tribute to Princess Diana was released in the UK. The assembled celelbrities in an invited audience of 580 guests asked Elton personal questions to which he provided candid and hilarious answers, mingled with performances of old favourites and new material from his new Rocket album The Big Picture.
The playlist for the evening was
Elton was in great voice for the entire show, with particular musical highlights being the Pet Shop Boys' amalgam of Believe and Song for Guy which had Elton dancing to the uptempo track. The Kingdom Choir added power to the brilliant live rendition of the new track, If The River Can Bend.
Celebrities including Cher, the Spice Girls, Sir George Martin, Graham Taylor (Watford General Manager), Greg Rusedski, Kathleen Turner, Roger Taylor (of Queen), Stephen Fry, Mel Smith, Griff Rhys Jones (British actors/comedians), Timothy Dalton and more asked Elton different questions, to which Elton gave witty replies, reducing the audience to fits of laughter. For example, Mel B, of the Spice Girls asked Elton whom he would have in "The Spice Boys" - Rod Stewart would be Mingy Spice, George Michael would be Hairy Spice and Sting would be Tantric Spice ! Elton himself would have to be Mince Spice !
He told Cher he was "shy, generous, temperamental, fabulous - just an old tart, basically!"
And he explained to Sir George Martin how he would never again sing the new version of Candle in the Wind, as it would stir up too many memories. He showed real concern for Princes William and Harry that they would not be subjected to seeing Elton on TV for years to come singing that song live.
Claudia Schiffer helped Elton hand out various garish costumes from his past, insisting that members of the audience wear them (his victims included Linford Christie & Ewan McGregor.
This was definitely one of the highlights of the Autumn TV schedule in the UK, showing Elton in the best possible light - an artist and performer enjoying their ongoing popularity and displaying talents for songwriting, performance and comedy. He is an all-round entertainer in the truest sense.
Brian O'Donnell Galway IRELAND Brian.O'Donnell@dtti.ie
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