Est. 1998
Preparations have been in full swing for the world’s largest ever charity pop concert, ‘Michael Jackson and Friends What More Can I Give’, to be staged at Chamsil Stadium in eastern Seoul for four hours from 7 p.m. on June 25th. The day will mark the 49th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War (1950-53). The event is reported to be on a similar scale to the ‘Live Aid’ concert that was staged by pop stars of the United States and Britain in 1985 to raise funds for African refugees.
It will be a monumental pop concert in Korea just because of the fact that 16 world pop groups, including Michael, will perform and all revenue from the concert, excluding the 45-percent overhead in taxes and operation costs, will be used to aid hungry children in the world.
The 4-hour concert will mobilize 125 dancers and chorus members, and 200 assorted staff members. They have already reserved some 400 rooms at top-class hotels in Seoul. Stage equipment, weighing as much as 400 tons, was brought into Pusan Tuesday on a container ship. Workers began setting the stage today. Organizers said the event will consume electricity equivalent to that of 300,000 households in one night.
Cheil Communications, the Korean promoter for the concert, said that the 4,000 premium class seats priced at 300,000 won have already sold out. Half of the tickets have gone to foreigners, a Cheil spokesman said. But there are many seats still unsold at prices of 220,000-won tickets for the 4,000-seat gold class tickets, 120,000 won tickets for the 21,000 seat silver class tickets, and 80,000 won seats for the 28,000-seat regular class seats, according to Cheil.
Tickets are available at the nationwide branches of Hanvit Bank. The stadium has a 60,000 seat capacity. The proceeds from the automatic response service conducted by SBS TV during the show will also be donated to needy children.
The dimensions of the stage will be 57 meters wide, 25 meters long and 2.4 meters high. A 7.2×5.7 meters TV screen will also be set up.
The highlight of the concert will be the duet performance by Michael and Mariah Carey, who will be visiting Seoul for the first time. After making her debut in 1990, Carey has risen to status of pop diva in the United States on the same scale as Whitney Houston. This will be the first duet to be sung by the reigning king and queen of pop.
The organizer has decided to keep secret what songs the duet will sing to heighten the curiosity of the audience.
Speculations suggest that Carey will sing ‘I’ll Be There’, which Michael released in his young years and she covered in 1992, and ‘I Still Believe’,’ a recent hit of hers.
Michael is scheduled to sing his hit songs, such as ‘You’re Not Alone’ and ‘Beat It’ during the closing part of the concert. His renditions will signal the finale of the four-hour run with a chorus of children on the ‘The Bridge of No Return’ stage prop symbolizing the division of the Korean peninsula. Michael is scheduled to fly into Seoul at 6 p.m. Monday and Carey and other stars will fly in Wednesday.
Korea’s top vocal groups, H.O.T and S.E.S, will appear around at the golden hour of 9 p.m., night news hour band, to heighten the concert’s mood. The performance is expected to greatly stimulate the local pop and performing art community, an observer said.
In the first performance at the same stadium in October, 1996, Michael appeared as a spaceman flying a UFO, dancing with back dancers as if he was at a Las Vegas stage show transplanted in Seoul.
The organizer’s ability will be assessed by how much it will be able to smoothly switch performers during a joint concert of 16 groups. Marcel Avram, head of Mama Concerts & Rau of Germany, organizer of the concert, said that it will use a specially designed cross (+)-shaped stage so that three teams can be ready while an artist is performing on-stage.
The following is a brief profile of the performers:
Boys II Men, the U.S. top four-member R&B group; World-class German rock group Scorpions famous for its hit ‘Still Loving You’, ‘Holiday’ and ‘Wind of Change’; Singapore-born Vanessa Mae, famous to Koreans for her electronic violin performance; Singer-songwriter Philipp Kirkorov of Russia; Hong Kong actor and singer Andy Lau; tope US R&B singer, Luther Vandross; Action movie star, composer and singer Steven Seagal; Rock bank Status Quo, which has sold 112 million discs and staged 4,750 live concerts in the past 34 years; French chanson artist Patricia Kaas; Guitarist Slash from heavy-metal band Guns ‘n’ Roses; Hip-hop group Blackstreet, who made their debut in 1994; Spirit of Dance, an Irish group of 30 dancers; the Hong Kong hip-hop group Coco Lee, which is now active in the United States. Michael’s close friends Elizabeth Taylor and Rod Stewart are scheduled to appear as special guests.
Source: Korea Times & MJWN
