Kodak Theater Bash - Review from Fox News
Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:11 am
David Gest: No Whitney, but Lots of Soul
Thanks to his marriage to Liza Minnelli and his friendship with Michael Jackson, David Gest is considered weird and creepy by most people. He also has a questionable business background.
And of course, there was his almost-marriage to the late actress Ruth Warrick when she was well over 80 years old. And his collection of Shirley Temple memorabilia.
Last night in Hollywood, Gest did a little damage control. He produced a mega-event, Dionne Warwick's 45th anniversary in showbiz celebration. The evening began with a three-hour concert at the Kodak Theater followed by a swanky dinner at the Hollywood Palladium. Wisely, Gest kept a very low profile all evening.
"People really hate him," one guest said.
Yes, and he even fought with the people whose charity he roped in at the last minute. But that's David Gest. He's P.T. Barnum without a lick of sense.
Anyway, the show at the Kodak ran smoothly, which was a surprise. The only funny glitch occurred when, at the start of "That's What Friends Are For," Stevie Wonder could not figure out how to mimic playing his own harmonica solo. Twice he screwed it up, so they decided just to let him play it live.
Wonder, Warwick and Gladys Knight then tore into their old hit and made it incredibly fresh.
The night was not without its mistakes. Olivia Newton-John, though perky, was also quite bland on "Wishin and Hopin." Richard Carpenter, enlisted to play piano on "Close to You," was also without much personality.
Jazz great Nancy Wilson didn't sing at all, but introduced Lesley Uggams, who gave "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" her Broadway best.
Sometimes, the black-tie clad orchestra seemed like a jazz band in a hotel lobby, often playing arrangements from hell. The whole thing veered on being like one of those hideous T.J. Lubinsky-produced PBS specials.
But soul saved the day. Knight was awesome on "A House Is Not a Home," and the O'Jays killed on "Always Something There to Remind Me."
After a flubbed first take, Smokey Robinson, with Gloria Estefan, did a beautiful job on "You'll Never Get to Heaven." Ashford and Simpson got the most out of "Make It Easy on Yourself."
By now you're thinking: that's some guest list of performers. And in the audience, we also had Mary Wilson, Sam Moore, Freda Payne, Sherrie Payne, The Originals (with Marv Marshall, of Motown fame), Ollie Benson of the Temptations. Russell Thompkins of the Stylistics, Billy Paul, Gene Chandler (the Duke of Earl) and Carl Carlton.
It was like a meeting of the R&B Hall of Fame. The show began with 16 gospel singers, including Dionne's sister, Dee Dee, her cousin Cissy Houston, Shirley Caesar, Andre Crouch, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Candi Staton, Bebe and Cece Winans, Donnie McClurkin and the Edwin Hawkins Singers.
Burt Bacharach, who wrote most of the songs played, came on stage for a couple of them and accompanied Dionne on piano. He was grinning from ear to ear; if this thing sells to television — which it should — he'll clean up on royalties.
In the end, though, it was Dionne who stole her own show. She has never sung as well as she did last night, suggesting maybe that she has curtailed her famous smoking. Her voice was full of velvet, and she was able to hit notes and execute triple vocal lutzes like it was 1969 all over again.
She did a number of duets, with Jeffrey Osborne, with Stevie and most of the aforementioned group, seemingly determined to match them every step of the way.
And what of David Gest? He didn't take a bow or even show his face during the show. People voiced surprise. It was the right move. As usual, I am told he made a lot of enemies leading up to the event.
At the dinner, he wore sunglasses and stayed mostly to himself, away from Dionne and the head tables. The only time he took the mike was to tell the audience in the Palladium that Stevie, who was sitting up front, requested Thompkins sing "Betcha by Golly Wow."
Gest suggested that Stevie play piano with Russell, which led to a series of Wonder-fueled jam sessions.
But the downer of the night: no sign or mention of Dionne's cousin, Whitney Houston. Her mother was there, as were her other cousins, but Whitney — who should have been present — has simply vanished from discussion.
And the irony now is that Dionne's 11-year-old granddaughter, Cheyenne, whom I wrote about in this space last summer, wowed the dinner crowd with Whitney's signature song, "The Greatest Love of All." In five years she'll be the next singing superstar, and Whitney will be a footnote in music history.
By the way, even if a TV sale isn't made — which seems ridiculous — a documentary will tell the story of how the evening came about. The doc is being produced by CTW Productions, a new company partnered by Dionne, her manager Henry Carr and veteran actress Beverly Todd ("Crash," "Lean On Me," "Clara's Heart").
Thanks to his marriage to Liza Minnelli and his friendship with Michael Jackson, David Gest is considered weird and creepy by most people. He also has a questionable business background.
And of course, there was his almost-marriage to the late actress Ruth Warrick when she was well over 80 years old. And his collection of Shirley Temple memorabilia.
Last night in Hollywood, Gest did a little damage control. He produced a mega-event, Dionne Warwick's 45th anniversary in showbiz celebration. The evening began with a three-hour concert at the Kodak Theater followed by a swanky dinner at the Hollywood Palladium. Wisely, Gest kept a very low profile all evening.
"People really hate him," one guest said.
Yes, and he even fought with the people whose charity he roped in at the last minute. But that's David Gest. He's P.T. Barnum without a lick of sense.
Anyway, the show at the Kodak ran smoothly, which was a surprise. The only funny glitch occurred when, at the start of "That's What Friends Are For," Stevie Wonder could not figure out how to mimic playing his own harmonica solo. Twice he screwed it up, so they decided just to let him play it live.
Wonder, Warwick and Gladys Knight then tore into their old hit and made it incredibly fresh.
The night was not without its mistakes. Olivia Newton-John, though perky, was also quite bland on "Wishin and Hopin." Richard Carpenter, enlisted to play piano on "Close to You," was also without much personality.
Jazz great Nancy Wilson didn't sing at all, but introduced Lesley Uggams, who gave "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" her Broadway best.
Sometimes, the black-tie clad orchestra seemed like a jazz band in a hotel lobby, often playing arrangements from hell. The whole thing veered on being like one of those hideous T.J. Lubinsky-produced PBS specials.
But soul saved the day. Knight was awesome on "A House Is Not a Home," and the O'Jays killed on "Always Something There to Remind Me."
After a flubbed first take, Smokey Robinson, with Gloria Estefan, did a beautiful job on "You'll Never Get to Heaven." Ashford and Simpson got the most out of "Make It Easy on Yourself."
By now you're thinking: that's some guest list of performers. And in the audience, we also had Mary Wilson, Sam Moore, Freda Payne, Sherrie Payne, The Originals (with Marv Marshall, of Motown fame), Ollie Benson of the Temptations. Russell Thompkins of the Stylistics, Billy Paul, Gene Chandler (the Duke of Earl) and Carl Carlton.
It was like a meeting of the R&B Hall of Fame. The show began with 16 gospel singers, including Dionne's sister, Dee Dee, her cousin Cissy Houston, Shirley Caesar, Andre Crouch, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Candi Staton, Bebe and Cece Winans, Donnie McClurkin and the Edwin Hawkins Singers.
Burt Bacharach, who wrote most of the songs played, came on stage for a couple of them and accompanied Dionne on piano. He was grinning from ear to ear; if this thing sells to television — which it should — he'll clean up on royalties.
In the end, though, it was Dionne who stole her own show. She has never sung as well as she did last night, suggesting maybe that she has curtailed her famous smoking. Her voice was full of velvet, and she was able to hit notes and execute triple vocal lutzes like it was 1969 all over again.
She did a number of duets, with Jeffrey Osborne, with Stevie and most of the aforementioned group, seemingly determined to match them every step of the way.
And what of David Gest? He didn't take a bow or even show his face during the show. People voiced surprise. It was the right move. As usual, I am told he made a lot of enemies leading up to the event.
At the dinner, he wore sunglasses and stayed mostly to himself, away from Dionne and the head tables. The only time he took the mike was to tell the audience in the Palladium that Stevie, who was sitting up front, requested Thompkins sing "Betcha by Golly Wow."
Gest suggested that Stevie play piano with Russell, which led to a series of Wonder-fueled jam sessions.
But the downer of the night: no sign or mention of Dionne's cousin, Whitney Houston. Her mother was there, as were her other cousins, but Whitney — who should have been present — has simply vanished from discussion.
And the irony now is that Dionne's 11-year-old granddaughter, Cheyenne, whom I wrote about in this space last summer, wowed the dinner crowd with Whitney's signature song, "The Greatest Love of All." In five years she'll be the next singing superstar, and Whitney will be a footnote in music history.
By the way, even if a TV sale isn't made — which seems ridiculous — a documentary will tell the story of how the evening came about. The doc is being produced by CTW Productions, a new company partnered by Dionne, her manager Henry Carr and veteran actress Beverly Todd ("Crash," "Lean On Me," "Clara's Heart").