I Found Some Blog...by Cher Scholar

A New Year, A New Caesars Program

Give to Caesars what is Caesars.

Last weekend, a friend of mine went to Vegas and stayed at Caesars Palace. One morning, she said, there was no hot water…those Vegas hotels--even the nice ones get a little rickety. And she dropped by the Cher store for me to pick up the new Cher program Vol. 2 which is now available. But she changed her mind when another fan informed her that only 2-4 pages had been added. Allegedly, only the new Mackie costume sketches were put in.

Ahem. "Update" and "Volume 2" are two very different concepts.

Another inhumanity of lazy product reselling! Bah humbug, Cher.

In me news: this was a week of moving my Cher junk out of an office and it reminded me how much I love my Cher posters and Cher fan art. Which made it so timely that Cher scholar Peter sent me a wedding gift of two Cher art pieces. I love them and I’ll try to grab a picture soon as I unpack my camera. They are very kewl!

Here’s what Peter had to say about them:

Of course I did those!  I did them in HIGH SCHOOL!  All my art projects were based on Cher.  The WITH LOVE print was a silk screen - I still have 4 in various colors which I have been meaning to have framed individually for my hall.... I have to say  I just LOVED that image of the album cover so much and I thought I TRULY represented Cher..... the STARS is a block print - I still have the original block.

This reminds me that whenever I had to learn something in school--or now--how to search the library periodical books for magazines and news clippings, how to use the Internet, how to use a new online shopping services or databases (like allmusic.com), I always start by searching for Cher things.

Anyway, someday I hope to flesh out my office full of posters as phase one of the Chersonian Institute.

But for now I only have next year. And I’m excited about next year. I’m ready to get some work done, some new pottery, some new writing, I want to turn my old dollhouse into an art piece (I bought it when I was 11 and inspired by Queen Mary's Buckingham Palace dollhouse--pictured above). Hopefully we will have more interesting interviews for Cherscholar.com. I also plan to start the third Cher Zine in January. From Cher we should get a new movie (Drop Out) and hopefully a new album. Who knows what that will turn out to be: oldies, duets, repackaged old albums?

Now that I’m a married lady, I think it’s time I bought a sconce.

   

Caesar's Show News

Tickets for year three of Cher’s Caesars show went on sale on my wedding day, new shows starting April 10, 2010. I still haven’t bought any tickets yet. I heard that Barry Manilow is moving to the Paris Casino for a more intimate show. Is that another way of saying low ticket sales booted him out of the larger Hilton theater? In any case, I would like to bundle these shows into a Cher/Barry Manilow weekend so that I can recreate a typical weekend of mine as a pre-teen spending quality time with my parents’ phonograph. Yes…my parents had no record player; they had a phonograph. That’s how old I am, kids.

There’s a new Bob Mackie interview where he talks about the show’s new costumes and how Cher’s favorite color-schemes for them have evolved over the years. Now she likes day-glo green and hot pink. Wore orange once but now really hates it. Wasn’t the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour color scheme orange. There was a lot of orange going on back then as I recall. Cher has also added “The Fire Down Below”, the old Bob Seger tune she sang in late 80s/early 90s shows, back into her set with a New York stage and zoot suit a costume. http://www.cherworld.com/news/?p=873

Bette Leaves, Cher Stays: http://www.examiner.com/x-27564-Perez-Hilton-Examiner~y2009m11d10-Bette-Midler-set-to-leave-Vegas-while-Cher-promises-a-return-to-Vegas-next-Spring

And Cher will mark her 100th performance soon if she hasn't already.

News Wrap-Up (Kooza, Liza, Fans, Body Image)

While I’ve been beyond-my-mind busy. Beyond, beyond, beyond. Muti-tasking every minute of the day. As I type this, I’m thinking about an email I need to write to the caterer about the groom adding another person to the rsvp list a day after I turned final numbers into them and two days after printing and laminating all the seating “library” cards! ...which are very very kewl, by the way. Do you know how calming the lamination process can be to a frazzled bride-to-be?

Do you know how stressful Beauty (or in some cases non-beauty) can be?  And I'm up to my ears in programs, programs, programs!! In times like these, I depend on Cher World for my Cher news stories…

In Santa Moncia Cher goes to see Kooza show and we see her pictured at the gate.

So we do know she is going to see Cirque de Soleil shows.

More info on the show: 
http://theguide.latimes.com/santa-monica/events-and-festivals/cirque-du-soleil-kooza-event

At the Coloseum,  Cher surprised the five-millionth Coloseum ticket-buyer since Celine Dion opened the theater back in 2003 with back stage passes and front row seats.  Lucky Jason Hernandez!

That story also had this tidbit:

Also rumours are circulating that CHER is keen to tour Europe and possibly the world with a SUPER tour next year after the release of her next studio album and movie Burlesque.  Cher is said to be in talks with management and whilst her Farewell Tour was supposed to be Cher’s last, the last laugh may be with Cher with a Farewell Farewell Tour Part II.

Ick.

Cher was also visited at the Coloseum by Liza Minnelli recently. Sweet!! I love these gals. They should do a single! Or what about a whole album: Cher and Other Fantasies Deux. Duets with all women: Tina, Liza, Stevie Nicks, Cyndi Lauper, Annie Lennox, (not Aretha please), some ballads, some dance, some real grrrl power! A few young gals, a few older gals, a few forgotten gals. Sigh. That would be sweeter than sweet.

Speaking of sweet and tear-jerking, Cher met with a long time fan and pancreatic cancer-victim recently. I love this story, I really do.

Tom Moore is 53 years old and in hospice care, which means he is in his final stages of his cancer. To celebrate his wife’s 50th birthday, they decided to go to Vegas, renew their vows and see the Cher shew. Cher obliged, gifting them a room at Caesars, a limo, VIP tickets, and back-stage passes. Tom has had a crush on Cher since childhood and owns all her albums.  It’s a really touching story by Cathy Dyson, detailing their trip backstage and how Kathy contacted Cher.

 “I’ve led a blessed life,” he said, trying to keep his eyes open through the pain and fog of medicine.

 “I’ve met the love of my life, I’ve traveled the world and served the greatest country on earth.” Then, as Kay patted his knee, Tom added: “I’ve had a good life, a very good life.”

And Cher At Home...Cher, like the rest of us, has body issues.

She said:

“I was underweight all my life. So thin, no matter what I did. I was one of those active kids. Then, a few years ago, for the first time ever, I suddenly had to watch what I ate.

“Your metabolism changes, and if you eat the same, it goes to all the wrong places. On the hips, round the middle, the arms. I had to up the exercise to get less of a result.”

I can relate.

   

New Interview

Feeling out of the loop in Cher list news and down and tired in the midst of editing processional music in music editing software I was learning, I went to ebay for the first time in quite a while to cheer myself up with Cher goods.

Wait a minute. I just realized I’m looking for a break out of my wedding obsession with my celebrity obsession…that’s not good.

Sigh. It’s all relative I guess.

Anyway, I found some Caesars’ brochures and the new Caesars Players Vegas magazine out with a new Cher spread and interview. And it's the best new interview in a long while – great layout (although I miss a magazine's original Cher photos; why must they capitulate to using Cher's PR photos?).

The Chrome Hearts fashion label is again quoted prominently. 

There's some good info here. Cher has an iPhone with some calendar feature where she seems to be adding spontaneous messages to Sonny. I wondered if this worked somewhat like a diary but I have yet to get my iPhone (can't wait!) so I'm not exactly sure what she was referring to.

Cher remembers that Chas helped the show behind the scenes during the last Caesars run of the late 70s. I remember pictures of her in the 1979 People Magazine looking quite helpful. Cher went to the gun range with her brother-in-law and fired a 9-millimeter and an automatic rifle, and that she likes to try things she’s afraid of. Which is a good thing. My bf talked me into taking a gun-firing class a few years ago. You never know when you’re going to need those odd skills. Cher wants to take tennis lessons too…all her friends play. She says she loved sports in school and was real tomboy.

To keep in shape it's weights, running, ballet, yoga, and the occasional hike on mountain trail with the aforementioned iPod. Cher loves to sing outdoors to the tunes of Springsteen, Bob Seger, Hall & Oats, “all the old people” she says.

The reporter states “the stage of her show in essence doubles as a runway.” And I think it helps to frame her show in this way. Which is why I feel Cher would be so awesome on Project Runway as a dual guest with Bob Mackie.

Cher says, “On a given night, a song will be more fun to sing or seem newer and I sort of forget I’ve done it hundreds of times.”

Their filmography of her does claim Drop Out in 2010 and Burlesque in 2011 (wah! Long wait). This confirms with JimmyDean posted a week or so back from his sleuthing at the Cher Store. Cher says she picked the film Drop Out because she loved its 14-year old humor...it made her laugh. She liked Tropic Thunder for the same reason.

The discography only covers Cher albums with the exception of the Allman and Woman album; and All I Really Want to Dois completely out of order, listed as her 3rd album in 1966. Backstage is called Cher Backstage. She delayed working on a new album because she chose to vacation during her last break.  Tough titties for us, huh?

Here another fun pics I found on ebay last weekend: the original late 70s Caesars program!

I'm Back!

...back from feelin ill and back from my bachelorette party in La Lovely Las Vegas. It’s true...it is a bit early for my bachelorette party but my MOH is a busy party planner for a major Internet company and our open weekend bash dates were a bit limited.

Turns out we had a great time on the trip we dubbed "Gals Gone Mildly Wild." We lounged in a cabana (which came complete with cabana boys) at Mandalay Bay pool, swam in the wave pool and lazy river, ate a swanky dinner at MIX, atop our swanky room at Mandalay’s THEhotel, danced at the MIX nightclub with its awesome views of the strip, shopped, sniffed flowers at the Bellagio, had a toy party, took an iPhone purity test at the Peppermill lounge and saw the Cirque du Soleil show Zumanity.

When I got back, I saw this link posted to the Cher list from Janet Charlton’s Hollywood gossip site: http://www.janetcharltonshollywood.com/not-just-the-same-old-cher/

Cher …she’s psyched herself up so she can return to performing at Caesar’s Palace in September with a splashy new look. She told Bob Mackie she wants a whole new set of stage costumes. She’s tired of everything and wants to update her look. Money is no object. Mackie’s staffers are hard at work creating a new Cher and her fans might be advised to catch her show again.

Someone on the Cher list quipped, “change the set list please.”

Alas kids, we’ve been here before…during last year’s break in fact, anticipating Cher’s year 2 changes which amounted to nothing more than two song changes (which were awesome) and one new outfit.

Big disappointment that was and I’m not falling for it again. The hope of changes, that is. I am falling for going to see the show again. I can’t help it. That’s why I’m deemed obsessed. Irrationally giving over of my hard-earned cash to fill Cher’s coffers.

And the pain of my celebrity-obsessed conflict solidified as I watched the burlesque version of Circe du soliel, Zumanity.

Everything about Zumanity was awesome: the sound, the colors, the performers. All of it tugged at your heart and stroked your mind. I felt the same way about Le Reve. And all of this Cirque greatness is what prompted one reviewer of Cher’s show last year to ask if Cher and her people had even seen the other shows?

Because for a comparable price you can go see better aerialists, better stage effects, better comedy and all pulled together…like buttah! It’s all just so much more creative. Either compete with that or do something completely different.

So if someone asks me if they should see the Cher show, I always say yes. But if they ask me what is the one show they should they see in Las Vegas, I would have to say O or Le Reve or Zumanity.   Especially if they’ve already seen Cher on her Farewell Tour. Because it's practically the same music set.

But I never hesitate to tell them to get ahold of a bootleg copy of Celebration at Caesars.

To thank the lovely ladies who traveled to my bachelorette party in Vegas (from Los Angeles, St. Louis and Cleveland), I sent them this kewl card from the Cher style website.

    

Caesars Show News and Rumors

The News: Not surprisingly ticket sales are down all over town: http://www.thewrap.com/article/2770

Among Vegas’ woes: Danny Gans died unexpectedly at 52 last week, stories have been simmering that Bette Midler sales are down, Elton John just left town, and the fact that Vegas is reportedly the most hard hit US city in the current recession.

Interesting to note: Elton’s show made $125 million and shows were filled at 95% capacity. Celine Dion beat him earning $400 million from 717 shows. Midler has been playing to 78% capacity in comparison. No word on Cher’s seat numbers. But Cher and Midler allegedly have cut ticket prices 9 % across all price points. Bette’s new bottom price of $45.45 and she’s also offering upgrade programs for locals and customers of Travelzoo.com. It’s also interesting to learn that Barry Manilow had the highest ticket price of any performer in the US last year? And his tickets are now more expensive than last year. Now I’m a Barry fan but…wtf?

The Rumor: Cher to end her Vegas run early

http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2009/04/22/curtain_will_fall_on_cher_s_vegas_show_t

http://www.goldminemag.com/collectorresources/ 

This false bit of gossip frenzy got a few fans buying tickets to Vegas last week, fans who had been procrastinatin.

One smart Cher-groups fan smartly did the math on the rumor:

“Well she'd better hurry if she plans on finishing this year…the 2008 shows plus what's presently scheduled through December 2009 only makes a total of 114 shows!”

Where did the misinformation come from? Was it a cynical ploy to boost ticket sales or someone’s misreading of the latest Cher press release on the final 2009 show dates? Who knows.

The record was set straight on Cher World: http://www.cherworld.com/news/?p=748

Pic above from davidkiyokawa.com/blog/2008/09/cher-at-caesars/

  

Cher Link Zoo

For quite some time there has been a ton of links clogging up my blog to-do list. I’m just gonna throw them all up here now just so I can move on with my life. You can link wherever strikes your fancy. My take for must see items have a star (or two) next to them.

• Cher’s last words on her farewell tour: 
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxoKm81YzeQ&NR=1

• **S&C Bible ad revisited:
  http://www.bay-of-fundie.com/archives/1207/lol-sonny-and-cher (This is actually hilarious. Remember this bible ad from posts back? In this version, people have written in funny comments in S&C's  thought bubbles – don’t skip the comments below either.)

Cher at Caesars: Year 2

Again, I had a good deal of fun seeing Cher live in Las Vegas a few Saturday’s ago. Her energy level seemed high and I felt and the crowd was very engaged.

I can always get a good look at the crowd from my last row seat of the orchestra floor which is the best I can ever afford. 

This energy level was interesting considering everyone in the audience was older -- way older -– than us. Me and my bf are 40/43 and we were the youngest people we saw all night until we moseyed on over to Pink Taco at the Hard Rock where we suddenly became the oldest people in the place. Suddenly Vegas felt very segregated.
But the oldies at the Cher show were cheerful and active all night. It was the same show for the most part. No major refurbishments  (as there hasn’t been musically since 1999). There was the addition of “Love Hurts” swapped in for “The Way of Love” which was most appreciated. It was awesome in fact. She did a long American-Idol-length note at the end - really swell to hear. (I seriously love the sound in that joint.)

Cher also added “Let the Good Times Roll”, the aforementioned Caesar and Cleo song, not my favorite song and one she introduced with many disclaimers about inconsistencies in her performing; but she pulled it off nonetheless. It sounded much better than the Internet clip I'd seen.

She seemed to be having trouble with her voice all night, constantly drinking water and touching her throat; but I could only tell one moment where she cracked up a bit. The sound never dropped out.

The bf (who has broken a record here by being the only bf to attend two Cher concerts with me, and four Cher events if you include a Cher Convention dinner in LA and a San Diego’s Gay Men's Chorus Cher revue) said he felt the show was overall much tighter this year and that the acrobatics had been taken  up a notch. And the acrobats had been...a notch. I felt the dancing was a little bit more synchronized. But I also wondered if that was my imagination or wishful thinking.

I sincerely loved the backup singer who did “Disco Inferno.” Again, I always love Cher’s techno-live duet with Sonny –- very moving every time for those of us who were never able to see them perform together. And I feel people don't give her Elvis impersonation (as seen in her “Walking in Memphis" video) enuff ink. She almost disappears into it. And Cher’s big presence disappearing into anything—come on people.

Let the Good Times Roll Again

Astute Cher Scholar Robrt Pela brought to my attention the fact that Cher doing “Let the Good Times Roll” in concert is in fact much larger news than I had indicated last week as this is in fact an old Caesar and Cleo song.

Nod to the historic beginnings of Sonny & Cher there, Miss Thang.

Please don’t bring back "Love is Strange." That song is the strange one, not love.

   

Cher in Vegas v2

Just when I was thinking very little information seemed to be coming out about Cher’s second-year run with her Las Vegas show (I still pinch myself sometimes thinking about being able to go to Vegas and see a Cher show, btw), including a dearth of information on new Cher Store items. I mean, what treasures have newly appeared from the mines of Cher Mountain? Any new songs or outfits?

But then on CherGroups, information started to trickle in this week. Cher sang "Love Hurts" (allegedly replacing "The Way of Love") which feels like a good change, all in a new getup and one that I actually am thrilled to see because it’s reminiscent of her “More Than You Know” fit from the Celebration at Caesars and Live in Monte Carlo shows at the turn of the 70s/80s. 

It's got such a retro-yet-spacey headpiece.

Love Hurts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKTSUgE5p8s

After “Walking in Memphis,” Cher also sang “Let The Good Times Roll” and she sings it just like you’d think she would.

For this and other recent espionage clips of v2, visit the fabulous Cher World: http://www.cherworld.com/news/?p=702

One fan also said Cher fell onstage after “some drunk guy” threw his straw hat on stage for “Turn Back Time.” She fell on her knee due to tripping on it. Rumor has it security may ban sailor hats in the Coliseum.

Imagine no hats for Turn Back Time! But...then again who knows what some wacko might try to stick inside a sailor hat.

Cher was also on Entertainment Tonight talking about the show (pic above).

Video:  http://www.etonline.com/news/2009/02/71188/index.html

I can’t believe they’re still talking about her health. Didn’t we clear up that rumor on the last Entertainment Tonight episode a few months ago?  Cher further clarifies that she does indeed see the doctor who Farrah Fawcett sees for treatment of cancer but Cher goes for a completely unrelated issue.

Anyway, Cher looks great in this interview. You know I love the cowboy hats (see the cowboy hat photo gallery) and love the earrings. Cher is animated, beautiful and relaxed. Great to see!

To the left is Cher's previous More-than-you-know-fit.

The interesting thing about "More Than You Know" is how many times Cher covered it in the 70s and early 80s. The version I grew up hearing was the up-tempo Bittersweet White Light version but I grew to like the slower, torchy version better. 

Here is Cher singing "More than You Know" for her TV special...with her hair tied up in a tree and a wild cat on set. They just don’t do stunts like that anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLk7TNYxOxA

Buy the way, one of the things that got me sweet on the wedding dress I picked out what the fact that its sequins sparkled in the lights like Cher's TV show-fits used to do. Sigh.

Now that I look at her leopard suit from the clip above, I think it looks very Dr. Seussian...almost like a Thneed in fact.

Here is the Monte Carlo version of "More Than You Know:" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqc4-3jxyEg

Here is a compilation of reviews of Cher's Vegas shows year one: http://govegas.about.com/od/cher/Cher_Cher_at_Caesars_Palace_Las_Vegas_Show_Review.htm