Grammy all-stars light up Chengdu
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, June 9, 2013
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Nine Grammy winners, including Leo Sayer, Richard Marx and Michael Bolton, and Chinese musicians gather on the stage of a Grammy all-stars concert in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, June 8, 2013.[Chinanews.com] |
Nine Grammy winners, including Leo Sayer, Richard Marx and Michael Bolton, gathered on the stage of a Grammy all-stars concert in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, on Saturday night.
Neil Portnow, current president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) which is responsible for hosting the Grammy Awards every year, brought all the stars to China to participate in the event, which served as an entertainment supplement to celebrate the 2013 Global Fortune Forum.
Nine Grammy-winning musicians and artists joined forces. Leo Sayer sang "More Than I Can Say" to open the show, then Shawn Colvin, Rodney Crowell, Diane Schuur, Jody Watley, Richard Marx, Yolanda Adams, Patti Austin and Michael Bolton all sang their classic hits from "Sunny Came Home" to "When A Man Loves A Woman."
Chinese divas Song Zuying, Tan Jing, Joey Yung and pianist Lang Lang also performed. Richard Marx and Lang Lang's collaboration on the former's classic "Right Here Waiting" was one of the evening's highlights.
Two other tribute sections were added to the Grammy concert to pay homage to the late Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston as Neil Portnow brought with him some footage of both icons straight from the Grammy archives to China.
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Richard Marx performs at a Grammy all-stars concert in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, June 8, 2013. [Chinanews.com] |
NARAS president Portnow explained that when the Chinese promoters invited the performing artists, he decided to join his colleagues in the event as the artists are also his friends. Portnow expressed his hopes of enhancing cultural exchanges between the West and China through this concert.
"We should appreciate more about China's music, because it's excellent. You know the United States has just more than 200 years of history, but China has a much longer history and culture which makes the music here so unique," Portnow told Western China Metropolis Daily.
40,000 people attended the concert at the Chengdu Stadium. Portnow is expected to bring more official Grammy events to China.
