Elton John

[princess 1,712]

Elton Goes VegasEOnline.comby Marcus ErricoOct 21, 2003, 3:00 PM PTGoodbye, yellow-brick road, hello, Sin City.<strong>Elton John has inked a monster three-year deal to perform 75 shows at Las Vegas' Caesars Palace beginning in February.</strong>"I cannot do this show anywhere else in the world except here," the sequin-friendly singer said at a Vegas press conference Tuesday. "It's back to costume changes and Velcro."The deal, in the works for months, had been pegged by Billboard as worth upwards of $54 million, but John played coy when asked how much he was making."Let's just say, I'm very well paid," he cracked..<strong>The Rocket Man will perform with his band five times a week for five weeks a year at the Palace's Colosseum, the specially designed venue where Celine Dion currently holds forth</strong>."By bringing Elton John, one of the best-known and best-loved performers in the world, to an extended engagement at Caesars Palace, we've established the Colosseum as the nation's premier musical showcase for top tier talent," Wallace R. Barr, president and CEO of Caesars owner Park Place Entertainment, said in a statement.John's show, titled The Red Piano , will not affect Dion's, who is locked into a three-year, $100 million contract. Elton will begin his first series of performances February 13-22, while Dion is on vacation.The Red Piano , billed in a press release as "a distinctive show [blending] Elton's breathtaking music with vibrant visual imagery," will be designed and directed by photographer David LaChappelle."The wild and wacky days are here again," said LaChappelle.<strong>Tickets go on sale Wednesday and range from a top-tier price of $250 to $100 for the cheap seats</strong>. The show is expected to bring in more than $60 million in ticket sales.The $95 million, 4,100-seat Colosseum, modeled after the Rome landmark, was built to house Dion's A New Day spectacle, which launched in March . Other acts who have appeared there in recent months include Mariah Carey, Tim McGraw and Gloria Estefan, while Jerry Seinfeld is slated for a December run.Elton, 56, has been keeping plenty busy. Aside from his humongous garage sale, he's been busy working on two musicals--a London version of Billy Elliott to open in 2004 and a Broadway adaptation of Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat--and is also providing music for a new Fox TV show produced by ex-Hardy Boy Shaun Cassidy.

[princess 1,712]

EOnline.com ROCKET VOWS: <strong>The New York Daily News reporting that Elton John will wed his longtime companion David Furnish in England after waiting on a current civil unions measure by Parliament to become law</strong>.

[princess 1,712]

<strong>Elton Says 'I Don't' to Marriage Reports</strong>STEPHEN M. SILVERMANpeople.comDon't hold your breath for an invite to Elton John's wedding: It's not happening.The Rocket Man is denying reports that he is planning to marry his longtime partner, David Furnish, just as soon as British Parliament makes same-sex marriages legal in the country."David and I are in favor of gay marriage but have no plans to get married," John, 56, said in a statement Tuesday.The clarification comes after Wednesday's New York Daily News quoted John as saying he and Furnish, his lover for the past 11 years, were planning to tie the knot. Over the past month, gay weddings have been taking place in San Francisco and in the New York town of New Paltz -- turning it into a hot political issue and prompting President Bush to endorse a constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage.In New York, state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who expressed his personal opinion that he is in favor of gay marriage, said that current New York State law makes same-sex marriages illegal but that a court must now decide if the law is constitutional. The movement has also taken hold in Oregon, where 400 same-sex marriage licenses have been taken out, according to published reports.Meanwhile, just last week, Rosie O'Donnell and longtime partner Kelli Carpenter became the first celeb couple to wed in San Francisco under Mayor Gavin Newsom's pledge to allow same-sex marriages."I was on the fence about it for a while," John purportedly told the Daily News. "I've been married before (he wed Renate Blauel in Sydney, Australia, in 1984). I thought, 'Why would I want to get married again?'"That union ended in divorce in 1988, but the News quoted John as saying he supports the idea of gay marriage -- perhaps even for himself."I'm totally for it," John says. "In this day and age, if people who want to make a life commitment can't have protection, then we live in a pretty sick world."He added: "We're definitely going to do it when it gets passed. ... I would like to commit myself to David. I already have in my mind anyway."Besides being John's life partner, Furnish, 40, is the star's business partner and the maker of the film "Tantrums and Tiaras," described by the News as a hilarious documentary on what life with is like with Elton.

[Rebelgirl 1]

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/entertainment/s...308553&p=y973...

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Elton hints at Christmas wedding

 

 

04/11/2005 - 09:15:04

 

 

Elton John is planning to spend this Christmas as a married man - he has

hinted that he and longtime partner David Furnish will wed on December 21,

at a charity party for his Aids Foundation in New York on Wednesday night.

 

 

That's the date that same-sex marriage becomes legal in the rocker's native

Britain.

 

 

Asked if he plans to wed Furnish, Elton said: "It's going to be on the 21st

of December. That's all I know at the moment."

 

 

The rock star was married for three years in the mid-1980s to Renate Blauel.

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Elton John Wants to Adopt

 

 

Elton John wants to adopt a Ukrainian child.

The Rocket Man hitmaker — who married partner David Furnish in 2005 — was visiting Ukraine as part of his work with his AIDS charity foundation.

 

“David and I have always talked about adoption,” the 62-year-old music legend told Reuters. “David always wanted to adopt a child and I always said, ‘No’, because I am 62 and I think because of the traveling I do and the life I have, maybe it wouldn’t be fair for the child.”

 

Furnish accompanied John to the Ukraine. While Elton was speaking with reporters, David was holding a 14-month-old boy called Lev.

 

“But having seen Lev today, I would love to adopt him,” the star added. “I don’t know how we do that but he has stolen my heart. And he has stolen David’s heart and it would be wonderful if we can have a home.

 

“I’ve changed my mind today.”

 

John said the recent death of his friend, keyboardist Guy Babylon, had also made him change his views.

 

“What better opportunity to replace someone I lost than to replace him with someone I can give a future to,” he said.

 

Source showbizspy.com

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Elton John Cannot Adopt Ukrainian Orphan

 

 

The Ukrainian orphan Elton John wants to adopt will not go home with the singer and his longtime partner David Furnish, a Ukrainian family minister said Monday – citing a national law that prohibits unmarried couples from adopting, the Associated Press reports.

 

John and Furnish entered into a civil partnership on Dec. 21, 2005, the first day such unions became legal in John's native England.

 

John, 62, met Lev, a Ukrainian toddler, while touring an orphanage where many of the children's parents have died from AIDS.

 

"Having seen Lev today, I would love to adopt him," John said over the weekend. "I don't know how we do that but he has stolen my heart. And he has stolen David's heart and it would be wonderful if we can have a home."

 

Ukrainian laws are very strict when it comes to adoption. Not only do the laws ban same-sex couples from adopting, they also state that the parents cannot be more than 45 years older than the child. Their only hope would be a presidential dispensation to take home 14-month-old Lev.

 

On Monday it was also revealed that, according to the country's law, should Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko grant John and Furnish's wish, the pair would also have to adopt Lev's brother, who is also in care.

 

Source People

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Elton Extends Adoption Search

 

SIR ELTON JOHN is continuing his search for an orphan to adopt with his partner DAVID FURNISH.

 

The Rocket Man singer, who wed Furnish in a civil partnership in 2005, was devastated after his dreams of playing parent to Lev, a toddler he met in a Ukrainian orphanage, were dashed by a local law forbidding gay couples from adopting.

 

Film producer Furnish reveals the pair has since considered taking in a boy from Africa.

 

He tells Britain's Sunday Telegraph, "We were in Africa for the (Sir Elton John) Aids Foundation and met a boy, and immediately thought about adopting him."

But the pair decided they would have to look elsewhere after learning the tot was still connected to members of his family.

 

Furnish adds, "When we found out he had a maternal grandmother, and brother and sister, we realised it wouldn't be the right thing to take him away from the family he had there. We would love to adopt Lev, but that does not seem possible under Ukrainian rules."

 

Source contactmusic

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Elton John Hospitalised

 

Elton John is seriously ill in hospital.

 

The legendary British singer has been forced to cancel a string of concerts after he was diagnosed with an E. coli bacterial infection and influenza.

 

Elton, 62, has been ill for two weeks, but his condition worsened and he was taken into an elite London hospital on Friday (30.10.09) for tests.

 

His partner, David Furnish, is understood to have spent yesterday (31.10.09) at his bedside.

 

As he left the hospital he said of Elton's condition: "He's OK, he's fine."

 

On doctor's advice the 'Rocketman' singer has, however, postponed US dates in Seattle and Portland which he was due to perform with Billy Joel over the next two weeks.

 

A spokesperson said: "The Elton John/Billy Joel Face 2 Face concerts originally scheduled for Wednesday, November 4, Saturday, November 7, and Tuesday, November 10, have been postponed.

 

"Organisers are working to establish new dates."

 

Elton also had to pull out of four UK concerts in his Red Piano tour last week, in Dublin, Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool and at London's Wembley Arena.

 

He did, however, play in Barcelona last Tuesday (27.10.09).

 

Elton was fitted with a pacemaker in 1999 after being diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat. He also has a history of problems with alcohol and drugs, but has been sober and clean for almost 20 years.

 

Elton's UK dates will also be rescheduled.

 

Source monstersandcritics.com

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Sir Elton John out of hospital

 

Sir Elton John is out of hospital and is feeling "fine" after being struck down with a bout of flu and an E.coli bacterial infection.

 

Sir Elton's spokesman said the Rocket Man singer, 62, had checked out late on Wednesday night and was planning to resume his tour.

 

The spokesman said: "He's fine, absolutely fine."

 

 

He plans to play scheduled US dates with Billy Joel starting in Oakland, California, on November 14.

 

Sir Elton has postponed gigs in Sheffield, Newcastle, London, Liverpool and Dublin since October 23, when he contracted flu.

 

The concerts were part of his Red Piano tour and discussions are taking place about re-scheduling.

 

Source: Daily Mirror

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Elton John 'Working On Dance Album'

 

Sir Elton John has apparently recorded a dance album.

 

The singer recently teamed up with Australian producers P'Nau on several new tracks, which has sparked a bidding war between record companies keen to release them, Bang Showbiz reports.

 

A source revealed: "Elton says he's writing his most exciting new stuff for years - possibly decades. Working with P'Nau has got the creative juices flowing again.

 

"They have got a load of big companies sniffing around."

 

Last month, the 'Your Song' star was forced to scrap a series of gigs on his world tour after falling ill.

 

Source digitalspy.co.uk