As reported previously, George Michael will be performing in the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympics in London, England. The closing ceremony will be on August 12, 2012, at 9 p.m. BST (UK Time) or 2 p.m. EST.
George Michael told his Twitter followers today:
“Hey everyone, how are you. Spending most of the next week rehearsing like crazy for the Olympic closing ceremony…
Obviously a bit nervous not having played for nearly a year, but rehearsals sounding great so far!”
Hey everyone, how are you. Spending most of the next week rehearsing like crazy for the Olympic closing ceremony…..
The title of the ceremony is “A Symphony of British Music.” It will focus on the huge impact that Britain has had in music and will include some of today’s most well-known entertainers.
George Michael has been doing quite a few interviews this week. George Michael’s interview with London’s LBC radio station is available here. Below is a quick recap of some of the things he has been talking about.
His Mum
George Michael revealed his mom encouraged him to fight for his life while he was in the hospital with pneumonia, he said during an interview for UK TV show Lorraine.
“I would like to focus on the fantastic good fortune I had in dodging the bullet, as it were,” he said. “In that strange place between life and death I was definitely feeling my mother kind of basically saying, ‘Don’t you dare come and meet me yet, I am not ready and you are not ready.'”
George explained why Kate Moss was his choice for the woman who saves his life in the “White Light” video.
“I wanted someone who would represent the most beautiful woman in the world,” he said. “and as far as I am concerned that is how I remember my mother, as being the most beautiful woman in the world. In a strange way, Kate represents my mother, you know.
“White Light is my way of thanking fate and my fans all at once, I suppose.”
Rupert Murdoch
George Michael talked about Rupert Murdoch, saying: “I’m delighted that the man has lived long enough to see what’s happened because I’ve actually been on Murdoch Watch since I was about 19, honestly, watching this man, believing he was truly the most evil character on the planet, and that he had worked his way through the media to become the most powerful yet unelected man in the world.”
Madonna
On London’s Heart 106.2 on Thursday, George Michael said of his first meeting with Madonna: “I will tell you the first time we ever met, we were both in this club in L.A. and it was very like being at the school canteen.
“Basically somebody came over to my table and said ‘Madonna would really like to meet you’… (I thought) that’d be nice, cheeky cow. I proceeded to follow this woman over to Madonna’s table where she was talking to Kevin Bacon at the time and I stood there and she just ignored me, which is kind of what you do at school when you fancy someone isn’t it? You pretend not to like them.
“She didn’t try to seduce me, no… I didn’t stand there for very long!”
Musical
George Michael revealed his dream of making his songs into a stage show during his interview with London’s Heart 106.2 radio station, and told listeners he is looking for a “good writer” to collaborate with on a musical.
He says, “I’m considering it right now actually, for the first time ever. I don’t know if it’s related to what I went through last year, but I’m considering it for the first time, handing my material over to some very good writer and finding a great storyline because so many people want it and it’s obviously a no-brainer in terms of whether I think it would do well.
“It would be a George Michael catalog and it would include a couple of Wham! things.”
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George Michael revealed during his interview with Chris Evans on the BBC that he will release a new CD of new material this autumn.
Although he had planned to release a CD of songs from the Symphonica tour, he changed his mind when he realized how much material he had already written. The new CD will be his first studio CD since Patience in 2004.
“Work dragged me out of my malaise,” George Michael told Chris Evans this morning. “When I wrote ‘White Light’, I realized I had the energy to finish an album this summer.
“I had planned on putting out a ‘Symphonica’ album this year, because I felt so bad for those people who were looking forward [to the axed tour due to illness].
“I already mixed most of that album, then I wrote ‘White Light’ unexpectedly. Muse, bless their hearts, they gave us this couple of weeks in the studio I always use. They went somewhere else.”
He continued: “I realized how many songs I had lying around [from when I came out of prison]. I realized that if I really put my back into it that I could get an album out for autumn and give people a new record a year earlier than expected.”
Of his new album, he said: “So far I’m thrilled with it. It’s the most directly commercial record I’ve made since Faith. It’s not necessarily my best, I think that Older is my favorite record.
“But the songs I’ve written in the last 20 years haven’t slapped you in the face with their hooks.”
He added: “I’m always terrified that people won’t think it’s as good as I do, but if I didn’t have that approach I wouldn’t do what I do.”
