Donny Osmond

[valerie davenport]

Donny Osmond (big sigh my heart throb :-*after Elvis Presley ok I was fickle but I was a teen ;)lol). tour dates
Fri 12 Oct Love Songs of The 70s:
Donny Osmond Wembley Arena
London HA9
Sat 13 Oct Love Songs of The 70s:
Donny Osmond Brighton Centre
Brighton
Sun 14 Oct Love Songs of The 70s:
Donny Osmond Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) (Pavilion, Windsor and Solent Hall)
Bournemouth
Tue 16 Oct Love Songs of The 70s:
Donny Osmond Plymouth Pavilions
Plymouth
Thu 18 Oct Love Songs of The 70s:
Donny Osmond Royal Concert Hall & Theatre Royal at Royal Centre
Nottingham
Fri 19 Oct Love songs of the 70s:
Donny Osmond Royal Concert Hall & Theatre Royal at Royal Centre
Nottingham
Sat 20 Oct Love Songs of The 70s:
Donny Osmond National Exhibition Centre (NEC) Arena
Birmingham B40
Tue 23 Oct Love Songs of The 70s:
Donny Osmond Cardiff International Arena (CIA)
Cardiff
Wed 24 Oct Love Songs of The 70s:
Donny Osmond Hallam FM Arena Sheffield
Sheffield
Fri 26 Oct Love Songs of The 70s:
Donny Osmond Manchester Evening News Arena (MEN Arena)
Manchester
Sat 27 Oct SOLD OUT
Love Songs of The 70s:
Donny Osmond SECC & Clyde Auditorium (The Armadillo)
Glasgow
Sun 28 Oct Love Songs of The 70s:
Donny Osmond Metro Radio Arena (formerly Telewest Arena)
Newcastle upon Tyne
Tue 30 Oct Love Songs of The 70s:
Donny Osmond Odyssey Arena
Belfast

[valerie davenport]

Donny Osmond interview

Donny Osmond. Singer, dancer, presenter, entertainer - this man can do it all. And for his next trick, Donny turns gameshow host to front an updated version of Pyramid for the Challenge channel.

The classic quiz, which ran for more than 30 years in the US, sees members of the public teamed with celebrities for a test of word description. It's like a clever version of Richard & Judy's 'You Say, We Pay'


How's filming coming along?
"It's going good. We've had a couple technical glitches with the computers because it's a new programme and everybody's trying to find their way, but it went very smoothly yesterday."

I hear you've had some very lengthy filming sessions. What's it been like on set?
"One of the things I want to try and bring to the show, which is turning out to be the case here in the last couple days, is that yeah, it's a game, we're playing for money, there's pressure, but I want it to be fun. I want everybody to have a good laugh. I think that's what's gone out of quiz shows. It's gotta be entertaining, you know?"

For those who are unfamiliar with the show, could you explain the general concept?
"It's basically word description. Your team member sees a word on their screen, then they try to get you to say it without using any part of that word or phrase. For instance, if they said 'Mercedes, BMW', the category is cars. You have thirty seconds to get seven of them. Then whoever has the most points goes to the winners' circle, in the centre of the stage, to win some money. It's always a celebrity teamed up with a punter, for lack of a better term."

And which celebrities have you had on the show?
"Ingrid Tarrant, Carol Smillie, Rufus Hound, Phil Tufnell - he was really funny. Tony Blackbburn was on yesterday, he did really well."

This is based on an American format...
"Oh yeah, with thingy Clark. He hosted it for, I believe, 17 years."

And you did a revival of the show in the US
"I did, a few years ago, yeah. And thingy Clark was one of my guests! It was really cool."

I bet..
"It's pure fun. It's just pure fun. You have to play the game, you have to see the game to understand. Like I said at the beginning I wanted the game to have not just the competitive edge to it, not just the money they win - we're not giving away millions of pounds here - but it's more that they're playing the game and having a good laugh."

I hear you're also going to host a revival of Name That Tune in the US?
"That is in the works. I've had to put that to the backburner because CBS dragged their feet too long and ABC came up with an offer and wanted exclusivity, obviously. I'm doing a show for ABC right after this, in the next couple of weeks, called the Great American Dream Vote. You have eight contestants, their dream of a lifetime, whatever it might be, and the studio audience narrows it down to two contestants based on their appeal to the audience. !t the end of the episode, I turn it over to America and America votes [on the two]."

You're a very busy man right now, then!
"Absolutely. The timing of it couldn't be better because my album comes out around the same time in the States. It's almost like we know what we're doing, you know!"

It seems that gameshows have really made a comeback lately. Why do you think that is?
"Well they've always been around but yes, there is a heightened awareness. I think it's keeping people on the edge of their seats and it's also the viewer saying 'that could be me, I could do that'. And that's the cool thing about a gameshow like this. You don't need to be able to sing or dance to be on Pyramid. You just have to be quick, fast and have a good time. I think the whole genre of quiz shows or even things like The X Factor and American Idol, it's just pure entertainment. You'll always have the genre."

You've done pretty much everything over the years. What do you prefer the most?
"That's a tough question. It's too tough because I'm fortunate in the fact that I can do all different genres and I don't get bored with one thing. That's the nice thing about being in the business for so long, you diversify. If I had to pick one thing, I'd have to say live entertaining, doing live concerts. I've got this show coming up in the summer in Wales and I'm going to throw everything at it, from 'Puppy Love' to 'Crazy Horses'. There's nothing like getting up there on a one-to-one with the audience!"

How do you balance everything you do with your family life?
"Well if you break it down and you look at it, it's three-week jaunts, even the tour this Autumn. The Summer date is one show and I'll be here about a week prior to that. My family's coming over and then after that we're going to take a little vacation here in the UK."

While you're here, are you going to have time to appear on your friend David Gest's new show?
"As a matter of fact David is staying right below me here in the hotel. I'm trying to work it out before I leave for me to do his show."

And you have a new album out - tell me about that?
"My new album. It's a new concept in music - it's round, it's got a little hole in the middle. It's a CD! This is my 55th album and I decided to go back and do 70s music and sing the songs I grew up with. and moulded it to my musicality, as it were. I said 'OK, love songs of the 70s, let's do that'. Next, who knows? Donny Does Punk. Or heavy metal, maybe Donny Does Metallica?"



Pyramid stars Monday, May 7 at 8.30pm on Challenge TV

[valerie davenport]

I found the Donny Osmond interview on Digital Spy ok .