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Finding the Best Queen Song with the Champions of Queen League

Finding the Best Queen Song with the Champions of Queen League

What is the Best Queen Song?

Thats a question everyone asks, so I have designed a league based system designed to find the publics favourite Queen songs. A head to head match between each queen song on each Queen studio album is set up. The song with the most votes, gets 3 points, 1 point for a draw and the tally of votes are also counted in the case of a tie at the end. 

I have started with the first Queen album, titled ‘Queen’ which was released in 1973. The polls are just over the half way point at this stage and results should be available in early November.

The future of this league / poll system is that I will have all the rounds available online from the start. These will be open for a set number fo days so that as many people can vote as possible. There is only one vote per person based on IP and cookes.

If you want to take part in this series of polls, and contribute to deciding and finding The Best Queen Song, please return to the site over the next few weeks / months and visit the dedicated section for the Champions of Queen League.

Vote in the Champions of Queen League

Vote in the series of polls designed to determine the best songs on all of Queens 15 studio albums.

Results of the The Best Queen Song Polls on YouTube

Each album that gets voted on, will have a dedicated video on YouTube explaining the results of each album’s vote. I will outline the top 5 songs in each album, and show which 2 songs will go towards the final set of polls. So please follow Shane’s Queen Site on YouTube for this and more Queen related videos – the links is below.

Subscribe to the Shane's Queen Site YouTube Channel

Click the link to Subscribe to the Shane's Queen Site YouTube Channel which has piano tutorials, Queen reviews, the latest Queen news, Queen Covers, Queen Tribute Bands and much more...

Win Tickets to the Queen & Adam Lambert Tour 2021

Win Tickets to the Queen & Adam Lambert Tour 2021

Competition to Win Queen Tickets to the Queen+ Adam Lambert 2021 Concerts

Note – This competition to Win Queen Tickets has now expired but remains here for archive reasons.

Queen are running a competition where you can win Queen Tickets to the Queen and Adam Lambert 2021. These are not just tickets, these are VIP Backstage tour tickets!
All you have to do is purchase any format of the new ‘Live Around The World’ album from the official Queen store to be in with a chance of winning this much sought after pair of VIP Backstage tour tickets to the Queen & Adam Lambert 2021 UK Tour. You will also win a personalised voice note from Adam himself to say thanks!

Orders must be placed before 3PM on Thursday 8th October to be in with a chance to win these VIP Backstage tour tickets. (which at this stage doesn’t give you much time, so get your skates on)

Apparently all those who have already pre-ordered the new Queen Live Album ‘Live around the World’ from the online store will be automatically entered into the draw to win this great prize and the winners will be randomly selected from the thousands of pre-orders for ‘Queen Live around the World’.

Again, my only issue with this competition is that the offer is open to UK only. Queen are a world-wide phenomena and it’s not really fair on the world-wide audience to limit this to the UK. It’s online so why the restriction?? What a pity …

The New Live Album – “Queen – Live Around the World’

So far Queen  + Adam Lambert for performed 218 live shows with a total worldwide audience of 3,659,232 people.
If you weren’t one of these people, or indeed if you were and you want to relive that time again then there is some good news with Queen + Adam Lambert releasing their first Live album on October 2nd 2020.

The album is entitled Queen + Adam Lambert ‘Live Around the World’ and is set for a worldwide release on October 2nd. The Live around the World release will be available on CD, CD+DVD, CD+Blu-ray & Vinyl formats

Queen + Adam Lambert Live Around the World

CD / VINYL TRACKLIST
(DVD / BLU-RAY Tracklist differs slightly)

Tear It Up (May) The O2, London, UK, 02/07/2018

Now I’m Here (May) Summer Sonic, Tokyo, Japan, 2014

Another One Bites The Dust (Deacon) Summer Sonic, Tokyo, Japan, 2014

Fat Bottomed Girls ft. Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (May) American Airlines Center, Dallas, USA, 2019

Don’t Stop Me Now (Mercury) Rock In Rio, Lisbon, Portugal, 2016

I Want To Break Free (Deacon) Rock In Rio, Lisbon, Portugal, 2016

Somebody To Love (Mercury) Isle of Wight Festival, UK, 2016

Love Kills – The Ballad (Mercury/Moroder) iHeart Radio Theater, Los Angeles, USA, 2014

I Was Born To Love You (Mercury) Summer Sonic, Tokyo, Japan, 2014

Under Pressure (Queen/Bowie) Global Citizen Festival, New York, USA, 2019

Who Wants To Live Forever (May) Isle of Wight Festival, UK, 2016

The Show Must Go On (Queen) The O2, London, UK, 04/07/2018

Love Of My Life (Mercury) The O2, London, UK, 02/07/2018

Bohemian Rhapsody (Mercury) Fire Fight Australia, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, 2020

Radio Ga Ga (Taylor) Fire Fight Australia, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, 2020

Ay-Ohs (Mercury) Fire Fight Australia, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, 2020

Hammer To Fall (May) Fire Fight Australia, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, 2020

Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Mercury) Fire Fight Australia, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, 2020

We Will Rock You (May) Fire Fight Australia, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, 2020

We Are The Champions (Mercury) Fire Fight Australia, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia, 2020

Note – this competition to Win Queen Tickets has now closed !

Royal Mail to Issue 13 Stamps Commerating Queen and their Albums

Royal Mail to Issue 13 Stamps Commerating Queen and their Albums

Queen are being honoured with a Royal Mail issued set of stamps, which makes them only the 3rd Band after The Beatles and Pink Floyd to have been commemorated on an official Royal Mail issued collection.

This official Queen issue of commemorative series of stamps from Royal Mail is to mark Queen’s 50th anniversary.

The Queen stamp collection will be issued as a set of 13. The issue includes 8 album covers, namely;  ‘Queen II’ (74), ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ (74), ‘A Night At The Opera’ (75), ‘News of the World’ (79), ‘The Game’ (80), ‘Greatest Hits’ (81), ‘The Works’ (84) & ‘Innuendo’ (91).  The remaining 5 stamps features 4 photos of Queen playing live and a classic Queen group photo.

Earlier this year Queen saw a commemorative coin being released, and it is no wonder that Queen are getting such attention. Queen are at a high point, even 29 years after Freddie’s death, Queen are a band which regularly shows up in the top 10 streamed bands on Spotify and after the 4 time Oscar winning movie Bohemian Rhapsody, the band seems to be bringing new generations of fans along with them.

Brian May said of the new Queen Stamps that it was “hard to put into words” and called them “beautiful stamps” and Roger said that collection was “an honour” and he thanked Royal Mail for recognising their legacy, stating that “We must be really part of the furniture now”.

Queen (the band , not the monarch .. as she has had a lot of stamps) are only the 3rd rock band to be honoured with a set of Royal Mail Stamps, after The Beatles in 2007 and Pink Floyd more recently in 2016.

The Queen stamps from the Royal Mail are now available for pre-ordering from the Royal Mail’s official website at https://www.royalmail.com/

Queen Stamps
Royal Mail Issue New Special Stamps To Honour Queen

Will you be buying the Queen Royal Mail Stamps?

What do you think of this release?
Will you be buying the Queen Commemorative issue from the Royal Mail?

Do you have any other comments, please leave them below!

Subscribe to the Shane's Queen Site YouTube Channel

Click the link to Subscribe to the Shane's Queen Site YouTube Channel which has piano tutorials, Queen reviews, the latest Queen news, Queen Covers, Queen Tribute Bands and much more...

How to play the Intro to Seven Seas of Rhye on Piano

How to play the Intro to Seven Seas of Rhye on Piano

Seven seas of Rhye is one of my favourite songs from the Queen II album. Because there is such a high prevalence of piano in the song, of course I would want to play it. I learned the song many years ago and it’s only as the Shane’s Queen Site started to grow that I could see a growing appetite from visitors to see how songs were played. About a year ago I uploaded a video to YouTube showing how to play the intro to Seven Seas of Rhye on Piano – you can see that video at https://youtu.be/x9WJr6s-7Hg  – that video has over 60,000 views on YouTube which is great but nothing is explained in that video. It’s not easy to play the riff and many people wanted to know the keys to play so I have slowed things down in a new video. This updated video is under 5 minutes long but it shows how to play the Seven Seas of Rhye Piano riff in basic terms. See the new slower version of How to Play the Seven Seas of Rhye intro on Piano video below…

The chords used in the Seven Seas of Rhye riff are arpeggios of D and G. In the first riff part the D moves between a D and G and in the second it moves from G to a combo which is actually a D7-3rd chord in other words the notes D A and C. The key to playing the riff for Seven Seas is the hitting of the D note twice before changing the riff pattern.

This can be seen in the video. (But if you have questions about playing the intro to Seven Seas of Rhye on Piano, please feel free to leave them on the video or as a comment below)

As a Queen Keyboardist myself, I have seen many tribute bands and some of them don’t play this riff right and it irks me. It’s not overly hard, it’s just a trick of getting that Double hit on the D note before re-starting the riff. So I wanted to pass on my tips in this post and this YouTube Video. 

I hope you enjoy the new video of How to Play the Seven Seas of Rhye intro on Piano and that it helps if you were trying to learn the song.

Please follow me on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/ShaneMcDonaldIE/ for more videos. 

Feel free to comment on which Queen song you want to see explained on video next.

Bohemian Rhapsody wins 4 Oscars at the 91st Academy​ Awards

Bohemian Rhapsody wins 4 Oscars at the 91st Academy​ Awards

Bohemian Rhapsody wins a total of Four Oscars at the 91st Academy Awards.

The Queen BioPic Bohemian Rhapsody was the Biggest Winner at the 91st Academy Awards with the Bohemian Rhapsody biopic winning a total of 4 awards – it now has more Oscars than the Godfather.

Rami Malek won the Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Oscars. He had to contend with a very strong list of contenders for the award. The others in his Oscar category included Christian Bale for Vice, Bradley Cooper for A Star Is Born, Willem Dafoe for At Eternity’s Gate and Viggo Mortensen for Green Book. Having already won the Golden Globe and the BAFTA for his leading role in Bohemian Rhapsody, Rami Malek was very much the favourite to win.

Prior to Bohemian Rhapsody, Rami Malek was most famous for the interesting portrayal of Elliot Alderson in Mr Robot. The Bohemian Rhapsody movie had a lot of setbacks during its production. Sacha Baron Cohen left the production due to conflict with the remaining Queen band members regarding how the role should be played. Then director Bryan Singer was fired and replaced with Dexter Fletcher.

On release, the Bohemian Rhapsody movie was initially panned by the critics and many said it was a terrible film and did not reflect Freddie Mercury correctly. Even with this, the movie has gone on to have the most amazing box-office success.

Queen At The Oscars

It was a great night at the Oscars because for the first time a rock band opened the show. That band was Queen+ Adam Lambert. They opened with a short version of We Will Rock You closely followed by We Are the Champions. On the Red Carpet, Adam Lambert said that We are the Champions was apt because everyone nominated could consider themselves a champion.

As the Oscars for Bohemian Rhapsody kept coming I don’t think Queen fans could have ever foreseen an event where Queen was so front and centre. On collecting his award Rami Malek said, “I may not have been the obvious choice but I guess it worked out.” It certainly worked out. Bohemian Rhapsody with 4 Oscars and it has 30 of the 59 awards it was nominated for.

So much for the critics who said this movie was not good. There are many reviews from the UK press which have Bohemian Rhapsody as a 1 or 2-star film. Perhaps the age of the movie reviewer is over, they were wrong, Bohemian Rhapsody has earned over $860,000,000* at the box office and has won 4 Oscars, 2 golden globes, 2 BAFTAs and a number of industry awards under its belt.

Critics, You were wrong – go home – the public has spoken, the industry has spoken, Bohemian Rhapsody is the Champion.

* Box-Office data correct at the time of this blog-post, Feb 27th 2019

Bohemian Rhapsody the Movie gets 5 Oscar Nominations including Best Picture

Bohemian Rhapsody the Movie gets 5 Oscar Nominations including Best Picture

Bohemian Rhapsody the Movie got a total of 5 Oscar Nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role and 3 others oscar nominations.

At the Oscar Nominations event which was held today at 1:30pm GMT the Queen biopic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ picked up an amazing total of 5 Oscar nominations. The Movie had already collected 2 Golden Globes and 3 Critics Choice Nominations. This fresh set of oscar nominations comes only hours after the movie went on general digital release in the USA​. The movie was initially panned by critics worldwide before the movie was released however as soon as fans got to see it, the movie found a huge swell of support.​ The movie was released on 24th October in the UK and Ireland and it is still showing in most major cinemas. ​​

The movie “The Favourite” starring Olivia Colman and the Netflix’s movie Roma are the leaders in this year’s Oscar race, with a total of 10 nominations each.

The other nominees are the music-oriented “A Star Is Born” which starred Bradley Cooper and Lady GaGa, and, “Vice” with 8 Nominations. “Black Panther” becomes the very first Super-Hero movie to be nominated for best picture at the Oscars and it has 7 nominations. The undercover movie “BlacKkKlansman” picks up 6 nominations, followed by a movie you might have heard of called “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Green Book ” which both have 5 nominations.

Bohemian Rhapsody’s Oscar Nominations are as follows;

  • Best Picture
  • Best Actor in a Leading Role
  • Sound Editing
  • Sound Mixing
  • Film Editing

The Oscars take place in the Dolby Theatre on 24th February when we will find out the winners… Here’s Hoping for more Bohemian Rhapsody Movie successes!

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Having already won Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild awards, do you think the Bohemian Rhapsody Movie can win an Oscar? Feel free to leave a comment below!

Bohemian Rhapsody Wins 2 Golden Globes and Oscars are next

Bohemian Rhapsody Wins 2 Golden Globes and Oscars are next

Bohemian Rhapsody wins 2 Golden Globes

At the Golden Globes last evening Rami Malek won the Golden Globe for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. The Bohemian Rhapsody Movie also won in the best film drama category.

When accepting his award, Rami Malek, who portrayed Freddie Mercury in the biopic, said: “Thank you to Freddie Mercury for giving me the joy of a lifetime. This is for you, gorgeous.”

The Bohemian Rhapsody Movie was a surprise win at the Golden Globes; the favourite, A Star Is Born, starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper​ was​ tipped to win the top award. In fact, A Star is Born had 5 nominations and only went home with one, winning the best song award for Shallow, co-written by Mark Ronson. Bohemian Rhapsody won both awards it was nominated for and now looks towards the Oscars for more potential awards.

The Nominations for the 2019 Oscars will be announced on January 22nd.

Brian May and Roger Taylor were in attendance at the awards ceremony and I’m sure if Freddie was there it would have been quite a flamboyant affair.

The Bohemian Rhapsody film goes from strength to strength and who knows, the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild award wins may not be the last.

The film is still showing in theatres ad this week, (week starting 7th Jan) in the UK & Ireland there is a sing-a-long version of Bohemian Rhapsody in select cinemas which should be fun for all Queen fans to attend.

If you think that the movie can achieve Oscar success on top of the Golden Globes win, pop a comment below and let us know what you think it could be nominated for in the Oscars.

 

We Will Rock You Show Review

We Will Rock You London – Show Review

We Will Rock You London has been on my list for many years. I have been to London a lot over the past 10 years, and every time I went to London either on business or leisure I always said I would go and see the Queen show, We Will Rock You at The Dominion Theatre London. But, I never got round to going until this August when visiting London on a brief weekend trip. 

You cannot miss the Dominion Theatre where We Will Rock You London s playing, as there is a large statue of Freddie in his classic pose a-top the entrance to the Dominion.  An amazing way to advertise the show.

Freddie Mercury on Dominion Theatre, We Will Rock You London

Originally when I heard that the Queen songs I loved had been turned into a musical I was very sceptical and even a bit “How can they do this”. So I didn’t know what to expect – but hundreds of thousands of people couldn’t be wrong about this award-winning show in its 12th year.

As I entered the Dominion, where We Will Rock You London is playing, I was met with a “Wall of Queen” – I was in Heaven. Freddie playing on the PA System, photos of Fred and the band on the walls. I spent almost 30 minutes walking and looking at these great photos. Everything from Freddie’s “Bonnie baby” photo to Live at Wembley. I got really caught up in this and the show hadn’t even started.

I even bought a Queen T-Shirt with the Classic Queen Logo. Plenty of Queen merchandise available to purchase!

Me (Shane) and Fred Statue - We Will Rock You London

(Above) Me and the statue of Freddie – (Below) the lobby with photos of Queen adorning the walls.

Queen and We Will Rock You London Shop with Artwork and Photos of Queen

There are plenty of Queen related photos and items to look at before the show starts, so get there early.

We went into the auditorium and got ready for the show. The Stage is amazing with a fantastic emblem of Queen on the front waiting for the show to start.

The Show Must Go On - Stage Shot - We Will Rock You London

The Show  … and what a show

The show started and from that point, I was hooked. We Will Rock You is a Queen fest of music wrapped around a good story and great characters. I just loved the 2 lead characters. The female lead is one of the best I have seen in any show. She has such character, such a “don’t mess with me” attitude and it really comes across. It is a wonder that that character has not been nominated for some sort of award (maybe she has?) … anyway, I am getting distracted.

The premise of the We Will Rock You is that it tells the story of a group of Bohemians who struggle to restore the free exchange of thoughts, expression through fashion, and of course live music. It is set in a distant future where everyone dresses, thinks and does the same (you can see some of this already in modern fabricated bands). Musical instruments and composers are forbidden, and rock music is all but unknown.

The show starts with the young people of earth being denied expression through live music but Galileo Figaro has different ideas. He hears stuff – he hears the music. On meeting Scaramouche or “Scary Bush” he finds someone who has similar ideas and between them, they try and find Brighton Rock … no spoiler alert here so don’t worry.

In the middle of the show, there are 2 very tender moments where Freddie is remembered, Only the Good Die Young and Days of Our Lives are sung and I challenge any person to keep a dry eye here as it is sung with such sincerity and feeling.  You may and try to keep things under control but the music is so powerful that you can’t help being affected by those songs.

By the time We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions come, you are on your feet, stomping , clapping and singing.

Followed up by a rousing rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody all in all it is like going to a Queen concert. It really is a Kind of Magic!

It is an excellent show – I really enjoyed it … 10 times better than I could have expected.
I will certainly go back and see it again.

The Freddie Mercury Suite

Freddie Mercury Suite at We Will Rock You London Dominion

Before I left the Dominion Theatre I spotted this sign for the “Freddie Mercury Suite” (with a picture of Freddie beside it) – I dropped down to the room but a member of staff said there was a private function using the room.

Maybe next time I will be able to report on this suite, as I’m sure it is a treat for any Queen fan to have their private function, perhaps Birthday, special event or even corporate event (see if you can convince the accounts department) at The Freddie Mercury suite.

Well done to the Dominion, the We Will Rock You London cast and the excellent live Band (by the way Spike if you ever need a keyboard player, like when you go on holiday, drop me a line!!) for making this such a well-rounded show.

Unfortunately, now, in 2019, the We Will Rock You show in London is no longer running, but it continues in other countries around the world. I have held this We Will Rock You review on this page for historical reasons, lets face it, if you see the show in any other location it will still be as good and as enjoyable.

Dominion Website: http://www.dominiontheatre.com/theatre/
Book tickets to We Will Rock You LondonClick Here

Follow We Will Rock You London on Twitter @wwrylondon

 

Have you been to the show? What do you think? Who is your favourite character?
Drop a comment below …

Queen Studio Experience Montreux Exhibition

The Queen Studio Experience Montreux is set to open on December 2nd.

The Queen Studio Experience is sponsored by the Mercury Phoenix Trust and allows you to have an insight into the years Queen spent recording here. The Queen Studio exhibition will open December 2, marking World AIDS Day.

Mountain Studios was the name Queen gave to their studios where they regularly recorded between 1978 – 1995. This is where Queen created many of the tracks for their most popular albums. It is also the location where Freddie laid down his last tracks to tape.

However it is not in the location where the studios were instead The Queen Studio Experience is recreated within the Montreux Casino. This will show memorabilia from the original studio and from the band’s personal archives such as original Queen handwritten song lyrics, band members’ own instruments and original and subsequently changed titles of tracks, and much more. One of the highlights is the original control room where Freddie recorded his final vocals, along with the actual microphone Freddie used during those sessions.

You will also have the chance to sit in the actual studio chair Freddie used in those final days of recording. Also, the most amazing part in my eyes is that you will be able to take control of the Queen mixing desk to create custom mixes of Queen tracks from the  “Made in Heaven” album. Personally I would love to recreate “Too Much Love will Kill You” and pull up a piano and play it myself … anyway, back to the Studio Experience, it will be opened by Brian May and Roger Taylor on December 2, 2013 and will open daily from 10:30 – 22:00.
Entrance free although donations to the Mercury Phoenix Trust are encouraged.

For information on how to visit the Queen Studio Experience exhibition:
www.queenstudioexperience.com

Address: Casino Barrière de Montreux, Rue du Théâtre 9, 1820 Montreux, Switzerland

Open Call Auditions for We Will Rock You US Tour

Are you a singer? Do you want to start in We Will Rock You, the Stageshow?

There are Open Call Auditions for the We Will Rock You US Tour.

Details for the auditions are as follows;

We Will Rock You 2013 Audition Tour

LOS ANGELES (week of April 15th)

NEW YORK CITY (week of April 22nd)

ORLANDO (week of April 29th)

SEEKING EXTREMELY STRONG POP/ROCK SINGERS WHO CAN HANDLE THE MUSIC STYLINGS OF QUEEN

Producers: Phil McIntyre, Queen Theatrical
Productions, and Tribeca Theatrical
Productions in association with NETworks
Music/Lyrics: Queen
Book: Ben Elton
Director: Ben Elton
Tour Director/Choreographer: Tracey Flye
Choreographer: Arlene Phillips
Musical Supervisors: Brian May & Roger Taylor, Mike Dixon, Jason Howland
Casting Director: Duncan Stewart/Benton
Whitley of Duncan Stewart and Company

Rehearsals begin: On/About 9/2/13
1st Performance: On/About 10/15/13

SUBMIT ELECTRONICALLY: DStewartCoAuditions@gmail.com

SUBMIT HARDCOPY: DUNCAN STEWART AND COMPANY, ATTN: WE WILL ROCK YOU, 213 WEST 35TH STREET, SUITE 804, NEW YORK, NY 10001

IMMEDIATELY SEEKING:

[KILLER QUEEN] Female, 30s-40s. Any race. Older woman. Ruler of the world, amazing rock/soul voice. Camp, sexy, voluptuous, feisty, funny, powerful and power crazy, ruthless, the BOSS. Every man’s dream of an older woman. Strong movement is an asset. VOCAL RANGE: FULL SOUL/ROCK VOICE, LOW E TO HIGH E BELT (BELOW MIDDLE C).

[KHASHOGGI] Male, 30s-40s. Any race. Chief of Secret Police. Attractive, sophisticated, intelligent, sinister, cruel, cold but charming. VOCAL RANGE: HIGH ROCK BARITONE TO A WITH STRONG FALSETTO.

[GALILEO] Male, 20s. Any race. Attractive, sexy, vulnerable, sensitive, doesn’t fit in, a rebel, restless, headstrong and stubborn. Tense. Lives on his nerves. On a mission to accomplish something with his life. Tries to find the right way to fulfill his dreams. VOCAL RANGE: HIGH ROCK VOICE TO Bb WITH STRONG FALSETTO.

[SCARAMOUCHE] Female, Late teens. Any race. A rebel. Deeply introverted and complex. A goth teenager. An awkward loner. A misfit. Uses her self deprecating wit to cover her sensitivity and vulnerability. Brittle, hard and bitter. Head strong and stubborn. Defensive. Must be able to transform and blossom as confidence grows. Good comedic skills required. VOCAL RANGE: ROCK BELT TO HIGH E.

[BRITNEY] Male, 20s-30s. Any race. Big gentle giant with a heart of gold. Strong, sexy, loveable, innocent, lots of energy, vibrant. Very street and very cool. Must be a good mover. VOCAL RANGE: FULL ROCK VOICE TO B ABOVE MIDDLE C.

[OZ] Female, 20s. Any race. Rock chick. Street sexy, womanly, tough, common, foul- mouthed, wild, worldly and experienced. Must be an excellent mover/strong dancer. VOCAL RANGE: STRONG ROCK BELT TO A HIGH E.

[POP] Male, 30s-40s. Any race. An aging hippie. Bar man, ex-rebel. A fun loving philosopher. A hippie stand up comic type. A cross between George Carlin and Robin Williams. He’s worldly with a natural curiosity and passion for life and music. Good rock voice and comic skills required. VOCAL RANGE: PLEASANT BARITONE TO E.

[TEACHER] Male and Female, 20s-30s. Any race. Excellent rock voice. Strong acting and comedic skills. Must be able to play camp, sexy, feisty, funny, powerful and ruthless. Highly likely this track will cover Galileo and/or Britney/Pop (for males) or Killer Queen and/or Oz (for females). Must be excellent dancers to strong movers as they perform ensemble choreography.

[MALE ENSEMBLE] Late teens-20s. Any race. Should have very strong rock voices and the ability and experience to cover. They must be able to handle dialogue. Must be excellent dancers, acrobatic skills are an asset.

[FEMALE ENSEMBLE] Late teens-20s. Any race. Should have very strong rock voices and the ability and experience to cover. They must be able to handle dialogue. Must be excellent dancers, acrobatic skills are an asset.

DEADLINE TO APPLY FOR THE CASTING: APRIL 12th, 2013

ALL INTERESTED ARTISTS MUST SUBMIT PICTURE/RESUME, AND VIDEO BY EMAIL:

PLEASE SEND YOUR SUBMISSION TO DStewartCoAuditions@gmail.com

NOTE: IF YOU CANNOT ATTEND THESE AUDITIONS, BUT ARE INTERESTED & AVAILABLE FOR OUR PRODUCTION DATES, PLEASE STILL SUBMIT & LET US KNOW.

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:

www.DStewartCo.com or Duncan Stewart and Company’s official Facebook Page

Freddie For a Day 2012

Freddie For a Day 2012

Are you ready for Freddie For a Day 2012 ?

Are you a Moustache wearer in the style of the great Freddie Mercury? Then this is for you … Freddie For A Day 2012 – the great event returns In aid of the Mercury Phoenix Trust

Freddie for a Day 2012 marks the third year of this event. It is a worldwide celebration of the life of the great Freddie Mercury. Freddie for a take takes place 2 days before Freddies Brithday which is 5th September. We can turn the world into one full of moustaches for a day while all the time raising funds to combat AIDS, which claimed Freddie in November 1991.

Freddie for a day in 2011 raised more than a quarter of a million pounds thought the Freddie for a Day events and contributions. The Freddie for a Day events were all channeled through the Mercury Phoenix Trust, the HIV/AIDS foundation set up in Freddie Mercury’s memory which to this day continues the fight against AIDS ignorance and AIDS infection worldwide.

Last year Freddie for a Day saw Katy Perry donning the a Freddie costume from his final Wembley concert, as well as moustaches on Stephen Fry, Jeff Beck, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Russell Brand, and of course Ben Elton of We Will Rock You fame.

Freddie For a Day 2012 hits the London Savoy on September 3 when the famous will be treated to another evening of Comedy and Rock’n’Roll. The nation gets to have their fun with it and make their own personal contribution on Freddie’s actual birthday on September 5.

For more information on Freddie For a Day 2012 visit www.freddieforaday.com

You should visit the Freddie for a Day website for more information and also great inspiration on what you can do to support and engage with this great dress up event. Dress and perform like Freddie at Freddie For a Day 2012 and support AIDs research at the same time.

Freddie For a Day Page

I have added a dedicated Freddie for a Day page on my site, so if you have a FFAD event happening in 2022 then please let me know and I will add it – check out the link st https://shanemcdonald.ie/queen/freddie-for-a-day_ffad/ 

Queen Concert Live in Budapest 1986 in Cinemas

Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live In Budapest ‘86 will be in a Cinema Near You From 20th September 2012

“Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live In Budapest ‘86” is a must–see cinema concert event for Queen fans. It will be released in cinemas worldwide from 20 September 2012. The film of this excellent Queen concert is expected to play in cinemas and theatres in over 30 territories worldwide. In the UK it will be screened in all the major cities, around 100 cinemas nationwide.

The concert was originally filmed in 1986, you might have seen clippets in Queen documentaries such as Days of our Lives and the DoRo films in the 1990s. The concert movie has been remastered in high def and crisp surround sound. But there’s more the concert is proceeded by a very special 25-minute Queen documentary showing footage from just after their historic show–stealing performance at Live Aid hrough the following year leading up to the concert in Budapest. The Queen concert, part of the Magic tour, was in the Népstadion, Budapest, and the first Western Rock Concert staged in a stadium behind the then Iron Curtain with 80,000 ecstatic Queen fans in attendance.

“We’re delighted that Queen fans across the world will finally have the chance to relive this amazing moment for the band. We knew a stadium concert in Budapest was ground–breaking, but hadn’t quite anticipated what a historic night it would turn out to be. The concert looks fantastic on the cinema screen in all its digitally re-mastered glory and the documentary does a great job of setting the scene – it really was an extraordinary time in the band’s history.” Brian May and Roger Taylor

Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live In Budapest ‘86 – a fantastic opportunity to dress up, sing along and celebrate the magic of Queen at your local cinema.

For Cinema listings and ticket information visit www.queenonline.com

The Queen Budapest concert Cinema Release date is 20 September 2012 with a Running time of  1h 55 minutes

Enoy!

Queen Documentary ‘The Great Pretender’ Released 24th September

A new Queen Documentary is due for release and Eagle Rock Entertainment have announced the release on 24 September 2012 of the Freddie Mercury DVD and Blu-ray, “The Great Pretender”

The documentary has been developed by same excellent team behind last year’s hugely successful documentary “Queen: Days of Our Lives” which ran on the BBC. “The Great Pretender” presents a compelling insight unearthing previously undiscovered or rarely seen footage of Queen and Freddie Mercury. This is also the for the first time available in Hi-Def.

“The Great Pretender” is produced and directed by Rhys Thomas, life-long Queen fan and expert (to the extent that Rhys famously broke the Mastermind all time record points score with a specialist subject of Queen). Rhys has this time turned his attention to the Freddie archive, going back as early as 1976 in search of vintage gems which reveal more than ever before the inside story of Freddie’s life and career and the solo projects he worked on outside of Queen.

“The Great Pretender” documentary has extensive archive footage from rare interviews with the press-shy Freddie, concerts, video shoots and personal material, much of it being seen for the first time, along with newly filmed contributions from fellow Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor, Queen manager Jim Beach, soprano Montserrat Caballé, composers David Arnold and Mike Moran, lyricist Tim Rice, comedian and lifelong fan Matt Lucas and many more.

There are some amazing firsts for this release, one of which is Freddie & Rod Stewart singing their demo for “Take Another Piece of My Heart”, an unreleased song from 1984, a snippet of the unreleased Michael Jackson / Freddie Mercury collaboration “There Must Be More To Life Than This”, and Freddie with the Royal Ballet 1979.

“The Great Pretender” documentary also has some funny outtakes from the video shoots for “I Want To Break Free”, “One Vision”, “Days of Our Lives”, “I Want It All”, “A Kind Of Magic”, “Princes of the Universe”, “Living on My Own”, Born To Love You”, “Great Pretender”, “Made In Heaven”, and “Who Wants to Live Forever” as well as other bonus features which will not be shown on any TV releases.

Visit http://www.freddiemercury.com/ for details.

Click Here to Buy Queen Unseen via Amazon.com

Queen To Play Londons HMV Hammersmith Appollo

Queen To Play Londons HMV Hammersmith Appollo

April 25th : Update – Tickets for the two Queen + Adam Lambert concerts at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo on July 11th & 12th have both SOLD OUT. Brian May has hinted at the possibility of a third date being added to the bill.

 

Despite the sudden cancellation of the Sonisphere Concert and with Queen set to headline with singer Adam Lambert at Knebworth, Queen have announced they are to go ahead with not just one but two Queen UK concert appearances this summer.

Queen and Lambert will perform at 2 concerts at London’s HMV Hammersmith Apollo over two nights, July 11/12 2012. Queen also promised to endeavour to give priority booking to all fans who had held tickets for their Knebworth Sonisphere concert.

Queens Hammersmith Tickets will go on sale this week. Tickets for Queens HMV Hammersmith Appollo concerts will be sold first to Queen fan club members, Queen online subscribers and Sonisphere Knebworth ticket holders and then on general sale.

A bit of Queen Hammersmith History

HMV Hammersmith Appollo was originally known as the Hammersmith Odeon. The Hammersmith Odeon venue was the scene of 4 sold out Queen concerts in late November/early December 1975 (at the height of the Bohemian Rhapsody release). Hammersmith Odeon was also the venue for a special Christmas Eve show and again in December 1979 when they played the opening night of a series of UNICEF concerts for the people of Kampuchea.

Amongst Queen fans, the Hammersmith Odeon shows continue to be regarded as some of Queen’s most exceptional concerts.

Queen HMV Hammersmith Appollo Concert Tickets

Tickets for Queen + Adam Lambert concerts at HMV Hammersmith Apollo on Wednesday July 11 and Thursday July 12 will first be available on a 24-hour pre-sale to Queen Online subscribers, Queen Fan Club members and Sonisphere ticket holders from 9am on Tuesday April 17.

General Hammersmith sales start Wednesday 18th April at 9am at www.hmvapollo.com and through Ticketmaster. Caller lines: HMV Tickets 08432 221 0100 / Ticketmaster 08448 444 748.

Tickets are priced at £65.00, £70.00 and £75.00 plus £6 booking fee on all prices.

For tickets by post an additional charge will apply.

Sonisphere cancelled as Queen return is cut short

Sonisphere cancelled as Queen return is cut short

Sonisphere cancelled – Queen’s return is sadly cut short

Queen were due to play Knebworth at the Sonisphere festival but the Sonisphere festival has been cancelled.

The sonisphere organisers said “It is with very heavy hearts and much regret that we announce the cancellation of Sonisphere Knebworth 2012. Putting the festival together in what is proving to be a very challenging year … unfortunately circumstances have dictated that we would be unable to run the festival to a standard that both the artists and that Sonisphere’s audience would rightly expect.

Ticket holders will automatically receive a full refund direct from their ticket agents.

What Queen will do next is unknown – Queen fans were anticipating a return to Knebworth which was the location of the very last Queen concert with Freddie . Would they do a full Queen concert with Adam Lambert at Knebworth?

Lets wait and see what happens – With Queen, you never know….

Queen are set to Return To Knebworth! New Queen Concert Date with Adam Lambert!!

QUEEN with Adam Lambert are set to rock Sonisphere 2012 at Knebworth, the location of the last Queen concert with Freddie Mercury at the helm.

25 years after the legendary Freddie Mercury rocked at Knebworth in August 1986, Queen Return To Knebworth with Adam Lambert. This time Queen Return To Knebworth headlining the second day at Sonisphere 2012. Adam Lambert is an American Idol participant who performed “We are the Champions” with Brian May and Roger Taylor in May 2009 and rumors have been mentioned and tweeted ever since, that a collaboration would take place between Lambert and Queen – today is the day that this is true.

The 2012 Queen performance will take place at Knebworth Park, Stevenage, on Saturday July 7.

In 1986, the Wembley shows were supposed to be the final concerts of the ‘Kind of Magic’ tour, but due to demand an extra date at Knebworth was set up. Not everyone was sure that it would sell out, management asked the band ‘are you sure it will sell’ …. Queen went on to draw a record crowd of over 120,000, their biggest ever UK concert audience.

Now Queen fans get to see Queen perform at Knebworth!!

Tickets on sale to the general public from 9am on Thursday 23rd February from www.sonispherefestivals.com ; Phone 0844 871 8803 . Concert tickets are priced at £145 for a weekend concert ticket (3 and 4-day camping tickets also available), with a limited number of day concert tickets available for £75.

Sonisphere Knebworth takes place July 6th – 8th at Knebworth House.
Visit www.sonispherefestivals.com for full details and get tickets as Queen Return To Knebworth.

23 Queen songs in 9 minutes – Video

Gregg M has compiled a live Queen medley/mash-up to celebrate the life and loss of Freddie Mercury.

This Queen Mash-up is titled ’23 songs in 9 minutes’, it was seen as a fun way to remember or discover songs from the Queen repertoire interpreted by an acoustic duet. The full Queen Mashup video is available below.

The History of the “23 Queen songs in 9 minutes” Mashup

The history of the mash up is very interesting, Gregg was invited as a guest in a ‘Queen evening’ and felt that a simple cover version was not the way to go. Therefore he decided to create something new and challenging, in order to entertain the audience, Gregg says it was “Like a Human Jukebox, actually …. It took a while for me  to figure out how to begin the monster and I worked it bit by bit. I separated it in several parts, each including 4 or more songs and then put the pieces together, just like a giant musical jigsaw puzzle. Two days later, and something like 20 hours of musical work of writing, rehearsing and demoing, I sent a draft to my singer (who’s with me in my band, The Sunchase, as well as my ‘twisted covers concept’, the Guest-Sessions) and we rehearsed it bits by bits some days later. We decided it would be more fun if we did not have any chart on stage so we worked really hard to remember everything and went onstage at ‘Le Zèbre’ in Paris the week after that.”
I hope you enjoy the Queen Mashup!

The Video – 23 Queen Songs in 9 Minutes

Further details for Gregg M and his music are available at ;
http://www.thesunchase.net/
http://www.onemonthonesong.com/
Days Of Our Lives DVD/Blu-Ray

Days Of Our Lives DVD/Blu-Ray

New Days Of Our Lives DVD/Blu-Ray Released

Days Of Our Lives’ began as a two-part documentary produced by long-term Queen collaborators and life long fans Rhys Thomas (the comedian who famously broke the Mastermind all time record points score with a specialist subject of Queen) and Simon Lupton, and directed by the renowned director Matt Casey. This Days Of Our Lives DVD release has  lot of new material which Queen fans world wide will enjoy.

After 10 years of making Queen DVDs, Lupton and Thomas were asked by the band to produce the definitive 40th Anniversary documentary and after almost a year of painstaking research and editing, this Days Of Our Lives DVD was the result.

As well as the new sequences, there are 7 new videos.  Excerpts were featured in the main documentary, but we have completed them, and here on the Days Of Our Lives DVD and Blu- Ray they appear in full.

Read More about Days Of Our Lives DVD/Blu-Ray on QueenOnline…

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