WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-03-16 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
By Nomfundo Mcetywa
Music promoter Duncan Heafield believes rival local music promoters are out to tarnish his name following reports of his arrest in Dubai during Celine Dion’s tour there last week.
Heafield is the promoter behind this week’s cancelled Josh Groban tour. Groban halted his South African tour reportedly because of the organisation problems during Celine Dion’s concerts at Vergelegen, near Cape Town, and the special Valentine’s Day Show in Johannesburg.
Shortly after Groban announced his withdrawal, entertainment website Pollstar reported Heafield, whose company, Kusasa Entertainment, promoted the South Africa and Middle East legs of Dion’s “Taking Chances” world tour, had been arrested in Dubai for failing to pay contractors.
| ‘This is a pack of lies’ |
The website said local authorities had held his passport until he settled his debts. He was released in time for the March 6 show.
“This is a pack of lies,” Heafield said, holding up his passport to prove the Dubai authorities did not have it.
“I left for Dubai on Sunday and arrived on Monday morning. Dion’s show, which was held on Wednesday, March 6, was spectacular. We had no problems. It took place at the Four Seasons Golf Club not the Dubai Rugby Club, as stated by the article.
“The show went off well and Celine later thanked me for the wonderful tour and told me how much she loved being in South Africa. At no point was I arrested,” said Heafield.
Tony Haswani, president of Solicet, the events company in Dubai responsible for helping Heafield get permits to work as a promoter in that country, said he’d been surprised to read about Heafield’s arrest.
| ‘At no point was I arrested’ |
“We supervised the event and at no point was Duncan arrested,” said Haswani.
Heafield believes rumours were started by a local music promoter, whom he refused to name, during the International Live Music Convention in London last weekend.
This isn’t the first time Heafield has been involved in controversy. He has been accused by a number of companies he subcontracted to, of failing to pay on time and has been sued by several local promoters, Attie van Wyk of Big Concerts among them.
Shoglo Management Services, owned by Hazel Feldman, sued Heafield last month after she pulled out of Dion’s tour because of a contractual dispute. They settled out of court.
Heafield’s company’s reported poor organisation allegedly led to disastrous concerts for Dion at Vergelegen, and the Valentine’s Day Show in Johannesburg. Fans complained of traffic congestion, a lack of police control and no visible parking marshals.
The Internet is buzzing with dissatisfaction over Heafield’s company. Daronx, a blogger on www.hellopeter.com, complained of having to queue for five hours to get into the golden circle. “Celine gave what she promised, while Kusasa cut every corner to maximise profits. I find the whole thing disgusting,” said Daronx.
On Groban cancelling his tour, a blogger called Dubertza said: “This is just another example of why qualified people want to leave the country. All the big promotions are run by unqualified companies. I hope this latest failure gets noticed by the international community and that no celebrities will ever use you for any function again.”
Groban said he had cancelled because “things were not organised logistically or financially by the promoter”.
Heafield said his company had taken full responsibility for Dion’s concert in Cape Town and there had been a major improvement in subsequent legs of the tour as the show was the most successful box office tour in South Africa, with more than 250 000 tickets sold.
“We had a great concert at the same venue the next day and learnt from our mistake. People must bear in mind no other promoter has ever done nine international stadium shows at once. Usually promoters just take the musicians to the three biggest cities,” he said.
“With Josh, I was not able to give him the assurance that the same traffic problems we experienced with Celine would not recur.
“We decided to postpone the tour to give everyone the opportunity to meet the guarantees and ensure Josh’s performance is memorable and spectacular, in line with him as an artist,” said Heafield.
Other promoters are said to be keen to grab Groban from Heafield.
“We have a contract with Josh but I have heard that promoters are trying to take advantage of the situation to get him to come here. We are fighting to keep him but, rest assured, Josh will come to the country, whether he is brought here by me or another promoter,” said Heafield.