Hi fellow organ grinders, here is mine and KatzMcCaffs account of last nights book launch.It's told from Katz perspective and I've some great photo's to go with it but don't know how to upload them! (Can anyone tell me how to do it as I've sent an orgnote to the moderators but haven't heard anything back yet?)

Thanks to all who made our night such a success and to the org 4 making it possible for us to be there! We had a blast!

"Well, after getting over the initial shock of winning, I set off for the Dorchester with my friend Tania. We were both very, very excited! We arrived and I must say that it is the most impressive hotel I have ever been inside...sumptuous surroundings and impeccably mannered staff at all times. As we were early, we were escorted to the Bar for a couple of extremely expensive glasses of champagne and sat pondering on who else had sat in this beautiful and clearly very exclusive hotel - Noel Coward, Tom Cruise, Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Sophia Loren and of course our man - Prince who appears to have photographed most of the hotel in his book!! It was here that I met up with the other org winner ‘nebkheperrure’ who it turned out to be called an altogether more reasonable Rich! He was with his friend Barry and together, the four of us started to imagine our very best wish list scenarios for the evening ahead!

At 6:30 we went into the 'Crystal Suite' for the 21 nights launch. To do this, we walked past the famous 'Crystal Piano' that many people who have stayed in the hotel have been photographed at, including Prince, and ascended a beautifully ornate spiral staircase. The expectation mounted! The stunning print of him with his head on the piano from the book that we passed was hopefully a taster of more mounted prints to come – unfortunately, there was only one other and try as we might, we couldn’t manage to get either out of the building at the end of the evening!! Prince had given the piano pic to the Dorchester and clearly they were keeping hold of it! The Crystal Suite was surprisingly small and we all agreed that the scale didn’t do the book justice. The room soon quickly filled with lots of media type people - buyers from HMV, journos etc who looked as though they went to this kind of thing every day of the week and really did not care just as long as they got the free champagne(!) Actually, the champagne and the food were indeed amazing and whoever organised the hospitality was extremely generous. There were lots of nice purple touches throughout - beautiful fresh purple orchids floating in bowls on the table, an elegant glass plinth as you walked in filled with purple flowers and huge chandeliers that filled the room with sparkles of golden light - it looked stunning.

It was very clear from the room set up that Prince was not going to attend although there was a large plasma screen on the wall showing the video clip of 'the one u wanna c' . We thought he might have done a slightly tacky 'hello, enjoy yourselves and this is my book' pre-recorded video - but fortunately he didn’t. The room started filling up and Richard (not one for being shy!) managed to speak to anyone and everyone connected with the book (see his photos for those Kodak moments). Randee St Nicholas/ Beverly Knight/Michelle Gayle/Katrina Appie (a make up artist who worked on the shoot) were all willing to talk and pose for org pics without much prompting. Beverly Knight was both especially generous with her time and incredibly friendly. She did say she thought Prince was a bit naughty for not being there but we all have by now come to expect that of him. She also said that she loved prince.org and regularly logged on herself to see what was going on..! really?!!!I wonder what her username is?

As the night carried on with the champagne flowing, one of the representatives of Simon and Schuster gave a brief speech about the book with Randee St Nicholas following giving an even briefer one (but offered to sign copies upon request; Richard being first up and even having his signing filmed by the television crew from Reuters News Agency). However at this point I think it would have been nice if some kind of statement had come from Prince about what this book means to him. The book was there and you could look at it for free or buy it for £30. No discounts, no negotiations. The champagne and canapés continued to flow in abundance and as people relaxed, the celebration just got better.

It was a wonderful night. The Dorchester lived up to its suitably glamorous reputation and I am sure Prince had a beautiful experience staying there. My one disappointment was that this book is about a man who played a historic series of concerts in London for 21 nights and, in doing so, gave us some unforgettable moments whilst staying in this luxurious hotel in our capital city of London. Tonight, that man, remaining as elusive as ever, didn't return and that did make me feel slightly disheartened. But not too much! We all met some incredible people and new friends from the org. Randee St Nicholas and Beverly Knight were both beautiful and honest people and by the time the party drew to a close, we had all had a truely incredible night".

How to post a picture:

http://prince.org/msg/3/196118

langebleu said:

And make sure the pics posted don't take up too much bandwidth. Preview your post before posting to check and see what pics would look like posted. You may have to adjust pic size.


Glad you had a great time. I thoroughly enjoyed the report. It made me feel as if I was actually there with you too.

You'll have memories of that night for a life time

Great report! Thanks, and glad you had a good time.

Thanks for sharing!

cool! nice report! thanks for sharing!

great review!

thanks for sharing your experience with us!

great review

I didnt even know there was a competition!

Still great of the org to run one, we knew Prince wouldnt be there but still rubbing shoulders with his closest associates must have been really cool - a night to remember.

Thanks for a great report. I'm glad you won the chance to go.

Good Times.
Hope you had a designated driver!

Fantastic! Thank you so much for the report - it's a shame that Prince didn't go. It's cool that Beverly Knight logs onto the Org (Hiya Bev! )

I can't wait to see your pics!

I have just received my copy of 21 Nights,and to be honest I really dont think much of it. Far to many photos of well, nothing!! Luton airport,inside airport, a plain, an corridor in hotel,a hand pressing a button to call the elevator.I could go on but dont want to be piss on anyones chips who hasn t seen it yet.
However Indigo nights is great haven t listen all the through yet but I think the version of Alphabet street has to be the funkiest Iv heard, complete and utter kick ass FONK!!!, Beverley Knight is great and so is the version of Misty Blue sung by Shelby as well as the very funny beggin woman blues. I only bought the book for the CD and what I v heard so far it is well worth the £15 plus p/p I paid Amazon.

P.S I went to see Stevie Wonder last night at the MEN Manchester, what can I say 1 million percent respect what a legend, unbelievable performance so much fun was had by all, stevie you have the most amazing powerfull vocals and boy you can play. I feel blessed to have been there the best birthday present from my girlfriend EVER! Thanks a billion.

Thanks for sharing. I'm glad you all had such a good time.