Slightly off-topic but doesn't really belong in the General Discussion forum either ... Whatever

Fury over HK Sars concert 'fiasco'

The Rolling Stones were expected to headline the event
Politicians and residents in Hong Kong have attacked a Sars benefit concert season for turning into a "fiasco" after the Rolling Stones pulled out. The band withdrew from a gig, part of the month-long HK$80m (£6.2m) series, in a dispute over the contract and fee. There has been anger at reports that foreign stars had been offered big fees from taxpayers' money while local acts were treated as "side dishes". There are also reports of poor ticket sales for the 14 Harbourfest events. Legislator Emily Lau made the "fiasco" attack, saying the government must justify the cost of the event.

Applaud

"This is taxpayers money and it belongs to Hong Kong people," she said. "If the money has been spent wisely then we will applaud it but we don't know that it has." Another legislator, Fred Li, said the government's decision to underwrite the event was a "blunder". "Organisers have set aside 3,000 seats at some of the shows for foreign visitors but the Tourism Board has admitted that it cannot attract long-haul visitors due to the short period of time," he said.

Boost morale

One resident, accountant Minnie Wu, said Harbourfest had been "a disaster from the beginning". The series of shows from 17 October to 9 November was planned to boost morale and tourism in the territory, which was crippled when 299 people died in the Sars outbreak earlier this year. Among the stars lined up to play are Prince, Jose Carreras, Westlife and Neil Young. Mike Rowse, director general of InvestHK, said the Rolling Stones' withdrawal was not a "mortal wound" and their appearance was "not essential to the event being successful". He also promised that the government would not spend more than HK$100m (£7.8m) on the season.


And in a more recent news article:




Hong Kong faces £7m Sars gig debt

The Stones rescheduled two shows
The Hong Kong government has said it may have to cover losses of US$12.8m (£7.6m) in a troubled post-Sars concert series headlined by the Rolling Stones. Organisers have announced that three Hong Kong stars will not be performing at the Harbour Fest event, which has been underwritten by the government. At first the Stones were pulled from the bill at Harbour Fest after delays in signing a contract.
But they later announced they would now play shows on 7 and 9 November. However, the government said it expected major losses after artists Nicholas Tse, Joey Yung and Andy Hui were counted out of the month-long festival. It had been meant to boost morale in Hong Kong after the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome which claimed 299 lives between March and May. Instead it has come under heavy criticism following uncertainty about the Stones' appearance and poor ticket sales.

Poor Hong Kong !
[This message was edited Tue Oct 21 10:54:20 PDT 2003 by FunkyStrange]

That sounds like a fiasco... But Prince already got paid and is gone...
In a slow but steady gett away...

See...

Prince ya big ole pimp you...

Prince ya big ole pimp...