VH1 Divas

In 1998, VH1 debuted the first annual VH1 Divas concert. VH1 Divas Live was created to support the channel's Save The Music Foundation and subsequent concerts in the series have also benefited that foundation. The VH1 Divas concerts aired annually from 1998 to 2004. After a five year hiatus, the series returned in 2009 with a younger-skewed revamp. In 2010 the concert saluted the troops and in 2011 it celebrated soul music, doubling the previous year's ratings. The latest edition, which aired live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on December 16, 2012, celebrated dance music and paid tribute to Whitney Houston and Donna Summer.

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VH1 Divas Live

VH1 Divas Live
Live album by VH1 Divas Live
Released October 6, 1998
Recorded April 14, 1998
Genre Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Country
Label VH1
VH1 Divas Live chronology
VH1 Divas Live
(1998)		 VH1 Divas Live/99
(1999)

VH1 Divas Live: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live on April 14, 1998.

Summary

The very first "VH1 Divas" show at New York's Beacon Theatre offered an unprecedented summit of stars - Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Shania Twain and Gloria Estefan. The spontaneity continued with the guest appearance of singer-songwriter Carole King, who led the team through versions of her own "You've Got a Friend" and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman."

Headliners

Guest performer

Presenters

The show was produced by Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich, directed by Michael Simon and written by producer/writer Martin Lewis.

Show sequence

Performances on the album and home video release

Charts

Chart Position
U.S. Billboard 200[1] 21
Canadian Albums Chart[1] 12
French Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique[1] 7
Netherlands MegaCharts[1] 7
Norwegian VG-lista[1] 9
New Zealand Recorded Music NZ[1] 10

Reviews

Musician credits

(in order of appearance)[2][3]

Aretha's band was used for her duet with Mariah Carey (Chain of Fools) and the finale (Natural Woman, and Testimony).

Trivia

How the Divas came to be (by Wayne Isaak, VH1 Senior Vice President Music & Talent Relations, August 1998)

"In November 1997, following several months of debate, a small group of us at VH1 finally agreed to turn our annual “VH1 Honors” concert into a once-in-a-lifetime gathering of some of the most notable and popular female voices in contemporary music. Borrowing from several smaller productions, we were determined to create a performance showcase which we titled VH1 Divas Live.

The task of booking such a show was monumental. To gather some of today’s top vocalists together on the same stage, singing both their own songs and a number of collaborations, presented innumerable logistical challenges. We began by researching a list of artists who were actively performing, and factored in those who we thought would work well together. By early December, we had an impressive list of names, and we began to make offers.

In early January 1998, Celine Dion agreed to perform on the show and became our first official booking. Our viewers had chosen Celine as VH1’s Artist of the Year in 1996; now, her recording of “My Heart Will Go On” was well on its way to becoming the biggest song of 1998. Since Celine and nearly all of the Divas we had targeted were scheduled to be on the East Coast in mid-April, we decided to move what had become an annual Los Angeles-based event to Gotham City to be held two days after Easter on April 14, 1998. We hastened to secure a venue in New York and to confirm the participation of more Divas.

Aretha Franklin had been on our dream list from day one. We were overjoyed to learn that she was planning an April release for her new album, “A Rose Is Still A Rose”, and would be performing live during that time. Truly, Aretha was and is the definitive Diva, and thus became our role model for the event. With the persuasive efforts of Clive Davis, President of Arista Records, she finally agreed in early March to play the event. And when the Queen of Soul stood in for an ailing Luciano Pavarotti and stole the Grammy Awards telecast with her rendition of Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma”, we knew Aretha was going to be magical.

Gloria Estefan was preparing to debut a new LP, “gloria!”, in early June, and responded enthusiastically to our invitation.

From our vantage point in February, Shania Twain was one of country music’s biggest-selling artists, and poised to score a breakthrough pop hit with her new single, “You’re Still The One”. We loved the idea of widening the appeal of our show by including her fans, and we loved the idea of Shania in general. She seemed like a Diva in the making.

From the start, we’d fantasized about having Mariah Carey on the show. But in December and January, her Spring ’98 tour plans were uncertain, and we didn’t want to add another decision to her list. So we built the show to the point of near completion by early March, and only then asked Mariah to join us. She was concerned as to how she’d fit into the already busy evening, but was excited by the prospect of singing with Aretha. After working through her schedule and her repertoire, Mariah finally said yes in mid-March, just hours before our posters and advertisements went to press.

The final addition of Carole King to our artist roster would prove crucial to the success of VH1 Divas Live. Producer Ken Ehrlich and I really wanted Carole to duet Celine on “The Reason”, a song co-written by Carole for Celine’s album, “Let’s Talk About Love”. We also hoped that Carole would lead the whole ensemble through her classic composition, “A Natural Woman” – one of the best songs ever written from a woman’s point of view. Just nine days before the event, Ms. King agreed to come in from Los Angeles.

Another Carole King standard, “You’ve Got A Friend”, was added and rehearsed onstage the afternoon of the live telecast after a song due to feature Aretha Franklin was dropped from the running order. Carole led Shania, Celine and Gloria through the song with the aid of sheet music purchased that afternoon from Colony Music store on Broadway. “A Natural Woman” was only fully rehearsed by the group in Ms. Franklin’s bus about hours before the start of the show.

After nearly two-and-a-half hours of singing and musical testimony, network President John Sykes presented a check for $100,000 to VH1 Save The Music in the name of each Diva. The VH1 Save The Music initiative, which helped inspire Divas to join the event, is dedicated to improving the quality of education in America’s public schools by restoring and supporting music programs in communities across the country.

The live broadcast became the highest rated program in VH1’s 13-year history. Twenty million people watched the program in the initial airings on the channel in the US. The feedback we received from viewers, the media, other artists, and the Divas themselves confirmed that we all had been part of an extraordinary musical event."

Additional trivia

VH1 Divas Live (1998) gathered five of the world's most celebrated Divas, but it was not the first time they were meeting each other (or talking about each other):

VH1 Divas Live/99

VH1 Divas Live/99
Live album by VH1 Divas Live
Released November 1999
Recorded April 13, 1999
Genre Pop, R&B/Soul
Length 73:00
Label VH1
VH1 Divas Live chronology

VH1 Divas Live
(1998)		 VH1 Divas Live/99
(1999)		 VH1 Divas Las Vegas
(2002)

VH1 Divas Live/99: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live on April 13, 1999.

Headliners

Guest performers

Presenters

Show sequence

Performances on the CD, VHS, and DVD release

Charts and certification

Chart (2000) Provider Peak
position		 Certification
Austrian Albums Chart Media Control 43
French Albums Chart SNEP/IFOP 42
Dutch Albums Chart IFPI 41
German Top 100 Albums Media Control 60
Swiss Top 100 Albums Media Control 14
U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 90 Gold (CD) / Gold (DVD)

Trivia

VH1 Divas 2000: A Tribute To Diana Ross

VH1 Divas 2000: A Tribute To Diana Ross - An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation was the first of three concerts in the series not aired live. It was recorded on April 9, 2000 at New York's Madison Square Garden and first aired on April 11, 2000. Diana Ross requested the concert be recorded as time constraints for the airing of commercials would not allow enough time for her to change costumes. The well-received show took a mammoth 6 hours to record. This special also marked the introduction of Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne as Supremes, who were touring with Diana Ross. Laurence and Payne were Supremes during the 1970s.

Summary

Diana Ross knows how to feel the love in the room, which may explain why she frequently abandoned the stage to wander among the audience in the midst of her own tribute at Madison Square Garden. Ross still commanded plenty of star wattage. In their own singular ways, Mariah Carey, Donna Summer, Destiny's Child, Faith Hill and even RuPaul all hailed the Supremest Supreme. Ross sported a spangled outfit that matched Mariah Carey's own during their performance of "Baby Love." Donna Summer covered "Reflections" and Faith Hill bounced through "Love Child". Destiny's Child took on "Upside Down," accompanied by composer Nile Rodgers on guitar. But it was up to Ross to provide the biggest shock of all - a wild reunion with latter-day Supremes Linda Laurence and Scherrie Payne to perform "You Keep Me Hanging On" and "Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart."

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Show sequence

Trivia

VH1 Divas Live: The One And Only Aretha Franklin

VH1 Divas Live: The One And Only Aretha Franklin - An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation. This all-star tribute (the last such "Divas" event to use the format) to Aretha Franklin took place at New York's Radio City Music Hall. As the previous year, this concert was not released on CD or DVD. However, most of Aretha's performances were released years later on the iTunes US Store.

Mary J. Blige and Jill Scott were hand-picked by Aretha to honor her.

Everyone in the audience and at home was hoping to see Janet Jackson perform, as she was announced as one of the guests, but she only appeared to praise Franklin and introduce one of the videos that remembered her career achievements. Jackson got the longest standing ovation of the night, though.

Summary

This all-star tribute to Aretha Franklin at New York's Radio City Music Hall gave props to a woman who has been at the center of American music since arriving on the scene in the mid '60s. Franklin easily adapted herself to a variety of guests, crooning with the Backstreet Boys on "Chain of Fools," matching wails with Mary J. Blige on "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man," and letting Kid Rock storm her barn on "Rock Steady." She even joined a jazz ensemble led by Herbie Hancock for a little scat. Marc Anthony and Celia Cruz saluted the First Lady of Soul with salsa. Neo-soul up-and-comer Jill Scott made "A Natural Woman" feel like the real thing, and the New Jersey Mass Choir accompanied Franklin's assault on the hymn "Precious Memories." Janet Jackson, Sigourney Weaver, Renée Zellweger, Stevie Wonder and the Sopranos cast were among those looking on in awe.

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Show sequence

VH1 Divas Las Vegas

VH1 Divas Las Vegas
Live album by VH1 Divas Live
Released October 22, 2002
Recorded May 23, 2002
Genre Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Country
Label VH1
VH1 Divas Live chronology
VH1 Divas Live/99
(1999)		 VH1 Divas Las Vegas
(2002)

VH1 Divas Las Vegas: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live from the MGM Grand Las Vegas on May 23, 2002. For the first time, Divas Live broadcast from a city other than New York. This time around, Las Vegas played host city to the fifth Divas concert. A CD/DVD of the concert was released later that year, but not all the performances or performers (most notably those of co-headliner Mary J. Blige) were included, due to various record label issues.

After being invited by Whitney Houston in 1999, an appearance that gave her big publicity worldwide, Mary J. Blige asked her friend to join her on Divas three years later to perform together her song "Rainy Dayz."

Host

Announcer

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Show sequence

VH1 Divas Duets

VH1 Divas Duets: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live from the MGM Grand Las Vegas on May 22, 2003.

Summary

Chaka Khan, Beyoncé, Lisa Marie Presley, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, Jewel, Ashanti, Sharon Osbourne, Aisha Tyler, Stevie Wonder, Pat Benatar, Shania Twain, Bobby Brown and the Isley Brothers joined host Queen Latifah when "VH1 Divas Duets: A Benefit Concert for the VH1 Save the Music Foundation" aired live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Thursday, May 22 at 9:00pm (ET/PT). Tarralyn Ramsey is the winner of Born to Diva and performs on stage with the Divas!

Host and performer

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Show sequence

VH1 Divas 2004

VH1 Divas: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live from the MGM Grand Las Vegas on April 18, 2004.

The show marks the first appearance of close friends and R&B and soul legends Patti LaBelle (who was told by producers it she’d be considered "top dog" [4]) and Gladys Knight after they had turned down previous offers to appear. Gladys could never stay for the finale due to obligations with her one woman show at the famed Flamingo Las Vegas. Kylie Minogue was originally confirmed as a headliner for the 1980s themed show, but withdrew shortly after.

Aside from the normal set of presenters, the concert also featured video testimonials from Chaka Khan, Carly Simon, Gloria Estefan, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Alicia Keys, Pharrell Williams, Kathy Griffin (in what would prove to be the first of three consecutive appearances), Marg Helgenberger, and Usher on the word "diva", their favorite divas, as well as the importance of music education in schools.

Summary

They came. They saw. They sang their hearts out! Divas delivered a night of soulful, sexy and unstoppable performances in the city it defines electrifying entertainment: Las Vegas, Nevada. The seventh annual VH1 "Divas" show was a star-studded benefit concert for the VH1 Save the Music Foundation it featured performances by Patti LaBelle, Janet Jackson, Regina Belle, Nicole Kidman, Gladys Knight, Ashanti, Teena Marie, Jessica Simpson, Joss Stone, Vanessa Williams, Britney Spears, Tom Jones, Cyndi Lauper, CeCe Winans of BeBe and CeCe Winans and The Pussycat Dolls featuring Carmen Electra.

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Show sequence

VH1 Divas 2009

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2009 VH1 Divas.

VH1 Divas: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live on September 17, 2009 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Howard Gilman Opera House in Brooklyn, New York. Paula Abdul hosted and performed.

Host and performer

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VH1 Divas Salute The Troops

VH1 Divas Salute The Troops was the second of the three concerts in the series not aired live. It was recorded on Friday, December 3, 2010 at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar while Paramore was filmed earlier in the week at Army Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. The special first aired on Sunday, December 5, 2010 and broadcast internationally by the Armed Forces Network.[5] [6]

The concert also featured a telecast featuring First Lady Michelle Obama, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé (in her third appearance on the series), Fergie, P!nk, Ke$ha, and Carrie Underwood (marking the concert series’ fourth appearance by an American Idol contestant), delivering special messages to the troops. Certain select servicemen and women from Miramar, Naval Base Coronado, Camp Pendleton, and Camp Arifjan[7] were also presented in video portraits, documenting their careers and journey in the US military.

Host

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and several servicemen and servicewomen

Show sequence

VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul

VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul was the third of three concerts in the series not aired live. It was taped on December 18, 2011 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City,[10] and aired the next evening on VH1, paying tribute to the places that helped create or contributed to soul music: Chicago, Detroit, London, Philadelphia and Memphis.[11]

Anita Baker, who was going to sing with Jill Scott, had to drop out moments before the concert after disagreements with producers,[12] allowing Marsha Ambrosius and Ledisi to step in and perform in their places during the Detroit medley.[13]

Kelly Clarkson twisted her ankle on the way into the concert, though she still performed as planned.

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House band

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Show sequence

VH1 Divas 2012

VH1 Divas 2012 aired live on December 16, 2012, from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The show was hosted by Adam Lambert and celebrated the dance-inducing music that is the vibrant soundtrack to every major blowout bash, unforgettable party and night out on the town. The show also paid tribute to the late music legends who passed away earlier that year, Whitney Houston and Donna Summer.

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House DJ

Show sequence

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 http://www.allmusic.com/album/vh1-divas-live-mw0000044319/awards
  2. ↑ "Divas Live: An Honors Concert for VH1 Save the Music". IMDb. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  3. ↑ Musician's Union Contract, AFM Local 802 -5765-50010956
  4. ↑ "Patti LaBelle: Top 'Diva'". CBS News. April 15, 2004.
  5. ↑ "Associated Press". Hosted2.ap.org. 2009-09-17. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
  6. ↑ VH1 Divas Support The Troops In High Fashion
  7. ↑ "Katy Perry and new 'Divas' ready to play Miramar". Signonsandiego.com. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
  8. ↑ Elias, Matt (2010-12-03). "Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Paramore Salute Troops At 'VH1 Divas'". MTV.com. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
  9. ↑ "‘VH1 Divas Salute the Troops,’ in photos and video". The Tennessean. Blogs.tennessean.com. 2010-12-06. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
  10. ↑ AP – Thu, Oct 27, 2011 (2011-10-27). "Clarkson, Blige to honor soul cities for VH1 Divas". Yahoo! News. News.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
  11. ↑ Dinh, James (October 27, 2011). "Kelly Clarkson, Mary J. Blige, More Are 2011 'VH1 Divas'". MTV. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  12. ↑ »» (2011-12-28). "Anita Baker Explains ‘VH1 Divas’ Drama: 5 Other Famous Show Feuds". Rollingout.com. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
  13. ↑ Graham, Mark (2011-12-19). "EXCLUSIVE: The Unflappable Ledisi On Performing "Sweet Love" On VH1 DIVAS: "What You Saw Was My Rehearsal And Performance All Together"". Vh1.com. Retrieved 2012-05-27.

External links