GEORGE MICHAEL NEWS

You know the attachment that George Michael had for the Opéra Garnier in Paris: it was one of his dreams to be able to perform there and it was possible on September 9, 2012 as part of the magnificent Symphonica tour and for a good cause since the proceeds from this special evening were donated to Sidaction. In addition, as often in his career, he had the originality of being the first international star to perform there!

Since 01 02 2021, there is a little bit of George at the Opéra Garnier ...

Indeed, this wonderful place offers to "adopt" one of their armchairs, to inscribe on a plaque engraved the name of a loved one or even yours and ... "The benefit of this exceptional campaign allows the 'Opéra national de Paris to carry out its mission of transmitting knowledge and access to culture by encouraging the reception of young generations to its shows, at the Palais Garnier and at the Opéra Bastille ", always for a good cause ultimately ;)

The 0025 armchair located in the Orchestra bears the very fine mention

IN MEMORY OF GEORGE MICHAEL

YOU HAVE BEEN LOVED

The George Michael Estate, informed of the initiative of a group of French lovelies to adopt a seat, wished to join them, thus making it possible to choose one of the most precious seats, and bearing the number 25 :)

Michelle May, George Michael's personal assistant for many years, sent me her words about this magnificent tribute.

Thank you Michelle .

I know if George was here , this would have been something he would have supported.  The campaign aims to allow youth audiences’s to come and see Opera and Ballet, perhaps individual's who for whatever reason may not have been able to afford it before.  The youth previews already count 58% of spectators who are coming for the first time and these contributions to their campaign will help them develop these initiatives and welcome more young people into their theatres.

George was very honoured to be the first international pop star to perform here on the 9th September 2012 as part of his Symphonica tour.  It was followed by a gala dinner to raise funds for the French AIDS charity Sidaction.  When we heard that a group of French fans were raising funds to adopt a seat, we reached out to them.  It felt like a very fitting thing to do in memory of his time there that evening and as he had done that night, it would help others

Hi Shirley, thank you for this exclusive interview especially about the CowBoys and Angels concert . First of all, I know that you wanted to make things clear and true about it. Tabloids did write false informations again ... 
I understand that it is not an official event, what can you say about it ?

How and when came the idea of doing this special evening show with George's band ?

I wanted to get together with all the band because we hadn't had any chance to see each other since GM passed away.
So i was going to hire a venue for us and our families to come together for a night to remember our boss and friend. I was just going to hire some instruments incase we felt like playing some of GM's beautiful songs , then a friend of mine who is a booking agent said ' what a lovely idea but why not do it in a bigger music venue and share the evening with GM fans as well. Thats when i contacted GM's sisters to ask if they would mind if I put this show on for the fans. They very kindly are allowing us to go ahead with the show but want to be very clear that the evening is not an official event and is not supported by the estate however, We will be giving 10% of all ticket sales to childlike in GM's name.
 

What can lovelies expect ? Can you give a few (exclusive) details ? :)

Yes , All songs will be performed by , what we have become known as , The GM singers , No guest singers have been invited. We will try to recreate the MTV unplugged type show and will play songs throughout GM's career. George was an incredible songwriter and we want to play his music the way we know he would want us to.  

4- Please share with us one of your precious memories of George

There were so many memories with him but one precious moment was at the Olympics rehearsal when we spent some time talking about our Mothers as my Mum had not long passed away , he had words of comfort and wisdom that helped me a lot. 
 

5- Have you got a message for the Lovelies ?

Yes, I want to thank them for showing their support for the band and we will do our best to make an evening full of memories that we can all treasure. There are a few tickets still available so I hope everyone who wants to come gets their place;-)

Love and thanks
Shirley 

The English publisher OLYMPIA PUBLISHERS contacted me some time ago to offer me to write a review about a poetry book about GEORGE MICHAEL.

I received it, read it and could interview its author an english "lovely" Victoria Rowe.

The title is eloquent and it speaks inevitably to all the fans of the artist: WE TOO HAVE DIED very strong words to express a great sorrow.

Victoria Rowe is a fan like us and she laid down on paper these forty poems her most personal feelings. This collection of poems was published for all those affected, shocked by the disappearance of George Michael and in tribute to the man and the artist he was.

His writing is simple and straightforward: for French readers, it's easily accessible. Some poems are addressed directly to George and reflect perfectly what we want to say to him as in "The Pain In Our Hearts" Words, ideas are recurrent in several texts but overall it is easy to be found in this story of a fan, from the beginning of his passion to the disappearance of his idol.

I was not receptive to "A message from Our George" who speaks on behalf of the artist because I can not conceive that someone can know or imagine what he had deep inside of him without knowing him, or "My arrival": believers may be more sensitive than me.

Victoria also speaks to George's sisters and to Nu the now "famous" governor of Goring: it also evokes her more personal pains, as did her favorite artist, through his beautiful songs.

Thank you Victoria and Olympia Publishers for sharing.

David Austin n'en a pas fini avec FREEDOM le documentaire de son ami George Michael : il n'a pas arrêté de travailler sur le projet et l'envoie autour du monde !

Cette année, la version "Director's cut" du film,  plus longue, part à l'international pour être projetée lors de festivals de films.

C'est la société THE FILM FESTIVAL DOCTOR qui travaille actuellement sur le film : Rebekah et son équipe sont des créateurs de succès et s'engagent à soutenir les cinéastes afin de les aider à obtenir visibilité, prix, opportunités et reconnaissance au sein de l'industrie cinématographique.

Cette page est dédiée à la tournée internationale de

FREEDOM THE DIRECTOR'S CUT

et sera mise à jour avec les dates et les lieux de diffusion.

Ci-dessous les  récompenses remportées par le film 

ETATS UNIS

SAN FRANCISCO - FRAMELINE - PROJECTION SPECIALE

Projection le 28 Novembre à 19h10

ESPAGNE

MADRID - IN EDIT FESTIVAL

3 Novembre 2018

ETATS UNIS

LOS ANGELES - VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL

Du 31 Octobre au 4 Novembre 2018

Projection le 1er Novembre 2018

DANEMARK

COPENHAGUE - MIX COPENHAGEN LGBTQ FILM FESTIVAL

Du 26 Octobre 2018 au 4 Novembre 2018

 Projections le 28 Octobre et le 2 Novembre 2018 

ESPAGNE

MAJORQUE - EVOLUTION INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

DU 25 AU 31 OCTOBRE 2018

Projection le 27 Octobre à 22h00

ESPAGNE

FESTIVAL IN EDIT BARCELONE

Du 25 Octobre au 4 Novembre 2018

* Projection de FREEDOM THE DIRECTORS CUT le 1er Novembre à 21h45 *

ETATS UNIS 

SEATTLE - TWIST : SEATTLE QUEER FILM FESTIVAL

Projection du documentaire le 12 Octobre 2018 à 21h30

PORTUGAL

PORTO * QUEER PORTO *

Projection du documentaire annoncée pour le 13 Octobre 2018

MEXIQUE

OAXACA FILM FESTIVAL

C'est le 7 Octobre que FREEDOM THE DIRECTORS CUT sera présenté dans la sélection POWER DOCS à Oaxaca !

ROYAUME UNI

LONDRES RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

Nominé dans la catégorie du meilleur film britannique et présenté pour la 1ere fois à Londres, FREEDOM THE DIRECTORS CUT sera projeté les 5 et 7 Octobre au cinéma VUE PICADILLY. Une soirée spéciale à ne pas manquer !

AFRIQUE DU SUD

DURBAN - FESTIVAL DU FILM GAY ET LESBIEN -

Premiére diffusion en Afrique du Sud et en ouverture du festival pour FREEDOM THE DIRECTORS CUT le 21 Septembre 2018.

PORTUGAL

LISBONNE - FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DE FESTIVAL QUEER -

Diffusion du documentaire FREEDOM THE DIRECTORS CUT le 21 Septembre à 19h30

AUSTRALIE

SYDNEY - QUEER SCREEN FILM FESTIVAL

Le documentaire de George Michael & David Austin FREEDOM THE DIRECTORS CUT sera présenté à Sydney dans le cadre du festival le 20 Septembre 2018.

ROUMANIE

* FESTIVAL DU FILM DOCUMENTAIRE MUSICAL DE BUCAREST *

Le documentaire de George Michael & David Austin FREEDOM sera présenté à Bucarest dans le cadre du festival du 13 au 16 Septembre 2018.

ALLEMAGNE

* SOUNDTRACK COLOGNE *

Le documentaire de George Michael & David Austin FREEDOM sera présenté à Cologne dans le cadre du festival le 22 Août à 19h00 

AUSTRALIE - MELBOURNE

*MELBOURNE DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL*

Première australienne de FREEDOM THE DIRECTORS CUT

le 7 Juillet 2018 à 19h

ROYAUME UNI - BRISTOL

* DOC'N ROLL FESTIVAL *

Projection de FREEDOM THE DIRECTORS CUT le 28 Juin à 21h00

ECOSSE - EDIMBOURG

* FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DU FILM *

Du 20 Juin au 1er Juillet 2018

C'est le 25 juin pour la date anniversaire de George Michael qu'aura lieu la toute premiére diffusion en Grande Bretage de FREEDOM THE DIRECTOR'S CUT !

Tout un symbole : diffusion à 20h45 au cinéma CINEWORLD

BRESIL

* FESTIVAL IN EDIT DE SAO PAULO *

Sao Paulo a la primeur de l'Amérique Latine !

Trois projections de FREEDOM THE DIRECTOR'S CUT

PAYS BAS

*FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DU FILM

DOCUMENTAIRE IN EDIT D'AMSTERDAM*

C'est Dimanche 20 Mai à 16h45 à Amsterdam qu'aura lieu la toute première projection européenne de GEORGE MICHAEL : FREEDOM THE DIRECTORS CUT, en présence de David Austin, qui se prêtera au jeu des questions-réponses.

NOUVELLE ZELANDE

* FESTIVAL EDGE DU FILM DOCUMENTAIRE *

Une version de 113 minutes  du film FREEDOM de George Michael et David Austin va être projetée au cinéma dans le cadre du festival du film documentaire EDGE en Nouvelle Zélande ( du 9 au 20 Mai à Wellington et du 23 Mai au 4 Juin à Auckland)

POLOGNE

* FESTIVAL DU FILM DOCUMENTAIRE DE CRACOVIE *

Freedom The Director's cut (108 minutes) est dans le cadre de ce festival en compétition avec d'autres films musicaux du 27 Mai au 3 Juin 2018. 

George Michael Day UK launches in support of Childline

Monday 25^th June 2018

Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, known professionally as George Michael, was the Eighties pop pin-up with a velvety soulful voice that became our national treasure and a global style icon.  He IS one of the greatest musical talents of our time.

The man, known as ‘Yog’ to his family and friends, had a world-conquering career, from the pure pop early days with WHAM! blending the joy of pop with serious and important messages of social justice.  His death has left this world a darker place – but his legacy will shine forever, thanks to his loyal fans.

Since George’s passing, it was revealed that he was a most generous philanthropist who secretly supported many charities both financially and by donating his time as a volunteer and supporter.  Among the many charities named is Childline, part of the NSPCC – created by Dame Esther Rantzen in 1986 to offer a free, private and confidential service to young people, whenever they needed help.  She became a close friend of George’s and he donated millions of pounds to her charity.

As part of George’s legacy, fans intend to continue to fundraise in George’s name and the support of Childline was suggested by loyal fan, Terry Daniels of Milton Keynes, who approached the head of fundraising at Childline with the idea of launching ‘George Michael Day UK’.  The initiative was immediately accepted and now the special nationwide (hopefully global) day, will be held on Monday 25^th June 2018 and will run each year.  A similar event during 2017 occurred in Los Angeles in the USA organised by Project Angel Food, a charity which George also supported with his time and money to help those with terminal illness and suffering hardship. 

 George’s fans (or Lovelies as George chose to call them originally on Twitter), will be encouraged to do their own fundraising between now and in the run up to 25^th June – by playing his music loud and proud, watching documentaries, interviews and concerts, holding 1980-90’s school discos, wearing George related themed tee-shirts, holding fancy dress and themed cocktail parties or Club Tropicana pool parties, baking cakes for coffee mornings, selling or auctioning George related items – and then to donate their collections or simply donate direct to Childline.  A special dedicated link will soon be created by Childline on their official website in George’s memory, and will enable donations to be identified as being raised in his memory.  Radio stations and TV will also be encouraged to play his music and videos on the 25^th June all day.

A special birthday tribute weekend is currently being organised by Terry and her friends and fellow fans, Lindsay Adams and Jade Dickerson, to be held on Saturday 23^rd and Sunday 24^th June 2018 in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire – the village where George chose to live in the beautiful riverside location in Mill Cottage for seventeen years.  The tribute weekend will feature live music and entertainment with recorded images of George on screens on the Sunday, with additional uniquely special surprises. 

A Facebook group named The Official George Michael birthday tribute weekend in Goring 2018 has now been launched, with an ‘event’ section in which all visitors to Goring for the weekend in June 2018, are advised to mark ‘going’, so the event organisers, Goring Parish Council, South Oxfordshire District Council, local Police and other major services are able to ensure the event is made entirely safe and secure as well as being fully prepared for the numbers expected. The birthday tribute weekend in June promises to be a fitting tribute to George, and should not be missed. 

Ends

Le 21 Février 2017, sur la scéne des Brits Awards, Shirlie Kemp, Pepsi Demacque et Andrew Ridgeley se sont unis pour rendre un très bel hommage à leur ami George Michael.

En voici MA traduction.