NOTP Fanpage

As from today you can take a first look on our archive; click here.
The basic information which is shown there, will be extended soon; playlists, artists, posters, programms,… If it’s not listed there, we don’t have it: if you still have it, contact us through info at notpfan dot eu.
So there will be some changes ahead; a good reason to visit us again soon!

Dries & Bernard

Our best wishes for a fantastic musical Night of the Proms year!




If you thought that we were taking a break when there are no Proms shows coming up, you’re totally wrong!
We dedicated ourselves in 2012 to work on an archive of the Night of the Proms shows.
We already have an artist list which contains now all artists, all countries and all year.
Soon, we’ll add a lot of interesting information to it. Keep watching us!


Dries and Bernard

John Miles had already sung Music and Il Novecento had just played the Cavalleria Rusticana; and we had only just begun the 5th song of the evening! And then that classy gentleman came up, in a suit without tie and half-haved. The song text is like a poem: a complete surrender to the big love, even when it leads to self-destruction! Can you hear Fine Fleur gently joining in at 0:50? Without motions, relaxed, only Roch Voisine’s typical voice; the simplicity underlines the grandeur of this song. The audience listens intently and enjoys. You as well? A deserved grand applause by the audience, accompanied by Robert Groslot.

Another nice example of how we got the wrong end of the stick. Markus Othmer announces a vibraphone solo by Patrick Desmet. However, after a few second he stops. At the December tour of NOTP there is a Christmas market in every German city and Patrick bought a Christmas hat; the Germans love his Jingle Bells! But the change at 1:10 to The Look Of Love is sublime; you clap your hands spontaneously! We’re nearly at 2:00 when golden Martin Fry starts singing: Love makes a grey sky blue; that’s how his first paragraph ends. This ABC song was a number 1 in 1982. Now you can hear again why.

Charlie Siem’s grandmother had recently deceased, and he played her favourite song: Estrellita by the Mexican composer Manuel Ponce. She was one of the stars on the starry sky, the background. It is difficult to fascinate more than 10 000 people with an intimate nostalgic song, but Charlie and his violin succeed marvellously. Dream away…

In Antwerp, Barry Hay was the surprise guest, but in the Netherlands the singer of Golden Earring was on the playbill. At first Il Novecento creates a kind of tension with James Bond Music; who’s up next? At 0:20 the specialists already guess who’ll come up, but thanks to (0:50) Patrick Desmet’s drum rhythm and Rogier van Wegberg’s bass line does the audience know that a gigantic rock song will be up. Barry comes up (1:15), takes the micro, pulls it at a slant, and sings: “I’ve been drivin’ all night, my hand’s wet on the wheel”. Everyone knows the drum and bass line, but as well for guitar artists like Leendert Haaksma is this a party. The entire orchestra, the Electric Band, the backing vocals and Barry Hay clearly enjoy Radar Love. And off course, the audience too!

Our review of the party in Rotterdam can be read here !

We had a nice interview with DIV4S.

You can read more here!

The eight concerts in Antwerp have finished. Mich Hucknall’s setlist has seen some changes since the premiere. During the first weekend Mick Hucknall sang For your babies and The right thing. But those numbers have been replaced. Instead he brought Something got me started, where John Miles added his voice to the backing vocals ! And Mick ended his set with the beautiful If you don’t know me by now. It’s going to be a big Mick Hucknall in Rotterdam!
The surprise acts were Sioen and Koen Buysse, the Zornik singer.

Were you someone who enjoyed Rolling in the Deep, sung a capella by Fine Fleur as well? The arrangement was by the hand of the conductor, Edwig Abrath.
The cooperation between Patrick De Smedt and the volunteers at The Typewriter went very smoothly. You can see here how he empathizes with them.

And if you want to see the matching clip, look at this!

You never heard of Discobaar A Moeder (DAM), then no doubt, you got to know the ‘Ras’ and the ‘Schele’ better during the youngest Night of the Proms concerts. Time for some questions to Ras.

NotpFan You never came to a Night of the Proms concert before; does it live up to your expectations ?

DAM I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised from the beginning of our cooperation. A great, passionate team team with a possibility of a personal touch. The Proms itself is an improbable experience. There is a warm atmosphere and behind the scenes everything happens in a professional way.

NotpFan Does Robert Groslot win, or do you win, or is it a tie?

DAM The clash between Robert and us won’t be very different the next episodes. You need a lot of rehearsals to match the entire orchestra to our records. You better look at it as a clash with a wink in, a symbiosis. Robert quickly shows us that for the last couple of hundred years we’re working with the same notes and that classical music is a fundament.

NotpFan How do the artists react on your performance? Do e.g. Seal of Mich Hucknall approach you about it?

DAM We’re just starting to get to know the stars of the Proms. There hasn’t been more than a ‘great show’ or ‘cheers mate’. You do notice that the group gets more and more attached every time. We got to know Angie faster because after our ‘rap’ we’re laughing ourselves silly.

NotpFan You’ll also line up in Rotterdam; will you adjust your language and jokes to the Dutch audience?

DAM I am going to civilize my ‘Antwaarps’ to a hopefully understandable middle-Dutch.

NotpFan And do you want to communicate something to the people who’ll be coming to the Night of the Proms in the next days?

DAM To the people who still need to see the show: “We wish you an unforgettable, legendary, highly explosive evening! You can laugh and say what you want to say, with Discobaar A Moeder it’s always a little bit of a holiday!”

NotpFan Thank you very much for this interview and good luck with the concerts!

We’re still excited about the premiere of the Night of the Proms in Antwerp, but we managed to make a review of the show: Click here!

	Now that all artists are known, the plans for the next NOTP shows are getting more clear.
	On youtube, the organization posted a few clips, like a review of the press conference and the trailer for the shows in Antwerp.
Here you can see a review of the press conference in Hamburg (Germany) with an interview of Alison Moyet and Stanfour. But there is also an other review with host Markus Othmer, where you can see and hear Seal through a satellite connection from Los Angeles.
Not many extra shows were announced for Antwerp, only Friday the 11 and Saturday the 12th of November. The problem seems to be the crowded schedule of the Sportpaleis and the Ahoy. Take a look into the schedule of the Sportpaleis! For Rotterdam there is an extra show on the 17th of November, besides this on the 18th and the 19th of November. The days before, there is still some space left in the Ahoy; after that is will be hard since the premiere of the German tour is planned for the 25th of November. Even if there would be a big demand for tickets, it looks a bit like trying but not being able to do it.
For the shows in Antwerp and Germany, none of the arrangements of Seal’s participation in Rotterdam 2005 are taken again; everything will be re-written!
James Blunt will perform three songs in Rotterdam, amongst them You’re Beautriful.
The two surprise acts in Antwerp are known for the organizers and they don’t want to tell anything about them. So neither do we!
During the fall shows, some classical pieces are dusted off and will be played again after many years. One piece will last for about 6:30, while the other, more humoristic, will not last for more than 2 minutes.
	Tickets for the show in Luxembourg on the 15th of December are between 54 and 112 euro and can be ordered here or here. The arena, d’Cocque, can hosts up to 8000 people. In Luxembourg, the full German show will be played. There even seems to be a Luxembourg fan club on Facebook.
Organizer Jan shares that the music from the movies could be played from The Lion King. The Circle Of Life with Seal, I Just Can’t Wait To Be A King with Mick Hucknall, Hakuna Matata with Angie Stone, Can You Feel The Love Tonight with DIV4s, and John Miles will acts as Scar???? Grrrr!

We’re starting to count down to the first show on the 28th of October 2011 in Antwerp!

The full line-up for the German tour was announced on the press conference of the 13th of September in Hamburg. World star Chic with Nile Rodgers and the German group Stanfour are making the German program complete.
You can read our full preview for the German line-up here.

Denise, Isabelle, Vittoria and Sofia from DIV4S were present for a successful little concert in the Stadsschouwburg on Saturday the 10th of September 2011, the most beautiful shopping centre in the centre of Antwerp.



The shoppers listened with pleasure to the following songs:

• Habanera (Carmen)
• Woman in love
• Canto Bella Terra
• Self Control
• The Prayer

A perfect start of the publicity campaign for Night of the Proms!

It was a totally atypical press conference in Antwerp, without seats and a nice chat on a stage. Discobar A Moeder is added to the program om the Proms, and ‘de Schele’ and ‘de Rad’ are playing records from all artists (with exception of Div4s) who they briefly presented with their own typical comment. From an hour before the show, they will start bringing the mood into the arena, but they didn’t exclude that it wouldn’t happen after the show, during the break or even during the show…

There are many thoughts going around but still not concrete. To our question who would compose the opening tune, we got the answer: “Opening tune? Why would that have to be written? Maybe it has already been written?” Will Night of the Proms be opened like Roger Daltrey did it in 2005? Some mystireous glances were following…

The next question was an easy one, we thought: “Which classical pieces will be played?” and we got the following answer: “That will be decided next week since we want to bring the classical pieces in a totally different way towards the audience”. Yes, classical music remains classical, but the way it is presented will change. It will be never seen before, they assured. And besides, Patric De Smet it thinking about to get two persons from the audience to test their musical knowledge.

Let’s relax a bit with Geert Vanhout, master of light: “Geert, everything ok with your preparation? Will it be something special?” Answer: “Of course, the stage remains the same but for the rest, the light spectacle will be unseen before”. “Innovate, Geert?” “Indeed!” was the reply.

Briefly, all who tought that Night of the Proms would become corny, or bring the same every year, will be proven wrong. NOTP is renovating and will be innovative!



And then Div4s performed. With Robert Groslot at the piano, they brought their opera medley and also sang the beautiful The Prayer (seen and hear them here at ATV). For us they will be one of the big starts of the fall shows, no doubt about that and we’re looking forward to the release of their CD which will be presented soon. Prepare yourself, dear NOTP fan, for some pleasure for the ears and the eyes!



When we listend around, we heard some other interesting facts.

Angie Stone will, most probably, bring four songs. Amongst them a duet. With John Miles?
Look into the soundtracks she helped to produce!
Two years ago, the brothers Katona brought an ode to Michael Jackson; this year John Miles will bring a song of Amy Whinehouse!

Night of the Proms is changing this year, the artists have beautiful voices and it looks to us that it will be a whirling night.

You want to enjoy already before or after? The fifth DVD will be released soon. You can find the playlist here.

The last new fact, was that NOTP will also be performing in Luxemburg on the 15th of December 2011.

The last names were announced for the shows in Antwerp and Rotterdam:
Mick Hucknall (the voice of Simply Red) and Angie Stone for Antwerp and Rotterdam, and James Blunt in Rotterdam.

Jan is not very good for the neuropaths. But the fans are welcomed (even with some delay) to some quality and exiting expectations.

Here, you can find our previews for the shows in Antwerp and Rotterdam.

To avoid some wrong expectations with our German Night of the Proms pals, we would like to point out that Mick Hucknall, Angie Stone or James Blunt, as far as we know, won’t be announced on the 13th of September for the German tour.

	The press conference with the announcement of the complete fall program is scheduled for Friday, 9th of September 2011! Maybe (and hopefully) there will be some names announced before. But on that day, the NOTP fan is finally relieved from his misery! The German fan still has to wait for the press conference on the 13th of September in Hamburg.
	Until then, we’d like to inform you about the latest news we could gather.

In September, there will be a new DVD released. This fifth NOTP DVD will mainly contain material from the latest shows, amongst that will be Seal, Chic and Sharleen Spiteri (Texa). In Germany, the annual CD will be for sale from the first show, containing mainly recordings from before in Antwerp.

In the Electric Band, there will be a big change. Trevor Murell, for many years the sympathetic drummer, will step down but keeps involed with the Night of the Proms. At the shows in Fredrikshavn and Kiel in the spring of 2011, he was already replaced by Simon Ferry (drummer of The Urge, the band with John Miles jr.). In the fall, the drums will be played by Hans van den Hurk.

Here, you can see Hans playing the drums with Geert Keysers. The guitar player of the Electric Band remains Leendert Haaksma; in Kiel and Frederikshavn he was replaced by Tom Van Stiphout.

Seal and Div4s are joining in Antwerp. Therefore, we would like to point to our preview on the German tour.
Are we happy with Seal on the program? Yes, however: his last CD with soul classic certainly wasn’t bad but no one at NOTP is waiting for covers, for sure not “It’s a man’s world” which was brought in 2004 in the version by James Brown. So bring us the original Seal, without pointing too much to the fact that he’s also Mr. Heidi Klum.

In the new menu item ‘History’, we will weekly comment on one video from the rich history of the Night of the Proms shows.

We already knew DIV4S and John Miles would be present in Germany: now also Seal and Alison Moyet will be there on the German tour.

Seal, also known as Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adelo Samuel, was already a headline of the NOTP shows for Rotterdam in 2005. He started his career in 1990 with Adamski’s Killer and in 1991 he scored with Crazy, and in 1995 with Kiss from a rose (soundtrack for Batman Forever). For more facts and hits we would like to point to Wikipedia. The combination of Pop and Soul by Seal surly looks attractive, as far as it goes to his songs. In 2005, Seal and Il Novecento was interesting but not that much to name it as a crowd favorite for NOTP. Most of the people know Seal, but few of them can sing on of his hits.

That’s why we hope that besides Alison Moyet and Seal, an artist with a big act will be noted on stage in Germany. And we recommend to the organizers to mix the artists like in Antwerp 2007 (Chic, Macy Gray, Kid Creole).

Website Seal
Seal on our NOTP video page

Alison Moyet is more an artist form the ’80s and she’s one of the five best-selling female British singers. The slightly older will know her from hits like Love resurrection, Is this love, That ole devil called love, All cried out, etc… About her life you can read more at Wikipedia. We saw her in 2009, when she took part on the NOTP show in Charleroi and had nothing to notice about the quality of her low voice. But she wanted to present herself as a diva and chosen, except for Love resurrection, for slower songs, a typical error for those who are the first time at Night of the Proms. Since not everyone know her greatest hits, she surly will have to bring a medley with other hits like ‘Is this Love’, and will have to bring more show on the stage to earn the respect of a crowd bigger then 10 000 men. A woman with her qualities should have no problem with that.

Website Alison Moyet
Love resurrection during Charleroi 2009
All cried out during Charleroi 2009

Bad news from Warsaw. The safety precautions for building the new soccer stadium have to be defined in more details causing the construction up to ten months of delay. The show for the 17th of September 2011 will be cancelled. NOTP will go to Poland, but later on. Will be continued…
It’s already the end of May 2011 and so far only DIV4S announced their presence to the fall shows of Night of the Proms. Also John Miles will be there.
	Who will join in Antwerp and The Netherlands? We don’t know, but we make a guess.
	Night of the Proms is an excellent place for a comeback: check with Roxette and Boy George. Our hearts started racing in April when Kate Bush did not rule out a comeback on stage, for the first time since 1979. However, now we can read in The Independent that she won’t perform. Does she still doubt? Come on Kate, Night of the Proms is perfect for you.
	Duran Duran. In the same blog of the 11th of August 2010, Jan also wrote about Duran Duran who ‘despite positive indications decided not to come’ and about ‘nice positive signs’ like ‘not this year, but I’d like to propose this for next year’.
	On Youtube you can see ‘A view to a kill’ in 2005 with the Orlando Symphony Orchestra.
Duran Duran is touring through Europe but their lead singer, Simon Le Bon, has troubles with an angina which caused them to postphone six recent shows. Understandable that the announcement is postponed (if it true that they would come of course)!
Due to vocal problems, Bryan Ferry had to decline a possible performance at NOTP. He knew some health issues in April 2011 and had to reschedule shows.
He just started a tour in Scandinavia and his last planned show would be for the 15th of October; enough time to make it back to Antwerp!
	After 1990 and 1997, Alan Parsons would still be welcome in Antwerp and Rotterdam. In Charleroi and Germany he got lots of success with the wonderful Sirius/Eye in the Sky and the beautiful symphonic Silence and I. But if he would join, we all wish he would also bring Don’t answer me, which he didn’t perform at NOTP since 1990.
	And of course, we still hope for Kim Wilde, who was very successful with Night of the Proms in Germany, Charleroi and Denmark.
	We can’t find back any reference to a previous announced show in Germany at the 19th of November. Fans, can you help to bring her to NOTP?
And why not go the Italian way? Eros Ramazzotti has perfect songs to sing with a symphonic orchestra.
According to his website, no tour is planned to 2011. His name, combined with DIV4S, would be a nice introduction for Italy where they try to organize some NOTP shows since many years.
Seal. There were repeated rumors that he would join in Antwerp after his performance in Rotterdam (2005). In 2010, after his performance at Suikerrock in Tienen (Belgium), those rumors only became more explicit. In his blog of the 11th of August 2010, organizer Jan wrote about is positive contacts with Seal.
On the website of Seal no fall shows are announced yet.
	Olivia Newton John has also nothing planned during the fall according to her website. Xanadu, Summer Nights, and why no You’re the one that I want with John Miles as John Travolta?
You want more suggestions? We have lots of them. We’re hopelessly devoted to Night of the Proms.

And if our predictions are not coming true, we still have the fun dreaming about it…

	We had the chance to ask some questions to the organizer of the show in Frederikshavn on the 2nd of April 2011, Niels Estrup of Owit Music Europe.
	Niels, you have been on the NOTP tour in 2008. Was it for pleasure?
	I was touring with NOTP in 2008 as manager for Igudesman and Joo.
	Were you on the party bus in Charleroi 2010? Yes, I was on the bus, actually it was all arranged by me, let me tell you why. We wanted to show our Danish sponsors the show, we had everything in line to fly them to Brussels. Then the Icelandic Volcano decided to throw a wrench in the machinery and we had to think fast and creative. From my years of touring with bands, I immediately thought of a nightliner and the result I guess you saw yourself We are actually thinking about doing this again because not only does it give our sponsors the chance to see the amazing show, but it also let them see the life of a touring band, which is not a chance many people get.
	What do you think about Div4s?
	I loved the DIV4S, obvious as we are very happy to have them on our show in Denmark
	Why is your first NOTP concert in Frederikshavn and not in a major Danish city like Copenhague or Roskilde? Why only one concert?
	My idea is to start NOTP anywhere else than Copenhagen, as I wanted it to have a big impact on the area we approach. Copenhagen, as any capitol or major city has a huge amount to offer – when we move into Frederikshavn it will be an event for the town and area. That way we want to establish a relation with our audiences.
You already announced for 2012 three concerts in Danemark and one in Sweden; will you also visit other Scandinavian countries like Norway, Finland and the Baltic states?
I have announced that we are planning 3 shows in Denmark for 2012 and 1 in Sweden, until we have everything confirmed for these, I cannot get into deeper details yet. Norway, Finland and the Baltics will come if not in 2012 then maybe 2013, one thing is for sure, we will not rest our case until we feel that Scandinavia is properly covered.
Which artists would you like to perform in the coming NOTP shows? And why?
The artists for 2012 are still not known and needless to say I have my favorites. I will keep those close till we have the artists confirmed. One thing I can tell you though – it will be fantastic, as always.
You like very much West coast music and you have an office in Los Angeles. So, will you introduce Night of the Proms in America?
I love west coast music, but in general I love all REAL music. I made my first profits ans losses promoting west coast music, and I will never forget the artists and audiences who believed in me then. This is why we still promote shows with a lot of the LA cats. When it comes to bringing NOTP to the states I can say this. I am very dedicated when it comes to NOTP and I am also honored to be considered a part of the NOTP team. I am sure that NOTP will break into the states some day. In this as in any other matter I open all my tools and network to the NOTP organization but this has not been discussed so far.
Thank you very much. The Night of the Proms concert in Fredrikshavn is the beginning of a long and successful tours in Scandinavia!

Arena Nord (only 4000 seats) is almost sold-out; the NOTP stage is that big that they had to remove part of the tribune!

Tickets: starting from 575 DKK (€ 77) up to € 1195 DKK (€ 165) through Arena Nord
Our post about the Danish show
Also take a look at the interview on DK 24 Nordjyske TV with Jim Kerr of the Simple Minds because of the show in Frederikshavn
Website organisation
Website Owen Music Europe
Facebook

AIDAsol, the new ship from the German shipping company AIDA, will be baptised in Kiel (Germany) on the 9th of April 2011. With the baptism comes a 90 minute lasting show of Night of the Proms with Il Novecento and Fine Fleur, and also Kim Wilde, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, John Miles, Div4s and Freddy Sahin-Scholl (who used to perform as Galileo).

Starting from 19h, you can get to the ship at the Ostseekai in Kiel where the open air show will start at 20h; blended into the actual baptism of the ship with lots of fireworks. Around 30 to 40 000 people are expected for this free show. And it would also be broadcasted live through YouTube.

Who feels like writing a review of this show for us, can reach us through info@notpfan.eu.

Website AIDA
Promotion video on YouTube

On the website of the Danish tour organizer Owit Music Europe there’s a short interview with Niels Estrup and Jan Vereecke. The presales for the show in Frederikshavn (Denmark) are going very well so they already scheduled 3 Danish shows for 2012 and one in Sweden! To be continued!

	In December 2010, the new main sponsor for the German tour for the next 3 years was announced; no longer Nokia, instead AIDA, a German shipping company with cruise ships. In this video on their website, you can see a pleasant combination of NOTP music with the joy of a cruise!
	The baptism of their brand new 252m long cruise ship AIDAsol is being done with style; on the 9th of April 2011, they will hold a free Night of the Proms show of 90 minutes in Kiel (Germany).
More data about the location and start hours are still missing for us -we still wait for the invitations for the cruise – but a week before, the show of Frederikshavn is being held, so the playlist will probably be more or less the same.

The first news of 2011 sounds promising: returning to Denmark, soon Poland, the development of our website,… : read more about it here

Dear readers,
as we exit this wonderful musical year, we would like to take the opportunity to wish you all the best for the new year.
On a musical level, we expect at least the same level of high quality compared to this year, and maybe even better!
As the Night Of The Proms will be crossing a new border into Denmark, the success grows even larger and the number of fans are growing as well.

We would like to thank the organization for all the effort to deliver us such great moments.

As we don’t like to leave you empty handed in the spirit of these times, we finally put up the photo gallery.
Thanks to Bart Henseler, we can remind ourselves to the great moments of this year.
The gallery for the premiere in Antwerp, can be found here.

Furthermore, thanks to the editors of ‘Dag Allemaal’, we can give you the interview with Carl Huybrechts for the magazine ‘Dag Allemaal’ in November (only in Dutch):

page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4.

Bart, Bernard, Christophe, Dries, Laurent, Stephan: thanks for nice time working together building this website!

All the best for the new year!

During the break of the show on the 19th of November 2010 in the Ahoy, we got the opportunity to have a chat with Boy George. The very kind and polite Boy George talks with lots of enthusiasm and is also well seen. When we waited at the dressing room, we heard lots of laughter; first Grace Jones came out, then Charlie Siem, and then some members of the crew. How nice!

NOTPFAN: NOTP 2010 is almost halfway; next week the German tour is starting. How do you like it?
Boy George: I really like to be part of Night of the Proms and to sing with such a big orchestra. I’m really enjoying myself.

NOTPFAN: Your voice sounds much better compared to Antwerp. The first show wasn’t that good but since then it only went better and better.
Boy George: I was rather nervous at the first show… but thanks. Performing night after night is good for me. That’s why I’m really looking forward to the German tour; performing six nights a week and touring every day is a dream for each rock artist.

NOTPFAN: For the German tour, Cliff Richard is also booked. Will you be performing together?
Boy George: We don’t really know each other; and we have a rather different character. It’s not sure yet if we’re going to do something together but I heard we might sing together in Proud Mary which will remain on the program.

NOTPFAN: Night of the Proms is only known in the UK as Last Night of the Proms in the Albert Hall, but without the pop artists. Is this NOTP also possible in the UK?
Boy George: Indeed, there is a big different between the UK and the continent; they don’t really think European and the European music scene isn’t that important to them. But if you’re going to travel, like I did in the beginning of my career (first Germany, France and the Benelux), you can see the good sides of Europe, and a good organization like this Night of the Proms.



NOTPFAN: What do you think about the concept?
Boy George: Well, for an artist like me this is wonderful AND important. Since I didn’t perform on a big stage for about 20 years, and all that happened to me since then, this is very important to me. And for the artists it’s nice as well, everything goes very smooth, since you don’t have to carry the pressure the entire evening; you can limit yourself to singing a few songs. The rest is up to other to work with the orchestra, the arrangements, and such…

NOTPFAN: What do you think about the show itself?
Boy George: I’ve only seen the show from backstage, and can’t see it in front of the stage. My sister was here yesterday and she was very delighted, and I like to believe her.

NOTPFAN: Would you recommend NOTP to other artists that don’t know this concept? And to whom?
Boy George: most definitely! And it’s naturally that the first name that pops my mind is David Bowie! It would be beautiful. But also Marc Almond or Soft Cell would fit here; I should tell him that. Tainted Love and all those good songs on his last CD!

NOTPFAN: Holly Johnson was whispered into my ear as well.
Boy George: Of Frankie goes to Hollywood! Of course. Relax, don’t do it!, The Power of Love! I’ll twitter him tonight!

NOTPFAN: How do you fill your days here? Is there a cultural program?
Boy George: Well, after the show, we sit together so it’s often late, and sleep or rest is very important to us. Today I’ve visited some friends in Rotterdam.

NOTPFAN: Will you also perform as a DJ during the German tour?
Boy George: Yes, then there are the VIP rooms where I will play as DJ after the show, but of course with other music than during the shows!

NOTPFAN: We wish you best of luck with the rest of the tour!

Read the rest of our review of the show in Rotterdam here!



Boy George, his guitar player John Themis and Grace Jones are ready to go on stage for the big finale

Our review for the 2010 edition!

Happy birthday Night of the Proms

1985 – 19 oktober – 2010




To Jan & Jan and all crew members: congratulations with the 25th birthday of Night of the Proms!

On the 19th of October 1985, the first Night of the Proms show was played with the Royal Philharmoic Orchestra of Flanders, conducted by Emil Tchakarov, supported with six choirs, Toots Thielemans, Thijs Van Leer, François Glorieux and John Miles, hosted by Carl Huybrechts. As far as we know, Patrick De Smet is the only musician that was there and is still playing at the Proms.

This show wasn’t only the first in a nice line that is at 26 editions now, but also helped putting new life into the Sportpaleis, resulting in an important incentive of the cultural life in Flanders, Belgium and the Netherlands.

You can read the memories that Carl Huybrechts still has to Night of the Proms, here in the articles printed in Dag Allemaal (only in dutch):

Part 1: page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4
Part 2: page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4
Part 3: page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4

Would you like to remember the shows of 2009?
It was the wonderful anniversary in Antwerp and the Netherlansd with Robert Groslot, Il Novecento and Fine Fleur, the brothers Katona with their guitars, Roxette, OMD, Sharon den Adel, Toots Thielemans and John Miles. And of course don’t forget the festive dresses by Erna Siebens, the extras lead by Jacqueline de Carpentier assisted by Evi Daneels, and also the dancers of Let’s go urban in the beginning of the second part.
In Germany, the pop artists were Roxette, Heaven 17, Alan Parsons & PJ Olson, Christina Stürmer and of course John Miles.
	Try the following links:
	On our video page you can find 37 clips in reasonable quality for the 2009 shows in Antwerp, the Netherlands and Germany
	Would you like the review the broadcast on the Dutch television, then you have to click here and watch 50 minutes of parts of the 2009 show in the Ahoy!
	The comeback of 2009 was without a doubt Roxette; they gave at the end of the tour a brief interview
	During the German tour, a video journal was being kept by Kunicom
	In this movie of 7 minutes, Geert Vanhout shows you how the stage and all accesories were build in Munich.

Lots of fun !!!

Countdown finished. Click here to look how we were counting down to the premiere in Antwerp

Just as in 2009, but much sooner this year, we count down to the premiere of the first NOTP show in Antwerp. Each 3 to 4 days we’ll publish relevant (and sometimes also less relevant) news regarding Night of the Proms.

We don’t often say it, but we’re very pleased with the booking of Grace Jones for the Night of the Proms in Antwerp and The Netherlands. Together with the confirmation of John Miles makes the program complete.



She’s 62 years old, 5.87 feet tall, model, actress (e.g. A View to a Kill with James Bond) and of course singer. A detailed overview of her career can be found on Wikipedia. Her presence is most remarkable since Grace Jones is still one of the largest style icons from the ’80s, not only due to her looks and her raging, sometimes shocking, behavior but also due to her special and steeled, almost metallic sounding, voice with a range of almost 3 octaves and the music she made, mostly in the first half of the ’80s, but also with her new album released in 2008.

This is both sound and image, music and show (she also promised to use the whole catwalk!).

Grace Jones on YouTube
Website
Fansite

The following news was just release:

The popular American singer-songwriter John Fogerty is added to the bill of Night of the Proms. He became famous as singer-songwriter of Creedance Clearwater Revival and has been rewarded with a Grammy Award for his solo career. He wrote world hits such as ‘Proud Mary’, ‘Bad Moon Rising’, ‘Who’ll Stop The Rain’, ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’, ‘Old Mand Down The Road’, ‘Centerfield’ and ‘Born On The Bayou’. John Fogerty will share the Proms-stage this fall with Boy George , violinist Charlie Siem and a surprise act (in Belgium).

John Fogerty will be playing at Night of the Proms in Belgium and The Netherlands.

More info will follow later.

The last news provided by Jan Vereecke on his blog dates from the 19th of May, so already two and half months old. Since there isn’t too much news to gather these days about the upcoming artists, we asked some follow-up question to Jan Vereecke, organizer, on the 29th of July.

Jan, when do you expect to announce the full line-up?
There is finally some movement, in fact only this morning. Now, it can’t go fast enough. Maybe next week already?

In 2009, Jonas Isacsson of Roxette was part of the Electric Band; he was very enthusiastic about the NOTP form. In Charleroi 2010, Rob Winter played along but he’s too busy during the fall with Marco Borsato. Will Jonas become the fixed guitar player, following Laurie Wisefield?
No, it will be Leendert Haaksma, playing for Anouk and Natalia. He will join the Electric Band during the fall. We’re very honored!



Lichtmond will place the emphasis on a perfect sound and visual effects. Will there be a giant screen again like in 2007?
There will be even five screens who can form one big projector screen.

Will the movie music return to the program?
Definitely. I’m negotiating with the distributor of the Harry Potter movies for the use of images from the movie.

In 2009, extras from Fine Fleur made the show. Will they be active again during this years’ show?
During the fall, Fine Fleur will take of a choir of 24 persons. It’s not our initial intent to use extras again.

According to Dirk Hohmeyer, there will be a new DVD? Is that true?
Yes, we’re working on DVD 4, with mainly highlights from the last three editions.

Is there a new CD planned from the 2010 shows in Antwerp and The Netherlands, or will there be a new Best Of – CD?
That’s too early to tell. CD’s are having a quite hard time nowadays…



That’s all for Jan’s input so far. We’re looking forward to the news of the next weeks!

The head line for the NOTP shows in Germany 2010 is Sir Clif Richard, a living legend who is becoming 70 years old and scored his first hit over 50 years ago. Cliff will only perform in Germany.

Together with the head line for Germany, Lichtmond was announced as well, a nice pop project who releases their first Blue Ray DVD in September.

The presence of John Miles is also confirmed.

Read here our interview with Dominique Vanhaegenberg.

On the following page, you can read our interview with the German organizer, Dirk Hohmeyer.

Night of the Proms in 2011 in Poland

It’s 99% sure that there will be a first Night of the Proms show in Poland in 2011. There are two very nice opportunities but it’s sure that there will only be one show. If the decision is made, probably in the beginning of August, we’ll publish our interview with Kris Verbruggen, who will organize the show in Poland.

At the moment, there is little to no news about the Night of the Proms shows. After the world cup 2010, the headliner for Germany will be announced.

Boy George was in Belgium to promote the fall shows: he was outspoken questioned in the show De Rode Loper (VRT), and also in the show Villa Vanthilt (part 1, part 2) where he brought an accoustic version of Karma Chamaleon.



In a few days, we’ll publish our interview with Dominiek Vanhaegenberg, the sympathetic trombone player and biggest joker of Il Novecento and also, since many years, arranger of music pieces during the Proms shows.

Soon, we’ll also present Dirk Hohmeyer, the organizer of the German tours. And we’ll bring you up to date as soon as possible if there is more news about the plans for the shows in countries never visited before.

DIV4S is not coming to Night of the Proms; Jan adds to that: ‘This year!’ and so we hope that the classical artists for 2011 are already booked. Another artist is already programmed: Charlie Siem, a young violin virtuoso from across the Channel. We think it will be definitely worth it, and have written it all down in the following presentation.

Here, we present you Barry Hay of Golden Earring; finally he, who was on the NOTP wish lists for such a long time, is coming.

The first name for the fall shows is made public: Boy George.

CLICK HERE to read our full review of the Charleroi show of the 24th of April 2010. The enthusiastic reporter can’t decide which title to use:

• DIV4S venerunt, viderunt, vicerunt!
• Very strong Sharleen, Kim charming and rocking, fantastic overwhelming DIV4S, Laurent as he is, Fine Fleur & Il Novecento in very good shape
• Artists and musicians perform 200 %, hall just crowded for 80 %
• Women in power !
• International interest from more than 1000 km away !
• The discovery of 2010 !

Click here for the playlist

The organization starts a television campaign with the commercial below; we hope that the Spiroudôme will be sold out that day, unfortunately only that day and not a second show. John Miles will be absent since he’s daughter is scheduled to give birth that day.

Franck van der Heijden, who wrote the most arrangements for the Night of the Proms editions since 1995, has a brand new website: www.franckmeseka.com. Those who are still hungry for more information about Franck after a visit to his beautiful site, we’re happy to point them to our interview on our website with him.

For the rest, a lot of new video’s in the lists.

We wish all our Night of the Proms friend a happy 2010 with a lot of musical pleasures.

We leave 2009 with a mixed feeling. A musical very good edition in Charleroi with a quite disappointing number of visitors; this risks the chances to enjoy another Night of the Proms show again in the spring of this year. The spring shows could be made more attractive with more communication about the shows and more visibility in the streets, press, etc … to make them as successful as 2008. We’re waiting for news from the organization.

The silver jubilee in 2009 added a new aspect to NOTP: the party is not only a concert but also a real show; the editions in Antwerp, Arnhem and Rotterdam surprised by the choreography of the extra’s, the performance of Fine Fleur and the remarkable lightshow. This renewed concept should be kept as guidance for next editions. On top of that NOTP taught us to keep delivering good quality for a reasonable price. End conclusion: a very grateful feeling for NOTP in 2009 and we really hopeful for the fall editions of 2010.

We learned a lot during the first five months of our website; we thanks Christophe, Laurent, Kris and Wim a lot for their cooperation, the organization, all visitors, friends on our forum and all those who have send us their feedback of material. 2010 will be an investment in the archives of NOTP and let our website evolve more than before.

Dries en Bernard

After some time of silence (in fact, technical work behind the scene), it’s time to add some new inforation.

First of all, new video’s have been added.
We also added the playlists for the Dutch and Antwerp editions.
Thanks to Steven Gielen, we also have a very nice review of the Dutch premiere.
Also a review of the German premiere in Hamburg has its own review.

During the rest of the day or tomorrow, we try to add some more video’s, and the artists for the 2009 editions will be added in the lists.

Enjoy!

We’ve added a large photo gallery of the Antwerp edition, thanks to Christophe Courouble

The tracklist for the German cd of the 2009 edition is released:

1. Il Novecento / Fine Fleur – Nox Argentea
2. Heaven 17 – Let Me Go
3. Katona Twins – Scarlatti’s Metamorphosis
4. Christina Stürmer – Engel Fliegen Einsam
5. Alan Parsons – Sirius & Eye In The Sky
6. Il Novecento – Le Carnaval Romain
7. Roxette – The Look
8. Christina Stürmer – Mama (Ana Ahabak)
9. Alan Parsons – Silence And I
10. Heaven 17 – Temptation
11. Ouvertüre Dichter & Bauer – Il Novencento
12. John Miles feat. Katona Twins & Sharon Den Adel – Stairway To Heaven
13. Il Novecento / Fine Fleur – Bolero
14. John Miles feat. Toots Thielemans – If I Could
15. Listen To Your Heart – Roxette

10th of November

We were there at the third weekend of the NOTP edition in Antwerp. The lightshow has some minor changes. Remarkable is the power that Marie shows on stage during her performance; during the first weekend she was still fragile (due to laryngitis), in the second week she has to sit down a lot, but now she glows from a reborn power.

Tomorrow, the shows in Antwerp are over; from the 13th of November the editions in the Gelredome (Arnhem) and the Ahoy (Rotterdam). The show of the 23th of November in the Ahoy will be the 700th show. From Friday the 27th of November, the German tour is kicked off in Hamburg and will last until the 20th of December in Dortmund.

Christophe is singing along with Fine Fleur in the Netherlands and Germany (first part): so keep an eye on his blog!

At the premiere, we (Dries and Bernard) conciliated with Stephan, our colleague from the German fan site.

At his visit to the Proms show last weekend, Laurent (our French friend), was welcomed by an always cheerful John Miles.

For Charleroi, still no artists are contacted.

We would like to bring a full report of all years, starting with the concerts of the ’80s and the ’90s. Where you there? Send us your impressions of those concerts so we can publish them on our site.

We are not sure of the running order for the editions between 1985 and 1994: can you check this (for example through the cd tracklist and own notes, memory, etc…) ?

You can always reach us through admin@notpfan.eu

A new review of the Antwerp edition (after a second visit) is available here.

Due to some problems we hadn’t been able to add the third part of Carl in the magazine Dag Allemaal (in Dutch). This is now also made available:
page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4

Again we’ve added new video’s: Shaggy, Foreigner, Paul Young, Pointer Sisters, and many others…

Thanks to some of our colleagues as fans (Laurent, Wim, Jorg and others), our video lists contain over 250 links, amongst them some remarkable ones: the oldest one are from…. 1988 with Al Stewart, but also take a look at Beverly Craven from 1991, Oleta Adams in 1996, David Garrett in 2002, a medley from all classical pieces from France 2006, Rodger Hodgson from different editions and Il Novecento with Sleeping Beauty from 2008.

The lineup for Germany is added here and also a review of the overture from Poet and Peasant, which can be found here.

Again some changes. 2 movies are added in the: 1 of Karl Jenkins in Rotterdam (thanks to Wim) and one from En Vogue & Robert Groslot (thanks to Laurent).
Furthermore the article ‘Night Of The Proms in 2009′ has a new layout and a lot of translations are added.

Have fun.

For the occasion of the fall editions in 2009, not only will there be a Best of John Miles at Night of the Proms CD released, but also a new general Best Of Night of the Proms double disc with 33 songs. Together with the 15 of John Miles, the NOTP fan gets 48 new tracks offered for sale!I orderd the CD through the website of NOTP and had it in my letter box only three days later.

This double ‘Best of’ goes on into the tradition of the last ones released in 2002 and 2003, so a wonderful mix of some classical pieces and more recent songs of modern artists. The most songs date from 2000 or later; Bryan Ferry, Al Jarreau and Roger Hodgson paid their contribution in 1995, Status Quo in 1999.

Some songs were never put on CD before. ‘Sanctify’ from the Simple Minds was recorded in 2008, probably in Antwerp, while ‘Enolay Gay’ from OMD, the powered closure, was recorded in Benidorm (Spain) in 2008. They form a nice completion to the collection of all the NOTP fans.

When you not own the complete NOTP CD collection, you will be pleased with the recordings of the artists that only played in Germany (and sometimes Spain). On the German CD the songs of Mike Oldfield, Kim Wilde and Paul Carrack were recorded during the rehearsals in Antwerp and were later on mixed with the sound of the audience. It are these prerecorded ones that you’ll hear again on this CD.

This double disc is a nice collection with a perfect overview of the last editions. It’s a very good investment for who doesn’t own the 63 pervious released CD (over the different countries).

Tracklist

Thanks to Christophe, we can now offer our site also in French. The complete translation is still ongoing but some items are already translated.

Enjoy.

a report of the 10/08 persconference in Antwerp is available here.

The interview with Robert Groslot is on line.

The tracklist of the CD from John Miles is announced.

Again some more movies added of Bryan Ferry, Chrissie Hynde en Natasha St Pierre (thanks Laurent for the info).
Besides the movies, also a new artikel about the classical works on NOTP.

Enjoy.

We added a drop-down list for language-selection.
At the moment only the homepage and this update-post is available in English, but we’re working on translating the rest as soon as possible. If you encounter any problems, feel free to let us know.

At the bottom of the video-page, the backstage movies from Steven Schelfhout during the 2005 editions were added.

We have a new column in our menu: “on and off the stage”. In this column we present people who play a part in reaching a succesful edition.

Enjoy.

Some extra information about the 2009 editions and some extra movies.

A broken link in the video-page is restored and for the rest some extra video’s of Roger Daltrey are added.
For the 2009 editions, there is a new subcolumn ‘persconferences’ under ‘Night Of The Proms in 2009′.
Finally, some extra information regarding the lights handed to the public can be read in “tips and tricks” (in Dutch “weet en meet”).

Enjoy!

Also France and Charleroi are added to the playlists.
For Germany, we’re happy to point to the wonderful website of Stephan: http://www.notp-fanpage.de/

Today, the last artists is made public, being OMD.

After their wonderful performance in Charleroi in 2008, this band is also coming to Antwerp and The Netherlands.

Last year they brought the hits Maid of Orleans, Enola Gay and a combination of Souvenir/ Locomotion .

We think, that they will bring these hits also for the 2009 editions.

In the midst of his busy preparations for the fall editions of 2009, Jan Vereecke; one of the two Jan’s behind the Night Of The Proms editions; replies briefly to our questions:

When will the last artists be known for the editions in Antwerp and The Netherlands?
Jan: The last artists will be made public on the 24th of August.

Will there be CD of the editions in Antwerp and The Netherlands?
Jan: We’re not sure about that. Now that both programs are running equally, it may be the worth the effort, but then all the artits will have to give their permission. In any case, we’re working on a double ‘Jubileum Best of’ CD with the greatest moments of the last 25 years. There will also be a ‘John Miles Proms Best of’ CD with some nice duets of John with guests of the Proms.

Will there be a fourth DVD?
Jan: We would like to do this next year.

Why is there a suprise quest for the editions in Antwerp?
Jan: This concept dates from 1992, when the editions in The Netherlands were performed before the Antwerp editions. In The Netherlands, Raymond was booked as extra quest and when we saw his success there, we decided to also invite him for the Antwerp editions…

Will there be National or International suprise quests to the 25th edition?
Jan: No, just like we announced Soulsister 2 years ago, and so we hadn’t got a suprise act, we’re now announcing Toots Thielemans: we consider his presence too important not to announce it.

Will Fine Fleur be back on stage?
Jan: Absolutely, there participance will be very special. That’s all I’m saying right now.

Thanks a lot, Jan!

A lot of the Spanisch and Dutch information is added. For example the playlists and the artists (both alphabetically as chronologically available).

Have fun with it

We opened our forum for visitors. Those who wish can register and leave some feedback. If you want to see certain content on our site, let us know. Remarks regarding our site (errors, corrections, etc…) are of course also welcome.

Again some new video clips are added. Furthermore there seemed to be an error in the alphabetical list with video’s, this should be sloved.
Last but not least, some French and Dutch dvd information is added.
Tomorrow, again something new

18.08.2009: we added some new video clips of the 1996 edition with Kamiel Spiessens, Gue Yue and Percusionists of Il Novecento. Thanks to Laurent for the tips!

17.08.2009: we added some new video clips, some previous unknown recordings of the 1990 edition with Alan Parsons Project, and with Gary Brooker (of Procol Harum) as guest start and keyboard player! Then there is Colin Blunston (She’s not there) in 1993, Peter Koelewijn in 1998 and INXS in Rotterdan during the 2003 edition. Thanks to Wim and Laurent for their tips!