Elton John and other talent for the auto industry's premiere dealer meeting

For the past five years, Empire Entertainment has been an integral part of Kaleidoscope Productions' team in creating the automobile industry's premiere dealer meetings & reveal shows. For this year's meeting, held at Philadelphia's Wachovia Arena, Kaleidoscope Productions designed a stage that made the Academy Awards' stage look simplistic. Empire Entertainment filled the arena with premium talent. The day began with a speech by former President George H. W. Bush who surprised the audience with both his worldly insights as well as his robust sense of humor. The meeting was capably hosted by Jon Stewart, the hilarious host of Comedy Central's Daily Show. The meeting also featured live performances by American Idol's top winners, Clay Aiken and Reuben Studdard. The finale of the show was Elton John's first concert with a full band in almost three years. When Elton John performed timeless hits like "Rocket Man", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Daniel," "I Guess That's Why They Call it The Blues," and "I'm Still Standing," the audience went wild. The centerpiece of Elton's performance was the song "Philadelphia Freedom," a salute not only to the meeting location, but to the overall meeting theme of ‘Freedom.'

There were also other parts of the meeting in which Empire was engaged. As various new car models were revealed over the course of the afternoon, the Wachovia Center throbbed to the driving beats and freak-adelic sounds of The Crystal Method, a DJ team and America's answer to the UK's Chemical Brothers. During The Crystal Method's set, members of the FreeRunners -- French "urban ninjas" featured in recent television commercials for Nike – spilled into the venue like spider-men, leaping from rafters and falling from impossible heights, unhurt. The meeting reveals also featured Kaleidoscope-produced industrial videos starring basketball great David Robinson and Daily Show correspondent Rob Corddry, who were also booked by Empire. Empire also worked with The George P. Johnson Company to provide Dick Bright's SRO, an 18 piece dance/show band, for an elegant car salon after-party at which dealers and their spouses danced, ate, drank and viewed the exciting new car models. As with any show of this scale, challenges arose. Elton John was, at first, reluctant to perform with a full band. But the client desired this configuration and Empire was able to persuade him to accommodate their desire through patient and capable negotiation. Said one attendee of the star-studded event, "I thought I was dreaming."