When legendary performers look to market their own latest releases, they turn to Empire Entertainment to help present them in their best light. Such was the case when Barry Manilow and BMG released Barry's newest album, "The Greatest Songs of the Fifties," and sought to perform selections of this material for an exclusive audience of influential New Yorkers and music industry executives. The event was held at the spectacular Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center and featured a cocktail hour, an introduction speech by legendary label executive Clive Davis and a fifty minute concert during which Barry performed both Fifties classics and his greatest hits. Performing high above Columbus Circle with the lights of Central Park as a backdrop, Barry performed such great classics as "Mandy," "Made it Through the Rain," "Copacabana," and "I Write the Songs" as well as selections from this new album such as "Unchained Melody," "It's Not For Me to Say," "Moments to Remember" and "Venus." Onstage Barry performed with a large orchestra including a horn section, background vocalists, and dancers. Barry performed both at the vocal microphone and at the piano. The evening ended with a streamer burst and a standing ovation as Barry concluded this rare New York concert appearance to thunderous applause. For this program Empire helped to coordinate all logistics and supervised production, interfacing among Barry Manilow's camp, Jazz at Lincoln Center and various outside resources to provide the highest caliber production quality.

When the stars present themselves, they turn to Empire to help them produce the show.

Marco Tempest performs his next generation magic at the Apple Store in Tokyo's Ginza. Marco Tempest stunned visitors to Apple's Ginza store in Tokyo Japan with his breakthrough combination of technology and magic. Located in the middle of Tokyo's posh Ginza shopping district, on some of the world's most expensive real estate, the Apple Store is a high-profile location always buzzing with activity. Marco, visiting Japan to produce a new TV special, was invited to perform at the Apple Store during its peak December sales season. Despite short notice Marco drew an excited and diverse crowd of shoppers, families, tourists and Apple fans. Entitled "Multimedia Magic Made on a Mac", Marco's performance not only showcased his world-renowned and innovative routines, but it also demonstrated his ability to use Mac products to produce magic.

Using Wi Fi technology, integration between various products ranging from cell phones with cameras to computers to LCD screens, Marco proved once again that he is the future of magic. Under the watchful eye of the audience, Marco solved in less than 5 seconds one of the most popular (and difficult) puzzles in the world - The Rubik's Cube! Marco then asked a random audience member to imagine they were holding a card, and took a photo of them with his cell phone. After placing the cell phone face down in the hand of the subject, they were asked to reveal the card they imagined they were holding. They were then asked to look at the image on the cell phone, and were understandable amazed to see a photo of them holding the actual card that they had only imagined holding moments ago!

The Apple Store management was understandably thrilled with Marco's performance, and is looking forward to future visits to Japan when he will perform at their store again. Marco Tempest continues to blur the line between magic and technology, making Arthur C. Clarkes famous words, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," ring truer then ever.

Marco Tempest stars in NHK broadcast Japanese Television Special, "The Astounding World of Virtual Magic!" NHK, Japan's national broadcaster, was looking for outstanding content for a prime-time slot in their year-end schedule. They chose to partner with Empire Entertainment Japan to produce a unique television special starring Marco Tempest. Working together with NHK, Marco Tempest and Empire Entertainment developed a program packed with both Marco's world-renowned illusions customized for Japan and entirely original content. Marco Tempest filmed in the studio and on location in Tokyo for 4 days to produce the 70-minute show. Famous Japanese personalities, Jay Kabira, Riho Makise, Michiko Shimizu and the duo Napoleons, joined Marco in the studio, and were treated to an up-close and personal display of Virtual Magic. Locations such as a retail store in Akihabara – also known as Electric Town, a video arcade in Shibuya - the capital of Japanese youth fashion, and a pool & darts bar in Roppongi – the center of Tokyo's nightlife, provided a perfect background to Marco's original blend of hi-technology and illusions.

In one illusion in Electric Town Marco thrilled shoppers by changing part of the live picture on a random screen with just the touch of his finger. But the magic didn't stop there. Marco then pulled a small doll out of one TV in a bank of plasma screens airing the same show. The impromptu audience was shocked to discover that the doll, which had disappeared from the screen Marco plucked it from, was still pictured in all of the other TVs! The program was filmed and broadcast in ultra clear hi-definition, and aired for the first time during prime time on December 27. It earned an average rating of nearly 10 points, and was watched by almost 13 million people during its 70 minute broadcast. E-mails and phone calls received from viewers following the broadcast showed that many were left baffled, and Marco had single-handedly made people believe in magic again! NHK was delighted with the result, and are already in talks with Marco for new specials for 2006.

Marco continues to be a master at walking the line between the actual world we live in, and the virtual one that exists in our amazing technology and imaginations. As the creative force and production designer behind all of his work, Marco is a producer and event planner's dream. Empire Entertainment is pleased to have played a role in the development of Marco Tempest's NHK Special, and to continue to support an ever-growing field of original ventures in television and film. About NHK: The Nippon Hyoso Kyokai (NHK) dates from the early 1920s with establishment of a license fee-based national radio broadcaster. In contrast to many overseas public broadcasters, NHK is still one of the most watched channels in Japan, enjoying substantial market share across a wide demographic. The NHK group operates 54 stations throughout Japan and has 29 overseas bureaus. In 1953, after making Japan's first television broadcast, NHK introduced commercial broadcasting to Japan.

When one of Russia's largest energy companies wanted to throw a spectacular year-end event, their Netherlands-based producers contacted Empire Entertainment to deliver the appropriate host.The event took place at the historic Rossia Concert Hall, just steps away from Moscow's Red Square. The dinner and performance, held for an audience of approximately 650 of Russia's wealthiest and most powerful people, featured performances by Sarah Brightman, Jem, Fuego!, and Pink along with her laser effects, video and a spectacular fireworks display in a very snowy Red Square.

With so many program features and so much talent, it was important to find the right host who could keep the evening's flow moving, deliver physical humor that would transcend the language barrier and be recognized by the audience. Actor Jim Belushi fit the bill in every respect. His legendary physical comedy abilities, his willingness to perform Blues Brothers songs to track, and the fact that he is highly recognized in Russia due to some of his motion pictures like "K-9" and "Red Heat", made him the ideal candidate. Jim Belushi worked with co-host Yelena Hanga, a Russian-American who is also a television personality in Russia, and together they were able to set-up the jokes and translate all of Jim's humor to the appreciative audience.

The spectacular evening, whose attendees included entrepreneurs, politicians and notable Russian business figures, ended with Jim Belushi getting everyone on their feet and dancing as he performed "Sweet Home Chicago" and led them in a final champagne toast before guests went outside for an amazing fireworks show in Red Square. For this program, Empire contracted Jim Belushi, handled all logistics and visa needs, facilitated the development of creative and script, and stage managed the hosting segments.

Empire is a leading provider of talent for events around the globe.

When ShopRite LPGA sought to create an innovative and large-scale fundraising event to benefit a series of New Jersey charities, they turned to Empire Entertainment to help them achieve their goal. Their objective was to create a novel, hybrid concert event which would be publicly promoted with public advertising and tickets sold to the general public, but for which all of the proceeds would to benefit four charities: AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Shore Memorial Hospital, Gilda's Club of New Jersey and the Ruth Newman Shapiro Cancer & Heart Fund. The concert event would have to be on a large scale - with a gross potential at or above $1 million dollars. The concert would also need to be held in Atlantic City and, because the client was looking for an activity that would take place approximately six months from their huge LPGA Golf Tournament event at the end of May, the concert would need to take place at the end of the year and feature an artist who was in a sense 'Christmas-proof ' and would be able to deliver the large scale crowd an event like this would demand.

Working closely with the client over almost an entire year, Empire steadily negotiated with and ultimately secured superstar recording artist and 2005 MusiCares Man of the Year, James Taylor.The concert was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, an historic renovated venue that seats more than 12,000 people. Empire worked closely with the client, James Taylor's management and Boardwalk Hall to oversee every element of the production including ticket scaling, seating kills, on-sale strategy, marketing & promotion, concert production, logistics, signed James Taylor memorabilia, merchandising, music licensing royalties and budget management. In conjunction with the concert a cocktail reception and a post-show meet & greet with James Taylor and high roller sponsors and guests were held.The concert drew almost 8,000 attendees. James Taylor performed nearly a two hour show comprised of holiday songs and his hits including "Fire & Rain," "Handyman," "Sweet Baby James," "How Sweet It Is," and "You've Got a Friend" among many others. The concert was thoroughly enjoyed by all of the attendees and represents an innovation in fund raising events by ShopRite LPGA where a purely commercial entertainment served several charitable organizations.

Empire Entertainment is proud to have served as producer for this successful and innovative charitable concert event.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of one of New York's most notable weekly magazines, TIME OUT NEW YORK came to Empire Entertainment to coordinate a 7 month series of street marketing stunts in partnership with their advertising client, city specific American Express card IN:NYC. The concept was simple. On every tenth day of the month, TONY and IN:NYC would surprise New Yorkers by giving them a birthday present at some of New York's more frequented venues. Each month's location and stunt would relate to a different element of TONY's editorial content such as music, film, etc. To develop and execute this 7 month series of events, Empire worked closely with TONY's marketing department and IN:NYC's agency - Momentum Worldwide to craft, coordinate and manage all logistics of each promotion and help bring visibility to both brands.Every promotion involved a street team of six actors/models, who served as brand ambassadors and who were nicknamed 'Team TONY.' Empire cast, contracted, and attired the ethnically diverse team in specially styled TONY and IN:NYC-branded clothing.

We trained the team so that they would be well-versed about the product in order to introduce guests to the newly born IN:NYC card and rewards program and create buzz and awareness surrounding TONY's 10th Birthday. Team TONY interacted with members of the public and handed out custom made TONY birthday cards which offered opportunities to win a free subscription to the magazine.The seven months of promotions began in June 2005, where free single-pass subway Metrocards were given to commuters entering subway stations in three neighborhoods. In July, TONY and a team of stylists gave free manicure / color changes at Hudson River Park. In August, TONY and IN:NYC surprised guests at 9 IN:NYC participating restaurant & bar hot spots with free Grey Goose Vodka "MAR-TONY'S". These restaurants included Brasserio: Caviar and Banana, Kitchen 22, 66, Underbar in the W Hotel, Callo Ocho, Ono in the Hotel Gansevoort, Django, Kitchen 82, and NY favorite, SushiSamba 7. In September, guests were given a free night at the movies - with free movie passes, free popcorn and soda. In October, TONY and the IN:NYC Card gave jazz fans free $10 iTunes certificates at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in honor of TONY's 10 years as New York's go to guide for the best music and music happenings across the city.

In November, free "MAR-TONYS" were given to those attending one of the many great Off Broadway shows at Dodger Stages. To celebrate the last birthday event, TONY and IN:NYC gave free coffee at 3 Upper east side and 3 Upper West side locations to morning pedestrian commuters.Empire also coordinated the logistics for an onsite IN:NYC acquisition team who informed guests about the cards benefits and provided an opportunity to sign up those who were interested in the IN:NYC rewards program. Those who did sign up received a gift bag with multiple gifts particular to each promotion, such as gift certificates to various IN:NYC restaurants, IN:NYC branded martini glasses, gift certificates to J&R Music and Oasis Day Spa, as well as Godiva hot chocolate, and a free night at the movies to name a few.At every promotion, Team TONY managed to surprise New Yorkers and build good will and brand awareness for both TONY and IN:NYC. On the whole, thousands of birthday cards were distributed leading to strong subscriptions and far more people than had been expected signed up for the IN:NYC card.

Empire is a leading producer of attention-getting and results-achieving street marketing and brand awareness events.

On December 6, 2005, a dinner was hosted at the home of Roger Waters (founder of Pink Floyd) and Laura Durning to promote awareness and funding of the Millennium Promise organization (www.millenniumpromise.org) whose objective is to fight extreme poverty, especially in Africa. The evening's event was co-hosted by Tracey Durning and Jon Ein and was produced by J. B. Miller and Empire Entertainment.

The evening began with a cocktail hour in Roger Water's Library, with magnificent views overlooking New York in 3 directions from 51st & Fifth Avenue. At the cocktail hour guests arrived and were treated to floral creations designed by Michael Kowalski using predominantly African flowers & greens, catering provided by Great Performances and Veuve Cliquot champagne generously supplied by Moet Hennessey U.S.Guests included guest of honor and director of both the UN Millennium Project and The Earth Institute at Columbia University, Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, as well as Angelina Jolie, Philip Seymour Hoffman, MOBY, Roger Waters, Patti Smith and a variety of key donors and representatives of private foundations. Guests were then seated for dinner in the dining room at eight 5' square tables, each sset for 8 guests where they enjoyed a three course meal, a showing of a video on Millennium Promise produced by Tracey Durning, an acoustic performance by Patti Smith and remarks and Q&A with Dr. Jeffrey Sachs. Following the dinner guests returned to the library for Hennessey cognac and further discussion which a soundtrack of African music created by Empire Entertainment played.

The event was a success on every level with the guests thoroughly enjoying themselves. Dr. Sachs was "Over the moon" and significant interest in the Millennium Promise initiatives were generated.

On November 10, 2005, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment engaged Empire Entertainment to bring to life and produce an elegant cocktail reception and press event celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the legendary motion picture, "The Sound of Music." Attended by Dame Julie Andrews and all seven actors and actresses who portrayed the Von Trapp children in the film, this milestone event garnered wide press coverage throughout television and print, including The Today Show, which taped one-on-one interviews with each actor at the event.

The reception was held in the Chestnut Room at New York's famed Tavern on the Green. Guests dined on a traditional Austrian buffet including weiner schnitzel, bratwurst, and traditional Viennese desserts such as apple strudel and sacher torte. Empire provided pianist Julie McBride who performed Rodgers & Hammerstein classics as background music for the affair. The highlight of the party was a 16' x 8' custom-made replica of the marionette theatre featured in the film's much-loved "Lonely Goat Herd" scene. Within the theater's proscenium were displayed six of the original marionettes featured in the film, which Empire acquired on a special loan from the Charles H. MacNider Art Museum in Mason City, Iowa. Inside Tavern's Crystal Garden, Empire installed a 20' x 40' press tent and draped it with gold and white silk. To create an environment similar to an Austrian field, the interior was carpeted in green and filled with clusters of birch trees and fresh flower arrangements. Working under the direction of Twentieth Century FOX, Empire Entertainment managed all details for the event, coordinated all logistics with the venue, catering and tenting, and provided all décor, scenic, lighting and audio.

Empire is a leading producer of high-end publicity events and has established a strong track record of delivering high quality events that are uniquely customized to the products and services they promote.

When a major technology company wanted to provide an exciting opening number and evening celebration for their product launch they turned to Empire Entertainment to secure headline entertainment that would lend itself to a 'Rock & Roll' launch theme. Empire presented the client with a variety of band recommendations and worked with them to ultimately secure 1970's and 1980's rock icons, Cheap Trick, to headline the launch event and party. Cheap Trick, with their many hard rock hits and reputation as a fun and boisterous band, lent themselves perfectly to the launch theme of "Ready to Rock / Ready to Launch" and were the ideal partners for realizing the client's creative vision. Set in front of a unique stage set of VersaTile LED surfaces at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Cheap Trick kicked off the morning session with an electrifying, high energy rendition of their hit "Hello There" promptly at 9:00AM.

Just as the opening video ended, the band counted off and tore into the song as a wall of vertical banners suddenly dropped to reveal the band onstage. Lead singer Robin Zander greeted the amazed audience with the lyrics "Hello there. Ladies and gents, are you ready to rock?" Cheap Trick returned later that same evening for the finale of the Product Launch, a final party. The party featured various rock and roll-themed activities, a performance by the all-female AC/DC cover-group, AC/Dshe and also featured live airbrush artists painting 80's rock icons. The concert portion of the party was kicked off by Paul Sr. of Orange County Choppers featured on the television show American Choppers, who rode a custom motorcycle onto the stage to introduce the band. Cheap Trick then played a full set of their hits that included "I Want You to Want Me," "The Flame," "Surrender," and "Dream Police" among others. Original band members Robin Zander, Rick Neilsen, Bun E. Carlson and Tom Peterson kept the crowd rocking as they threw guitar picks to lucky guests in the crowd.

The show was a great success with the audience calling out for more as the band left the stage, which they happily obliged with a two song encore, concluding with the client's recommendation of "Goodnight" which made the event come full circle.Cheap Trick were the ideal partner for this launch. Their great, collaborative attitude showed itself in many ways as the band cooperated on issues ranging from set design, lighting and branding to the selection of material and show flow.

Empire is a leading booker and producer of headline entertainment for major business events worldwide.

Keep a Child Alive is an innovative, fast-growing charitable organization that raises money and awareness to provide anti-retroviral drugs and programs to children with HIV/AIDS in Africa. Keep a Child Alive takes a powerful, activist approach to its mission: To provide funding for ARV treatment and surrounding services for children and families To fund nutritional projects where necessary in clinic sites, To provide funding for the training or employment of health care workers, To build and scale up sites where ARV treatment can be made available, To fund sites where AIDS orphans can be cared for and to engage the public directly in the fight against global HIV/AIDS. Keep a Child Alive has raised considerable program funds and awareness though various media programs to combat this catastrophic health crisis in Africa.

Empire Entertainment was honored to again have the opportunity to produce Keep A Child Alive's annual fundraising event, "The Black Ball" in 2005.This year's event was scheduled as the closing event for the Time Magazine Healthcare Summit at the Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center in the Time Warner Building. This is a prestigious program that included speeches and workshops with speakers such as Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Bono and Paul Farmer among many others. For this extraordinary event, Empire served as overall event producer and was responsible for all program aspects working alongside Keep a Child Alive and in collaboration with many wonderful event partners and donors.

The event began with a stunning cocktail reception in the Rose Hall Atrium. The cocktail reception featured projections of image campaigns, elegantly lit collections of African art, floral designs using all native African flowers and plants featuring King Proteas, and a soundtrack of African music. Great Performances handled the catering and featured a custom "Triple Drug Cocktail" utilizing sponsored Belvedere vodka.Following the cocktail reception, 380 guests entered the spectacular Allen Room for an elegant, seated dinner. The tables for this dinner were designed by Helena Lehane and featured smoked glassware, black silverware, textured African-style linens and hurricane candle groupings.

A diverse group of celebrities attended the dinner including Clive Davis, Jessica Alba, Jamie Foxx, Rosie Perez, and many others. Following the dinner and a 2nd cocktail seating, approximately 1,000 guests entered the Rose Theater for an extraordinary program and concert. Whoopi Goldberg emceed the program, which included speeches by Eileen Naughton (President of Time Magazine) and Leigh Blake (Founder of Keep a Child Alive). Natasha Richardson, Cynthia Nixon (Sex in the City), and Jeffrey Wright presented awards to Michael Weinstein (President of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation), HBO (to Executive Vice President Richard Plepler) and Kim Nichols (Executive Director of the African Services Committee.) The program also included a poetry reading by 18-year-old poet Shacoya V. Harts, and a dance & song performance by Erika Rose.After the speaking program, Alicia Keys and her band took the stage and began an incredible concert program.

The 90 minute concert, supported by visual projections by Earle Sebastian, included solos by Alicia Keys and duets with other amazing artists. Some highlights were Alicia Keys and John Mayer dueting on "A Little Help From My Friends," the song "Sorrow Tears and Blood" with Femi Kuti and Common, "Ain't Got You" and "Can't Help It" duets between Alicia Keys and Usher, an incredible performance of "Homeless" by Paul Simon with the Agape Children's Choir, a choir of AIDS orphans from South Africa, and additional duets between Alicia Keys and Baaba Maal on "African Woman" and a final duet with Angelique Kidjo on "Afrika" to close out the show.The high point of this incredible show was a duet between U2's Bono and Alicia Keys on the Peter Gabriel / Kate Bush song "Don't Give Up (Africa)" For more information on the 2005 Black Ball visit: http://keepachildalive.org/kcaAtWork/index.php?p=BlackBall2005