When the world-renowned Palm Jumeirah and its flagship resort, Atlantis - The Palm, unveiled plans for one of the biggest events of the year to celebrate the opening of the resort, they and renowned event designer and producer Colin Cowie turned to Empire Entertainment to help manage the live entertainment and live event components. The three day celebration was attended by over 2,000 celebrity and VIP guests. The grand opening event featured music legend Kylie Minogue's debut performance in the Middle East, a performance by Nawal Al Zoghbi - one of the highest selling Arab artists of all time, Bollywood Superstar Priyanka Chopra, and dinner hosted by Nobu Matsuhisa, Santi Santamaria, Michel Rostang and Giorgio Locatelli.

The finalé of the grand opening event was a 22 minute 'Illumination Sequence" featuring an originally-designed video projection across the entire facade of the Atlantis produced by industry veterans Edd Griles and Chip Rachlin. The powerful video projections, which told the story of the Atlantis, were integrated with an installation of high powered Syncrolites and pyrotechnic effects above and beneath the building. At the end of the Illumination sequence, Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra emerged on stage to unleash the world's largest-ever fireworks display - over 7 times larger than those seem at the Beijing Olympic Games - designed and executed by the world famous Grucci Family. The fireworks spectacular was executed over the Palm Islands' 43 KM of shoreline, illuminating the entire island with more than 100,000 specially designed pyrotechnic devices.

The grand opening evening's event was attended by a host of notable names including His Highness Sheik Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Charlize Theron, Michael Jordan, Robert DeNiro, Janet Jackson, Preity Zinta, Lily Allen, The Duchess of York, Agyness Deyn, Gerard Butler, Boris Becker, Petra Nemcova, Richard Branson, Lindsay Lohan, Mary Kate Olsen, Mischa Barton, Bipasha Basu, John Abraham, Rani Mukherjee, Gosha Kutsenko, Ronnie Woods and many others from all corners of the globe. DJ Donna D'Cruz of Rasa Music helmed the turntables for the cocktail party.

For this immense undertaking, Empire served as talent producer and talent logistics supervisor which included coordinating and integrating the participation of live talent such as Kylie Minogue, local musicians and dancers, Nawal Al Zoghbi, Priyanka Chopra, and DJ Donna D'Cruz. Empire also developed and managed the run of the show and stage-managed the live event including triggering the fireworks display. The event was broadcast globally via satellite into over 700 million households with the images of the Palm Island fireworks seen by over 1 billion people. Video highlights of the event can be seen by clicking here.

Empire is a leading producer of entertainment for some of the highest stature events in the world and is often engaged by leading event designer & producers like Colin Cowie Lifestyle for our expertise in delivering and managing large scale, live entertainment components for the most demanding projects.

On November 13, 2008, Empire Entertainment was again proud to support Keep a Child Alive and serve as producer of their 5th annual fundraising event, the Black Ball, which was generously underwritten by the Condé Nast Media Group.

Hosted by Co-founder Alicia Keys and KCA Global Ambassador IMAN, the event saluted humanitarians in the fight against AIDS such as actress and advocate, Queen Latifah, followed by extraordinary performances including Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Daughtry, Adele and others. Over 1200 guests including Tyra Banks, Clive Davis, Russell Simmons, John Mayer, Timbaland, Cynthia Nixon, Zoe Kravitz, Swizz Beatz, Michelle Williams, David Bowie, Elijah Wood, Padma Lakshmi, and Jessica Alba attended to support KCA in their fight against the global AIDS pandemic.The evening began with a cocktail reception and gallery exhibit of the "Museum of Dreams," a setting designed and conceptualized by KCA's Earle Sebastian and David Stark Design. The "Museum of Dreams" was designed to highlight everyday things that Westerners take for granted but that represent the hopes and prayers of African children and families with HIV/AIDS.

Following cocktails the guests then entered into a breathtaking "African Dream" inspired Hammerstein Ballroom where they enjoyed a delicious dinner menu designed by Aquavit's Marcus Samuelsson and served by Hudson Yards Catering. Powerful video and emotive graphic messages on projection screens and in centerpiece bell jars coupled kept the focus of the evening on the burning needs in Africa. During dinner an auction of once in a lifetime experiences was held led by Christies auctioneers Tash Perrin and Hugh Edmeades. Lot's included a "God Save the Queen" poster signed by artist Jamie Reid which was the subject of a bidding war between Queen Latifah and John Mayer who ended up paying $100,000 each. Other lots included a trip to Africa, Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves and one week on Richard Branson's private Necker Island.

Following dinner was the honoree program. The evening's honorees were Jackie Branfield, Simon Fuller and Queen Latifah. Jackie Branfield is the founder and director of Operation Bobbi Bear, which protects sexually abused children from social and judicial neglect while preventing further abuse and HIV infection in South Africa. Simon Fuller, creator of American Idol and Idol Gives Back, raised over $76 million for charity last season alone and has mobilized the American people to take action on a variety of causes and issues. Queen Latifah has shown incredible dedication and leadership in speaking out about HIV/AIDS through her long careers in film, music and advocacy. At the conclusion of the honoree program, Alicia Keys introduced the world to Noah - a 15 year old, HIV positive musician from Rwanda, who sings in his community to educate people about HIV prevention and whose dream was to come perform at the Black Ball. His dream was fulfilled and the audience went wild for his incredible performance. Following Noah, Alicia Keys and her incredible band backed a series of moving performances by artists that included Emmanuel Jal, Daughtry, Adele and finally superstar Justin Timberlake who electrified the audience with "Until the End of Time," "My Love," "Lovestoned", and "Another Day in Paradise" in a stunning duet with Alicia Keys.

All told, the Black Ball event raised over $2.4 million for AIDS affected children and families in Africa. Once again, Empire Entertainment served as overall event producer for the Black Ball and managed all aspects of the event including site selection and contracting, logistics, catering, décor, talent management and coordination, production, security and onsite management, collaborating with Keep a Child Alive and other partners and donors. Empire Entertainment is proud to serve as partner of Keep a Child Alive in saving lives and raising awareness in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. Keep a Child Alive is an innovative charitable organization dedicated to providing life-saving anti-retroviral treatment, care and support services to children and their families with HIV/AIDS in Africa and the developing world. To learn more and donate, please visit www.keepachildalive.org

When a global investment bank wanted to shake up their Annual Global Investment Conference Gala, they called on Empire Entertainment to produce the event. The three-day Conference took place at The Palace Hotel in New York City and kicked off with a keynote address by former President Bill Clinton. For the entertainment portion of the conference, the client invited all conference attendees to a blowout gala at the Hammerstein Ballroom in midtown Manhattan.

Empire's original productions division transformed the space into a beautiful, chic lounge environment. From the red carpet entrance, to the lobby, to the entire performance space inside, Empire created an atmosphere that made the venue unrecognizable to those who are accustomed to seeing it as a concrete-floor concert hall. The interior space was completely altered into a sea of sensual red, with wall-to-wall carpeting, lounge furnishings and sleek black lacquer accents.

Dramatic food stations with ice sculptures were set on all three floors of the space, with high-end items including oysters on the half shell, tuna tartare, sliced muscovy duck breast, pulled barbecued lamb sandwiches, and abalone mushroom carpaccio. Servers also passed small plates of miso roast black cod, slow cooked short ribs, yellowtail ceviche "ice cream cones" and more.

Given the tremendous ceiling height at the venue, Empire recommended and secured the world-renowned aerial troupe Antigravity to perform interstitial entertainment segments prior to the headline concert that evening. Incredibly beautiful and talented women performed breathtaking feats of contortion, aerial hammock routines, and a jaw-dropping bungee-jump piece that stunned the crowd. These performances, set to DJ music, built up the energy and excitement in the room as the evening went on.For the grand finalé, Empire produced a headline concert performance by the legendary Earth, Wind & Fire. The band had the crowd on their feet and dancing to mega-hits including "Boogie Wonderland", "Let's Groove Tonight", and "September" and sent guests out on a tremendous high note.

Empire prides itself on producing special events worldwide from conception to completion, as was the case with this gala.

Empire Entertainment Japan has been promoting international talent and representing them in the Japan & Asian markets to secure opportunities in television, motion picture, live performance, commercials and other areas. Such was the case with Empire Japan's newest client, hip hop musician Chris Lennon. Represented by Empire Entertainment Japan, Chris was recently cast as MTV Japan's newest VJ. Chris is a hip hop musician who has already released an album with a major record label, and possesses broad knowledge of the current music scene in Japan and the US. He also has a very outgoing personality and charismatic on screen, which makes him the perfect candidate for this position.Fluent in both Japanese and English, Chris was also selected as the red carpet reporter for MTV Video Music Awards Japan, where he also doubled as the translator and interviewed world-famous celebrities such as Nelly, Fergie, Simple Plan, and Paris Hilton.

From Colin Powell and Hillary Swank to Marco Tempest and Chris Lennon, Empire Japan has served as an effective promoter and representative of talent in Japan and Asia.

When one of Russia's most successful oligarchs sought to throw an incredible party at a private estate in Cap D'Antibes on the Cote D'Azur, their Moscow-based, Russian event producers and strategic Empire partners turned to Empire Entertainment for help with the evening entertainment. The extraordinary party was hosted on a private, waterfront estate just adjacent to the famous Eden Roc and Hotel du Cap. The guests, numbering approximately 150, came from throughout Russia, Europe, Asia and the United States and included VIPs like Roman Abramovich.

The evening began with a cocktail reception surrounding a glittering pool, lit with floating candles and traversed with laser beams. American motion picture and TV star Jim Belushi and co-host, Russian television personality Andrey Malakhov, greeted guests as they arrived. Guests were then seated for a sumptuous dinner and Jim & Andrey took to the stage where Jim performed some Blues Brothers songs to track and the two delivered a combined standup set in English and Russian. After dessert, the British humor improv troupe Incognito Artists performed. Following dinner Jim and Andrey led guests from the dinner tent across the property to a giant outdoor stage and where they were treated to a full length, headline concert by international superstar Beyoncé and her full band and dancers. Her electrifying set included all of her hits such as "Survivor," "Deja Vu," "Say My Name" and "Crazy in Love" and the audience danced to every song. Following Beyoncé's concert the guests were led down a lighted pathway line with fountains to the waterfront where the evening's next surprise awaited them.

Upon arrival and taking their seats, an extraordinary 35 minute original spectacle of fountains, flame pots, fire dancers, lasers and fireworks astounded guests and drew attention up and down the Cote D'Azur from the shore and surrounding private yachts. The Phoenix Fire Dancers were part of this performance. Following the spectacle, guests returned to the dinner tent, now remodeled into an elegant after-party lounge with couches, ottomans and nightclub lighting, there they danced the rest of the night away and enjoyed cigars, cognac and dance music by Europe's Touch & Go and another band that performed Russian classics. Empire is thrilled to enjoy a strategic alliance with one of Russia's most established event production companies and has produced many events in private clients in Russia, France, Israel and elsewhere.

For more information on events in Russia and our capabilities from Moscow to Vladivostok, contact Empire Entertainment.

For the sixth year in a row, the Executive Council of New York, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering innovation and commerce in New York City, chose Empire Entertainment to produce their Ten Awards program in New York City. This program, billed as "The Academy Awards of Business," annually recognizes the best & brightest in the New York business universe. The host sponsor for this important program was technology giant IBM. Other sponsors of this year's program included Cushman & Wakefield NASDAQ OMX, Zagat Survey, UPS, Dow Jones, Google, Accenture, Ogilvy, and AT&T among others. The Awards program was hosted by FOX Business Network's Brian Sullivan and featured keynote addresses by NYPD Comissioner Raymond W. Kelly and Hudson Riverkeeper's Chief Prosecuting Attorney, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

This year's award winners were: CEO of the Year: Shelley Lazarus, OgilvyCFO of the Year: Stephen Patrick, Colgate-PalmoliveCIO of the Year: Barbara Koster, Prudential FinancialBest Up and Comer: Eric Shepcaro, TelxBest Hedge Fund/Private Equity Firm of the Year: David Tepper, Appaloosa ManagementBest Female Executive: Judy McGrath, MTV NetworksBest Green Organization: Alex Matthiessen, RiverkeeperBest Media Executive: Laura Walker, WNYC Public RadioBest Healthcare Executive: Jeff Kinder & Ronald A. Williams, AetnaBest Executive Team: Are Traasdahl, Evan Schwartz, Scott Marshall, Markus Thortsvedt, Joe Bilman & Lasse Hamre, ThumbplayDealmaker of the Year: Michael Chen, GE Commercial FinanceCitizen of the Year: Sandi D. Franklin, Brooklyn Center for the Urban EnvironmentCEO and Innovation Award: Larry Cohen, CapgeminiThere was also a special Ten Awards NASDAQ Closing Bell ceremony with the winners at NASDAQ's MarketSite in Times Square.

For this upscale event for more than 400 attendees, Empire provided virtually all services including venue selection, staging and set design, sound, lighting, the production of graphics packages, and all program graphic production, catering, stage management, decor, florals, logistics management, security, and signage.

Empire is a leading creative producer of business events, meetings and awards shows worldwide.

As Las Vegas, NV has increasingly become a prime destination major corporate programs & events, Empire has kept pace and offers our clients a full range of event services and capabilities in this unique city. These capabilities were on full display recently when Empire produced a wide range of events within days of each other in various settings and venues.

The series of events began when Empire produced the ever popular B-52s outdoors under a covered stage in the pool areas of The MGM Grand. The mixed group of over 1000 men and women danced and partied under the stars to hits that included "Love Shack," "Roam" and "Rock Lobster." Later that week we moved over to the Ballrooms at The Venetian Hotel, where Empire presented a concert with the Black Crowes. The 90 minute, greatest hits concert for a crowd of mostly young, male technology industry influencers was a huge hit with the audience who showered the band with ongoing applause in appreciation their no holds' barred hard-rocking style. Shortly after that Empire returned to more shows at the Mandalay Bay Arena and The Pearl at The Palms, where we presented performances for our clients featuring artists as diverse as Blue Man Group, Dana Carvey, American Idols' Michael Johns & Carly Smithson, and Sugar Ray.

Empire is able to serve our clients needs in Las Vegas based on our 15 years of extensive experience there and close relationships with the best talent, production and creative resources available. Whether it's a poolside party for several thousand or an intimate high-roller event featuring a top name headliner, Empire has the experience, relationships and resources to satisfy any clients needs in this unique city.

The Tokyo Game Show 2008, one of the biggest gaming events in the world, was held over a four-day period in October 2008 in the Makuhari Messe Exhibition Halls in Chiba, Japan. Attendance for the four day event reached a record high of 194,288 visitors with over 200 companies exhibiting in over 1700 booths.Empire Entertainment Japan was engaged to create the first special live concert 'The GMT : Game & Music @ Tokyo Game Show' sponsored by 'XBOX 360.'The GMT featured six Japanese headline artists who were all enthusiastic gamers. The band included Shoko Nakagawa, Schadaraparr and Asia Engineer among others. The concert was attended by thousands of game fans, costume players, and music fans.

GMT began with "Aural Vampire." Aural Vampire was chosen from the candidates of more than 300 groups at the GMT Front Act Audition held on major SNS "My Space". The bewitching gothic electro atmosphere created by EXO-CHIKA (Vampire vocal) and RAVEMAN (Masked DJ) overwhelmed the audience.Also, a game software company "Grass Hopper Manufacture", which has many of enthusiastic fans, introduced "GhM Sound Team". heating up the audience to another level. The show continued with 8 bit music performance by "YMCK". 3 members of the group gave a performance of synchronized drawing and performing tunes from animation sound tracks. Their style fused nostalgia with cutting edge technology.

The next artist on stage, "Asia Engineer," gave another astonishing performance. "Asia Engineer" is a 4 member hip hop group who got their names on the major market by singing the Olympic campaign song in Japan.Finally, moving towards the climax, the "Schadaraparr" appeared at the stage. The audience answered by cheering to the group's well experienced and high quality rap performance. For the final performance, an artist who had a sensational year, "Nakagawa Shoko" a.k.a, "Shokotan" appeared on the stage. She heated up the event stage to the hottest level, singing 6 songs including an encore performance.Through the concert, many different genres of music, such as J-POP, Hip Hop, 8-bit, Techno, and Visual were introduced.

To make sure that the crowds stay heated, Empire provided an MC and dance performances between the guest appearances, and introduced a presentation of Yamaha's new electronic instrument "TENORI-ON".Since the event was so tightly scheduled, rehearsals were held until midnight and even in the early mornings. Even with the difficult schedule, Empire was able to produce an event that satisfied both the artists and the audience.For this first time concert event in Japan, Empire was in charge of overall management, technical production, artist coordination, emcee casting, stage production and stage direction.

Empire Entertainment Japan is a leading producer of corporate and event marketing events in Japan and throughout Asia.

When a private equity firm with a 25-year history of forming partnerships with talented entrepreneurs and management teams sought to entertain their partners at an Annual Meeting, they turned to Empire Entertainment for assistance with the headline talent. The format of the annual meeting is a 2-day series of lectures and panel discussions focused on the company's portfolio highlighted by a welcome dinner and cocktail reception on the first evening. In attempt to lighten the mood and break the informational tone of the 48-hour affair, the client turned to Empire Entertainment to select, book, and manage the humorous entertainment portion of the evening.

Dennis Miller, noted as one of the most acerbic and intelligent comedians of our time, was a natural fit for this sophisticated audience. His knowledge of current affairs and innate ability to inject humor and sarcasm into such serious topics made him a natural crowd pleaser. His high stature from his year's on Saturday Night Live and his HBO series made him a special treat for the audience. His material included even-handed political content that was especially relevant to the upcoming presidential election only two months later.The evening and Dennis Miller's hour long performance was exactly the success that the client sought for their partners. The audience greatly enjoyed Dennis Miller's cerebral humor and his celebrity stature ensured that the attendees felt that the presenting company had pulled out all the stops to deliver a name performer for their dinner. For this project Empire worked with the client to recommend and select from among various performer options, negotiated and contracted Dennis Miller, coordinated logistics including air, rooms and ground transportation, interfaced with the client's A/V supplier to ensure appropriate technical support, and provided a producer onsite to handle Dennis Miller from arrival to departure.

Empire is a leading source of celebrity and headline comedy talent for meeting hosts, spokesperson roles and personal appearances.

When a global corporation was planning a large-scale annual meeting for all of it's regional employees, they sought a humorous host who could handle their audience of over 12,000. Moreover, the external creative agency for the event, a cutting edge new firm with a Generation-Y attitude, needed a tongue-in-cheek, fresh comedian with a business affiliation to deliver on their creative. As the preferred entertainment supplier to the corporate client, Empire was asked to work with the creative agency to fulfill the specific talent needs of the project while simultaneously following the carefully-constructed contractual guidelines that have governed the relationship with the client for the past 10 years.

Working closely with the client and creative agency, Empire was able to deliver one of the stars of NBC's wildly successful series - "The Office" - Rainn Wilson, to host the meeting. Rainn's humor - as displayed in the Office series, but also in his film roles in "Juno," "My Super Ex-Girlfriend," "Galaxy Quest," "Almost Famous" and "The Rocker" - was perfect for this audience and the creative.Prior to coming onsite, Rainn participated in a remote recording of a video sketch depicting the creative agency trying to select the host. As the agency sifted through potential candidates ranging from Bob Hope and Jared from the Subway commercials to Gandhi, they moved on to suggest Rainn Wilson who they unanimously decided should not be the host as he is decidedly "not funny." Then they discovered that Rainn was on the conference call...

Onsite Rainn was a superb host and fulfilled perfectly the creative agency's vision. He opened the meeting in full costume as one of the client's entertainment properties and rapidly assumed the role of host in the center of the sports stadium. He began: "All my life I was told no. No you can't have a pony, no you can't eat that off the floor, no you can't shave your grandfather. No matter how famous I get nothing seems to change. Even today at the airport: "No you can't change your seat from 31B, middle, to 31A, window. No, you can't carry on your alpaca. No, you can't sync your iPhone to your iPod. No, the cable guy will not lock down a time to be at your house. No, no, no."Then today I got to [Client's Name] Company Meeting and they started saying "Yes." They said I could do whatever I wanted. That today was about ‘yes.' I asked, ‘Hmmm, Can I set a seating section on fire?' They said yes." Rainn then demonstrated the power of "Yes" by waving his hands which set off an explosion in a section of the bleachers and then threw out a pitch from the pitching mound.Rainn then hosted a series of humorous vignettes that introduced speakers and videos and tied together the various presentations throughout the day.

Each of Rainn's segments were met with roaring laughter and applause.The exciting finalé of Rainn's performance came as he instructed all attending employees to fold and construct over 12,000 paper airplanes, and then, at once, throw them in unison, achieving the Guiness Book of World Records record for the most paper airplanes thrown at one time.Rainn worked closely with the creative team and Empire on details such as scripting, costumes, special effects, etc.Empire negotiated the deal for Rainn, worked with his management in order to secure time off from his busy shooting schedule for The Office and the theatrical release of his new film The Rocker. Empire also served as onsite talent liaison for Rainn to help him deliver the best possible performance.

Empire is a leading source of celebrity and headline talent for meeting hosts, spokesperson roles and personal appearances and often collaborates with creative agencies and production companies to help fulfill their creative visions through the effective use of talent.