Launching summer 2012, The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and the live experience of legends of rock Queen to generations of fans in cities coast-to-coast across the US and Canada.

Behind the show are Queen: legendary guitarist Brian May and iconic drummer Roger Taylor, whose talents as writers and musicians have inspired such legends of modern times as the Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Katy Perry, and even Lady Gaga,  who took her name from one of Taylor’s biggest hit songs.

Taylor’s idea was to the create the ultimate Queen concert experience in an electrifying road show that celebrates the band’s music and legacy performed by some of the best new music talent out there today.  Taylor personally takes the role of producer and music director.

To guarantee the touring show matches the fabled design and excitement of Queen at its live best, Taylor has enlisted a heavyweight production team headed by stage designer Mark Fisher.  Fisher has been responsible for some of the most memorable rock concerts ever staged, including The Wall for Pink Floyd, every Rolling Stones show since 1989, and, working with lighting designer Willie Williams, every U2 concert.

The Queen Extravaganza touring band – four vocalists and five musicians (two guitars, bass, drums and keyboards) – were hired after an intensive 12 week online audition search. The buzz surrounding the public auditions sparked worldwide interest with video submissions generating more than 10 million views.

Television host Ellen DeGeneres was so impressed with the level of talent, that she invited one hopeful to perform his audition on her show. That contestant, Nashville’s Marc Martel, secured himself a place in the final band. The rest of The QE band includes vocalists and QE contestant Jennifer Espinoza along with addition vocalists Yvan Pedneault and Jeff Scott Soto; bassist Francois Olivier Doyon; guitarists Brian Gresh and Tristan Avakian; drummer Tyler Warren and keyboardist & musical director Brandon Ethridge.

In a show which will run just over two hours of playing time, The QE band will perform close on 40 true Queen classics drawn from a list of the band’s biggest all-time chart hits – “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “Under Pressure,” “We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions,” “A Kind of Magic,” “Radio Ga Ga,” “Somebody to Love,” “Killer Queen” - as well as highlighting some of the band’s finest heavy-duty rock based anthems which have long been at the core of their live performances,  so audiences can also expect a healthy dose of early period Queen with songs such as  “I’m In Love With My Car,” “Tie Your Mother Down,” “Seven Seas of Rye,” and “In the Lap Of The Gods” among them.

Production values will be boosted with the inclusion of never-before-seen video footage.

“The Queen Extravaganza will not be like a traditional tribute show,” says Taylor. ”It is a brand new show specially designed to enable these new fans, together with fans of old, to celebrate the music of Queen in a heart stopping event.”  Adds Taylor, “It’s going to be very spectacular, it’s going to be very visual, there are going to be some shocks and some tremendous surprises. It will be a rock celebration in the Royal tradition.

The Queen Extravaganza tour dates are as follows:

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/Queen

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A recent clash between a motherhood-based activist campaign and JP Penny’s decision to support an openly gay spokesperson, should have us all thinking about the “right message” we want to teach our children. Comedian and TV mogul Ellen DeGeneres is no stranger to endorsements and publicity campaigns.

She is, or has been, the face of multi-million dollar brands like Cover Girl and American Express, and she hosts her own show daily in front of millions of viewers. Recently, DeGeneres was dubbed JC Penney’s new spokesperson amidst a whirlwind of controversy and conflict.

‘One Million Moms’, a division of the American Family Association, expressed their disagreement through the following message on their website:

Funny that JC Penney thinks hiring an openly homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of their customers are traditional families.

They also predicted a huge loss in sales for the popular brand. Ellen herself addressed the highly publicized issue as it exploded all over the internet, thanking fans and JC Penney CEO, Ron Johnson, for their unconditional love. “My haters are my motivators,” she commented. In fact, Ron Johnson confirmed that his company will stand by their decision because they share the same values as DeGeneres.

Within hours of its creation, the Facebook platform ’1 Million People Who Support Ellen For JC Penney’, created by Cathie Winter Miller, became the official response to ‘One Million Moms’. It took less than a day for the Pro-Ellen campaign to garner thousands of likes, comments, and attention. It is currently sitting at more than 150,000 likes at the moment and racing towards 200,000 at the speed of light.

Not only is ‘One Million Moms’s comment being viewed as a personal derogatory attack on Ms. DeGerenes, but the statement has also insulted supporters and others, gay or straight. ‘One Million Moms’ is being criticized for sending the wrong message when it lambastes a company for hiring a lesbian spokesperson, instigating supporters to call their local JC Penney store managers and complain. This has proven more than just a random group of people, speaking their mind.

The message of the ‘One Million Moms’ campaign is no different than the hateful slurs anti-gay bullies use against LGTB kids at schools. If our community leaders and representatives spew out nothing but hate towards a specific group of individuals, then we should all be offended If children and teenagers receive the message that being openly gay is enough of a reason to attack someone, we should be deeply worries. Discrimination should not be confused with freedom of speech.

The 40,000 members of ‘One Million Moms’ have launched many other campaigns on behalf of their traditionalist values. They ask their followers to e-mail the many sponsors of the hit TV series ‘Modern Family’, to yank away ads and support from the show. They have also issued various complaints against ‘Dancing With The Stars’ for allegedly forcing LGTB-related content into their homes and bickered about comedian Kathy Griffin, Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner, and the hidden agenda of pop culture sensation Glee.

Wouldn’t we all be offended if an organization publicly slammed the hiring of a person on the basis of him or her being black, Asian, or Hispanic? At this point, and believe me, I have researched the official site of ‘One Million Moms’, I am left to wonder how the lovely Ellen DeGeneres can compromise anyone’s integrity by being on a billboard or in a commercial.

Fortunately, the supportive response has been massive, and the many comments on the Facebook site range from a deliberate customer-to-be who said, “Good for JC penny. I have never bought anything there, but I am sure I will take another look at the merchandise now,” to a heartfelt fan who stated, “There’s no better way to say it. Such integrity in her response to this group of haters. A great role model for young LGBTs everywhere.” The comments and support keep rolling in for Ellen.

Looking back on how far we have come, I could not help but remember a YouTube video I recently saw of the ‘The Rosie O’Donnell Show’ from back in the mid ’90s.

Ellen DeGeneres came on to discuss her sitcom, and at one point, both Ellen and Rosie engage in a funny conversation about how her character on the show would finally reveal she was “Lebanese” to which Rosie cheerfully responded she might be “Lebanese” as well. Well, 15 years later they need no hints nor a Lebanese passport; they can stand by their sexuality as two proud lesbian individuals at the top of their game.

It seems as if campaigns like ’1 Million People Who Support Ellen For JC Penney’ can help sketch out a new concept of what decent values are to our society. According to Ellen and her millions of fans, the core of ‘traditional’ values are the following: “honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you want to be treated, and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values.”

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Hollywood Couple, Heidi Klum and Seal, have decided to go their separate ways and end their marriage of seven years reports the Daily Mail.

“While we have enjoyed seven very loving, loyal, and happy years of marriage, after much soul-searching, we have decided to separate,” the pair stated. “We have had the deepest respect for one another throughout our relationship and continue to love each other very much, but we have grown apart.

This is an amicable process and protecting the well-being of our children remains our top priority, especially during this time of transition.” Eonline confirms that the pair met in a hotel lobby in 2004 while Klum was pregnant with daughter Leni from her previous relationship with Flavio Briatore.

Despite the pregnancy, Klum and Seal began to seriously date. Seal was by her side during the birth of Leni and even dedicated his following album to her, citing Leni as his daughter.

They married approximately a year later on May 10, 2005, in front of a crowd of forty people in Mexico. Klum was then expecting her first child with Seal. Since then, the couple has renewed their vows every year on their wedding day, each year creating something new and  different to express their feelings for each other.

Together, they have had three children, Henry Gunther Ademola Dashtu Samuel, Johan Riley Fyodor Taiwo Samuel, and Lou Sulola Samuel.  In 2009, Seal legally adopted Leni, changing her full name to Leni Samuel.

The couple has stated the reason for divorce to be ‘irreconcilable differences’. However, according to the celebrity website TMZ, while the split seems to be amicable, rumors involving Seal’s temper and wild partying have also surfaced to be a reason for the divorce. When the couple vacationed in Ibiza this past August, the beginnings of rumors surrounding Seals partying and the couple’s problems began to circulate in tabloids.

Despite these rumors, since the couple announced their split, they have not recognized any of them to be true. Klum has remained in silence since announcing the divorce. However, Seal broke his silence by appearing on Ellen DeGeneres’ television show on January 24, 2012.

“I think we were shocked,” he admitted to DeGeneres, sharing the public’s sadness. “Because you go into these things with the greatest intentions. When you say, ‘I do,’ when you say, ”Til death do us part,’ those vows hold value. They’re not just words. But these things happen.”

Seal also stated that the couple wishes to go through this process with as much dignity and respect as possible, while keeping their children their number one priority throughout.

“… The thing that I’m most proud about about this great woman who I married, and I really do mean that from the bottom of my heart, is that together, she has given me four incredible gifts, four beautiful children, and she’s still, in my opinion, the most wonderful woman in the world.”

He also mentioned on the DeGeneres show that he would continue to wear his wedding ring for some time, even after the divorce became final. “Just because we have decided to separate doesn’t necessarily mean that you take off your ring, and you’re no longer connected to that person,” Seal said. “We will be connected in many ways till the rest of our lives.”

Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

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