Project Details Synopsis: The Divine Miss M is back! Bette Midler returns in this Las Vegas extravaganza taped before a packed house at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, the 70-minute cavalcade features an exhilarating tour de force of some of Ms. Midler’s colorful and classic stage characters. Joining her is an entourage of talented performers, including the staggering Harlettes, 16 dazzling dancers she calls The Caesar Salad Girls and a 13-piece band. Thrilling audiences with her captivating performances, Ms. Midler’s superstar power continues to shine as she belts out show stopping renditions of her biggest hits including The Rose, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, From a Distance, Hello in There and Wind Beneath My Wings.
SONG LIST:Big Noise from Winnetka, The Showgirl Must Go On, Friends, The Rose, Do You Wanna Dance, From a Distance, Boolya JaDa, Hello in There, Pretty Legs/Hot in Here, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Wind Beneath My Wings
DVD
Blu-Ray
The release date is Oct 4, 2011. If you want to pre-order: Click Here
Wow, talk about about a poor track list:
Big Noise from Winnetka, The Showgirl Must Go On, Friends, The Rose, Do You Wanna Dance, From a Distance, Boolya JaDa, Hello in There, Pretty Legs/Hot in Here, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Wind Beneath My Wings
I know i wasnt lucky enough to see the concert in vegas, but 11 songs on the DVD doesnt seem a lot at all??
Don, you know I love Bette…. I truly do…. but what the HECK are they waiting on??? Why can we not get a a full show on dvd??? Are they waiting until she is 85 and LITERALLY in a wheelchair doing Delores before we can get a full account of one of her shows?? I just dont get it…. 🙁
I just cant understand why they cant release the full show… it was so amazing… and the wamlaw was the best part i think…. so i just cant understand… and still cant deal with the kmb thing… but btw i love the cover of it 🙂
Don,
Agreed on KMB. A far superior showcase for her talent. I, for one, could easily live the rest of my days without encountering Delores. It’s tired.
ah okay. I understand 🙂 but her voice sounds so smooth and awesome in that show…especially when she sings “from a distance” . but I can understand her…but that´s the problem when she´s doing her own singing 😀
The best show in my opinion is still the first HBO special….catch that and buy Live At Last! Clips of the HBO show are available on youtube. Superb example of her talent.
I have a copy of TSMGO on dvd and its amazing, given its limtations. I was lucky to see the show (Don was there, remember!?) in the Horseshoe Casino in Indiana, near Chicago 08/08/08 and the Christmastime TSMGO in Las Vegas and hope the next career moves will be breathtaking and groundbreaking as everything the Divine Miss M stands for.
Truth Liberty and Justice to yall this Happy Fourth of July 2011….
I was also waiting for the whole show on video. But the copyright issue makes sense as Miss M used tons of songs in the segment and would have to pay royalties for each of the songs used. It seems to me that Bette’s concert DVDs don’t sell a whole lot, so paying for all the rights would be cost prohibitive.
But I tell you, if The Divine One doesn’t decide to release all her concerts on video, it will be a pity for entertainment history. That should be a large part of her legacy.
I wish Miss M made more music albums. My wildest dream is a duet album with Dolly Parton.
The HBO film seems to be a nice move. Let’s see how it comes out.
I agree with you about her concert legacy….it would be a shame….Bette and Dolly supposedly talked about making music together but that was years ago. They sure do sound good together….
I’m sorry, but the comments about royalties are complete bullshit; the songwriters automatically get their so called royalties whenever they are performed; it’s not something the performer has to pay – or that Bette would lack for that matter. And most songwriters would kill to have their songs included on a (all to short!) DVD like this one – because of the royalties! If Bette decides not to have a song included, then most likely for “creative” issues; meaning that she wasn’t happy with her vocals. And with all the respect and love that I have for her vocals – I think she is the greatest pop-singer in the world – there are not what they used to be; and how should they? She’s not thirty, forty or even sixty any more; and of course it shows – or can be heard, to be more precise. I truly wished they had released Kiss My Brass; it had much better vocal performances and contained so much more of what makes Bette so unique; I’m therefore very grateful for the “Divine Miss M in Performance”-DVD, or the “Art-or-Bust” which contains “Broken Bicycle” and “Here Comes the Flood” two sensational takes which don’t have the bigness or glamor of “The Showgirl Must Go on”, but the heart and soul that have always been Bette’s real trademark.
Prince….it does have to do with copyright issues and royalties. She supposedly has to get permission to change the lyrics to the songs and then has to pay a higher royalty fee for doing it….i might not have it quite right, but i was told that it had to do with those issues by the men who re-wrote the lyrics to some of the popular ditties she did sing…Bruce and Eric. The rest I agree with wholeheartedly. I’ll ask again in case I’m wrong….
Although I’m in agreement that a 67-minute DVD is way too short, I can’t help but recall the difficulties Bette had when she first played Vegas. If my memory serves, Bette was used to 2 to 2-1/2 concerts (with encores) and Vegas was extremely nervous about signing her on, as there were severe restrictions on concert length (remember, make them happy, but get them out there quickly so they can gamble!!!).
I consider TSMGO as more of a “greatest hits” package, not necessarily for the Betteheads like us, but for the uninitiated (i.e., mainstream) going to Vegas. Having seen Bette perform TSMGO a few times in Las Vegas, I was very impressed at how tightly edited the show was, with no second wasted. This is how the HBO special appeared to me–a tightly edited greatest hits package.
Nonetheless, there are so many other extras that could have been included on the disc: interviews about the show, her appearances on Oprah and Ellen (which Don recently “refreshed” our memories), and other “plug” appearances. She could have even included performances of the songs from earlier in her career, or snippets of Bette in history, music videos, etc. It’s the same complaint I have about her CD’s–why have a 34 minute CD, when it can hold over an hour of music??
Bette’s always been about “quality” over “quantity” and I doubt that will ever change. Too bad, though, because I agree with the above comments about how much of her legacy is lost due to the editing or omission process.
The only caveat to all this (for all the “techies” out there), is that there is bound to be very little digital compression on the DVD and Blu-Ray versions, and it is in DTS 5.1 sound. In other words, it should look and sound spectacular!!! I used to work with Image Entertainment, and they are the gold standard for DVD music and concert performance. Despite the lack of extras, I’m willing to bet that the DVD will still have a bit of the “wow factor” and I’m quite anxious to see how it all turns out.
Prince – you’re actually wrong. Music Licensing is what I do for a living, and you most certainly have to pay royalties on any music used on a DVD. The more songs you use, the more expensive it’s going to be to produce, and these days, the music publishers are going to squeeze every last dime out of you that they can.
ESPECIALLY with parody lyrics, which is what the whole Delores segment basically is, it’s nearly impossibly to get them approved. And changing lyrics on old standards that were written by people that are now dead? Good luck. If they had three children and left their shares to each of their children, then you need to get permission from three parties instead of one. It can be an absolute nightmare. Believe me, I know! That’s what I do for a living!
I do agree that KMB would be a phenomenal release, but Bette’s not all that wildly popular anymore, and all that music clearance would never make a profits in sales. It’s a shame, really, but that’s business, so I’m grateful for what I can get!
Erik: I just wrote Bruce Vilanch and he wrote me back saying precisely the same thing….he used the word “nightmare” = he said for Diva Las Vegas HBO, Bettw, And the writers stepped up to pay the royalty fees, but for the Showgirl show HBO decided they weren’t going to do that again because it proved to be so expensive; nobody else stood up to help, so it was just left up to Bette to cover the costs and there was no way she was going to do it alone….
It would be so much easier and cheaper if Miss M wrote most of her stuff as Dolly Parton does. The Country Queen owns a publising company (Velvet Apple Music) and her own record label (Dolly Records). I think Bette’s publishing company that holds her few self written songs is Divine’s Music. Interesting that other great performer, Streisand, also writes very very little over the years.
I forgot to say that, sometimes, I think Miss M needs a manager like Celine Dion’s husband and her team. Martin should give his opinions and invaluable imput, but I’m talking about a hands-on manager. Dion has special products out, on-line street team, official international fan club, an on line store, DVD releases with lots of extra material etc. All of this makes an artist’s career so much more interesting for his fans. On her A New Day DVD she worked out a meeting with hardcore fans from all around the world (including my country – Brazil) at The Colosseum in Vegas and shooted an interview with them! So she has people to make fun things happen.
Going back to the previous copyrights subject: Does anybody know if there’s a skale of prices performers pay to writers or if the song becomes a hit they can ask a fortune to allow the performer to keep singing their songs?
A little trivia: Elvis Presley wanted to record Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” but his manager, Colonel Parker or something, said that Presley would only record the song if Dolly gave half the rights to the song. To what Parton said no. The manager left to discuss this with Dolly when Elvis was already in the studio for pressure. Years later Dolly released the song 3 times and make it a hit all these times. Plus allowed Whitney Huston to record it and made even more money.
Marcos, you know Bette is not going to change her basic philosophy at this late stage in her career. She’s done things her way for better or worse. Alhough. i, too wish it were different.
Hey Don! So I was YouTubing Bette Midler singing Shiver Me Timbers (Heh..It’s my favorite Bette cover) and I came across this interview from Regis and Kelly. So there ya have it directly from Bette herself. Dolores wasn’t included because it was way too expensive…which you already knew 😉 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9_p5psYODo
Well, boo hiss, the whole show with Delores isn’t going to be on there! I was hoping for the whole thing on DVD!
I know it’s disappointing but i kept trying to tell ya’ll it was going to be exactly what you saw on HBO with no bonuses…but still….boo hiss!
Wow, talk about about a poor track list:
Big Noise from Winnetka, The Showgirl Must Go On, Friends, The Rose, Do You Wanna Dance, From a Distance, Boolya JaDa, Hello in There, Pretty Legs/Hot in Here, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Wind Beneath My Wings
I know i wasnt lucky enough to see the concert in vegas, but 11 songs on the DVD doesnt seem a lot at all??
But will still happly buy it
I feel your pain Paul….the DVD is 67 minutes…
Can anyone tell me what didnt make it on DVD
Basically it was the Delores Delago segment and When A Man Loves A Woman
Don, you know I love Bette…. I truly do…. but what the HECK are they waiting on??? Why can we not get a a full show on dvd??? Are they waiting until she is 85 and LITERALLY in a wheelchair doing Delores before we can get a full account of one of her shows?? I just dont get it…. 🙁
I think we didn’t get Delores because of royalty and copyright issues….by the time they filmed this show she was having difficulty singing WAMLAW
I just cant understand why they cant release the full show… it was so amazing… and the wamlaw was the best part i think…. so i just cant understand… and still cant deal with the kmb thing… but btw i love the cover of it 🙂
Read my answers below. KMB was the show that really should have been filmed in my opinion. Showgirl put too many constraints on her.
Don,
Agreed on KMB. A far superior showcase for her talent. I, for one, could easily live the rest of my days without encountering Delores. It’s tired.
difficulties singing WAMLAW?
but you´re right…i would love to see Kiss My Brass more than the Vegas show
Yes…she was having trouble with her voice towards the end of the run,,,and that’s a difficult song to sing.
ah okay. I understand 🙂 but her voice sounds so smooth and awesome in that show…especially when she sings “from a distance” . but I can understand her…but that´s the problem when she´s doing her own singing 😀
The best show in my opinion is still the first HBO special….catch that and buy Live At Last! Clips of the HBO show are available on youtube. Superb example of her talent.
I have a copy of TSMGO on dvd and its amazing, given its limtations. I was lucky to see the show (Don was there, remember!?) in the Horseshoe Casino in Indiana, near Chicago 08/08/08 and the Christmastime TSMGO in Las Vegas and hope the next career moves will be breathtaking and groundbreaking as everything the Divine Miss M stands for.
Truth Liberty and Justice to yall this Happy Fourth of July 2011….
Have a Happy 4th, too, Mark!
I was also waiting for the whole show on video. But the copyright issue makes sense as Miss M used tons of songs in the segment and would have to pay royalties for each of the songs used. It seems to me that Bette’s concert DVDs don’t sell a whole lot, so paying for all the rights would be cost prohibitive.
But I tell you, if The Divine One doesn’t decide to release all her concerts on video, it will be a pity for entertainment history. That should be a large part of her legacy.
I wish Miss M made more music albums. My wildest dream is a duet album with Dolly Parton.
The HBO film seems to be a nice move. Let’s see how it comes out.
I agree with you about her concert legacy….it would be a shame….Bette and Dolly supposedly talked about making music together but that was years ago. They sure do sound good together….
I’m sorry, but the comments about royalties are complete bullshit; the songwriters automatically get their so called royalties whenever they are performed; it’s not something the performer has to pay – or that Bette would lack for that matter. And most songwriters would kill to have their songs included on a (all to short!) DVD like this one – because of the royalties! If Bette decides not to have a song included, then most likely for “creative” issues; meaning that she wasn’t happy with her vocals. And with all the respect and love that I have for her vocals – I think she is the greatest pop-singer in the world – there are not what they used to be; and how should they? She’s not thirty, forty or even sixty any more; and of course it shows – or can be heard, to be more precise. I truly wished they had released Kiss My Brass; it had much better vocal performances and contained so much more of what makes Bette so unique; I’m therefore very grateful for the “Divine Miss M in Performance”-DVD, or the “Art-or-Bust” which contains “Broken Bicycle” and “Here Comes the Flood” two sensational takes which don’t have the bigness or glamor of “The Showgirl Must Go on”, but the heart and soul that have always been Bette’s real trademark.
Prince….it does have to do with copyright issues and royalties. She supposedly has to get permission to change the lyrics to the songs and then has to pay a higher royalty fee for doing it….i might not have it quite right, but i was told that it had to do with those issues by the men who re-wrote the lyrics to some of the popular ditties she did sing…Bruce and Eric. The rest I agree with wholeheartedly. I’ll ask again in case I’m wrong….
Although I’m in agreement that a 67-minute DVD is way too short, I can’t help but recall the difficulties Bette had when she first played Vegas. If my memory serves, Bette was used to 2 to 2-1/2 concerts (with encores) and Vegas was extremely nervous about signing her on, as there were severe restrictions on concert length (remember, make them happy, but get them out there quickly so they can gamble!!!).
I consider TSMGO as more of a “greatest hits” package, not necessarily for the Betteheads like us, but for the uninitiated (i.e., mainstream) going to Vegas. Having seen Bette perform TSMGO a few times in Las Vegas, I was very impressed at how tightly edited the show was, with no second wasted. This is how the HBO special appeared to me–a tightly edited greatest hits package.
Nonetheless, there are so many other extras that could have been included on the disc: interviews about the show, her appearances on Oprah and Ellen (which Don recently “refreshed” our memories), and other “plug” appearances. She could have even included performances of the songs from earlier in her career, or snippets of Bette in history, music videos, etc. It’s the same complaint I have about her CD’s–why have a 34 minute CD, when it can hold over an hour of music??
Bette’s always been about “quality” over “quantity” and I doubt that will ever change. Too bad, though, because I agree with the above comments about how much of her legacy is lost due to the editing or omission process.
The only caveat to all this (for all the “techies” out there), is that there is bound to be very little digital compression on the DVD and Blu-Ray versions, and it is in DTS 5.1 sound. In other words, it should look and sound spectacular!!! I used to work with Image Entertainment, and they are the gold standard for DVD music and concert performance. Despite the lack of extras, I’m willing to bet that the DVD will still have a bit of the “wow factor” and I’m quite anxious to see how it all turns out.
oops…I meant to say 2 to 2-1/2 HOUR concerts….
I knew what you meant. Agreed with everything you said…
Hello all!
Prince – you’re actually wrong. Music Licensing is what I do for a living, and you most certainly have to pay royalties on any music used on a DVD. The more songs you use, the more expensive it’s going to be to produce, and these days, the music publishers are going to squeeze every last dime out of you that they can.
ESPECIALLY with parody lyrics, which is what the whole Delores segment basically is, it’s nearly impossibly to get them approved. And changing lyrics on old standards that were written by people that are now dead? Good luck. If they had three children and left their shares to each of their children, then you need to get permission from three parties instead of one. It can be an absolute nightmare. Believe me, I know! That’s what I do for a living!
I do agree that KMB would be a phenomenal release, but Bette’s not all that wildly popular anymore, and all that music clearance would never make a profits in sales. It’s a shame, really, but that’s business, so I’m grateful for what I can get!
-Erik
Erik: I just wrote Bruce Vilanch and he wrote me back saying precisely the same thing….he used the word “nightmare” = he said for Diva Las Vegas HBO, Bettw, And the writers stepped up to pay the royalty fees, but for the Showgirl show HBO decided they weren’t going to do that again because it proved to be so expensive; nobody else stood up to help, so it was just left up to Bette to cover the costs and there was no way she was going to do it alone….
That’s right, you’re the whole package!
Awww, Bruce and I said the same thing! We’re meant to be friends! See? So I’m totally right! [NOT just a pretty face….] 🙂
It would be so much easier and cheaper if Miss M wrote most of her stuff as Dolly Parton does. The Country Queen owns a publising company (Velvet Apple Music) and her own record label (Dolly Records). I think Bette’s publishing company that holds her few self written songs is Divine’s Music. Interesting that other great performer, Streisand, also writes very very little over the years.
I forgot to say that, sometimes, I think Miss M needs a manager like Celine Dion’s husband and her team. Martin should give his opinions and invaluable imput, but I’m talking about a hands-on manager. Dion has special products out, on-line street team, official international fan club, an on line store, DVD releases with lots of extra material etc. All of this makes an artist’s career so much more interesting for his fans. On her A New Day DVD she worked out a meeting with hardcore fans from all around the world (including my country – Brazil) at The Colosseum in Vegas and shooted an interview with them! So she has people to make fun things happen.
Going back to the previous copyrights subject: Does anybody know if there’s a skale of prices performers pay to writers or if the song becomes a hit they can ask a fortune to allow the performer to keep singing their songs?
A little trivia: Elvis Presley wanted to record Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” but his manager, Colonel Parker or something, said that Presley would only record the song if Dolly gave half the rights to the song. To what Parton said no. The manager left to discuss this with Dolly when Elvis was already in the studio for pressure. Years later Dolly released the song 3 times and make it a hit all these times. Plus allowed Whitney Huston to record it and made even more money.
Marcos, you know Bette is not going to change her basic philosophy at this late stage in her career. She’s done things her way for better or worse. Alhough. i, too wish it were different.
Hey Don! So I was YouTubing Bette Midler singing Shiver Me Timbers (Heh..It’s my favorite Bette cover) and I came across this interview from Regis and Kelly. So there ya have it directly from Bette herself. Dolores wasn’t included because it was way too expensive…which you already knew 😉 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9_p5psYODo