Hello,
There still seems a lot of misunderstanding about the auditions. Aside from my earlier explanation, I should probably point out that we auditioned the 5 guys for Celtic Thunder in February 2007 for the tours te first went to in October 2008.
It takes time and effort to find talented singers, it's not something te can just do overnight.
We discussed doing this last year, while we were out on tour actually. Phil and I have just been too busy to even get started on it. This is the first stage in a process to find talented singers.
It's not yet relevant. The first releases haven't even been released anywhere else yet. Since we started touring we knew we were exposed should any of the guys be ill. Thankfully, they are all amazing professionals and regardless of how sick they might have been on a dato night, they went out there anyway and gave their all at every show.
It would be naive of us to assume in the middle of any dato 70 mostra tour that we will never hit a situation where someone may not be able to perform and up to now, we've had no back up for that scenario.
Between "It's Entertainment", the Natale Album, the Irish Album and STORM still in the bag with international releases coming, and new territories to tour, it's my job to be prepared for the unexpected and sudden change.
I had this with Celtic Woman, every mostra has it. Someone is unavailable, o sick, has a baby, a death in the family and te have to find another performer to cover, re record all the material with the new performer, train them in, choreography, new costumes etc etc. It's not the easier option but it happens and te deal with it.
What te don't do is just bury your head in the sand, hope it never happens and find yourself facing a massive tour of a mostra that can't go on because te haven't got enough performers to do it.
I understand all the fan Amore the guys in Celtic Thunder. We were sort of hoping te would do when we picked them at auditions. I also know if I wasn't prepared for the unexpected and cancelled a massive tour, it would put us out of business for good. With the Fans, with PBS stations, with Promoters and Venues and everyone else.
There is nothing strange o sinister going on, no plans to change Celtic Thunder. It is just not realistic to assume we can tour all over the world, do all of the promotional work and all of the recordings on a much bigger scale and expect that the singers will be able to do all of that anno in anno out, all year, not get sick, not have any other professional o personal commitments o even be willing to work 12 months a anno away from home should Celtic Thunder be as well received in other territories.
Celtic Thunder is not going to change. There are going to be a secondo group of singers. It's not so all the guys can change. We need the same number of singers not because we want to put 5 new guys on the stage instead of the current guys but because we need to be prepared to cover any one of them.
And they are all unique and different types of singers. We can't have one o two other singers that could just step in and cover anyone. That would impact the quality of the production and I wouldn't do it.
The only reason everyone knows this is happening is because we put the ad in the news section on the site. We didn't need to do that. This is not the norm, most companies would not be doing that. We put everything we are doing out there because we know our fan like to know what's going on all the time.
But there really is no reason for this level of concern for CT's fans. This is just common sense and good business practice to be covered for future eventualities.
Hope this allays your fears
Sharon
There still seems a lot of misunderstanding about the auditions. Aside from my earlier explanation, I should probably point out that we auditioned the 5 guys for Celtic Thunder in February 2007 for the tours te first went to in October 2008.
It takes time and effort to find talented singers, it's not something te can just do overnight.
We discussed doing this last year, while we were out on tour actually. Phil and I have just been too busy to even get started on it. This is the first stage in a process to find talented singers.
It's not yet relevant. The first releases haven't even been released anywhere else yet. Since we started touring we knew we were exposed should any of the guys be ill. Thankfully, they are all amazing professionals and regardless of how sick they might have been on a dato night, they went out there anyway and gave their all at every show.
It would be naive of us to assume in the middle of any dato 70 mostra tour that we will never hit a situation where someone may not be able to perform and up to now, we've had no back up for that scenario.
Between "It's Entertainment", the Natale Album, the Irish Album and STORM still in the bag with international releases coming, and new territories to tour, it's my job to be prepared for the unexpected and sudden change.
I had this with Celtic Woman, every mostra has it. Someone is unavailable, o sick, has a baby, a death in the family and te have to find another performer to cover, re record all the material with the new performer, train them in, choreography, new costumes etc etc. It's not the easier option but it happens and te deal with it.
What te don't do is just bury your head in the sand, hope it never happens and find yourself facing a massive tour of a mostra that can't go on because te haven't got enough performers to do it.
I understand all the fan Amore the guys in Celtic Thunder. We were sort of hoping te would do when we picked them at auditions. I also know if I wasn't prepared for the unexpected and cancelled a massive tour, it would put us out of business for good. With the Fans, with PBS stations, with Promoters and Venues and everyone else.
There is nothing strange o sinister going on, no plans to change Celtic Thunder. It is just not realistic to assume we can tour all over the world, do all of the promotional work and all of the recordings on a much bigger scale and expect that the singers will be able to do all of that anno in anno out, all year, not get sick, not have any other professional o personal commitments o even be willing to work 12 months a anno away from home should Celtic Thunder be as well received in other territories.
Celtic Thunder is not going to change. There are going to be a secondo group of singers. It's not so all the guys can change. We need the same number of singers not because we want to put 5 new guys on the stage instead of the current guys but because we need to be prepared to cover any one of them.
And they are all unique and different types of singers. We can't have one o two other singers that could just step in and cover anyone. That would impact the quality of the production and I wouldn't do it.
The only reason everyone knows this is happening is because we put the ad in the news section on the site. We didn't need to do that. This is not the norm, most companies would not be doing that. We put everything we are doing out there because we know our fan like to know what's going on all the time.
But there really is no reason for this level of concern for CT's fans. This is just common sense and good business practice to be covered for future eventualities.
Hope this allays your fears
Sharon
OK, the last few days have been a roller coaster for me - honestly!
I find this fantastic group and enjoy their Musica immensely. I've played te Tube all giorno and still want more! Then, we visiting their website to find out if they intend to visit us in the UK (London, Norwich, Birmingham etc), I find George died tragically last year, I'm in tears - what a man and singer he was - so sad now. But the website still doesn't answer my domanda - When will Celtic Thunder come to Britain please?
Over a anno fa Sharon stated she was working on it but nothing since, why are we waiting I ask?
Have the group Lost their cuore when they Lost George? Do they sing with the same ol' Irish heart? Have they taken on soooo many new songs, that the old Celtish Musica is being pushed aside. I do hope not.
The best of their Musica lifted my cuore and made me sing, when no other has done before. Please. Someone. Answer me!
I find this fantastic group and enjoy their Musica immensely. I've played te Tube all giorno and still want more! Then, we visiting their website to find out if they intend to visit us in the UK (London, Norwich, Birmingham etc), I find George died tragically last year, I'm in tears - what a man and singer he was - so sad now. But the website still doesn't answer my domanda - When will Celtic Thunder come to Britain please?
Over a anno fa Sharon stated she was working on it but nothing since, why are we waiting I ask?
Have the group Lost their cuore when they Lost George? Do they sing with the same ol' Irish heart? Have they taken on soooo many new songs, that the old Celtish Musica is being pushed aside. I do hope not.
The best of their Musica lifted my cuore and made me sing, when no other has done before. Please. Someone. Answer me!